Lifting: “dedicated body part days” vs. “distributed days”

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

OP - you have already received some solid advice..

I will just add that for the beginner phase three day total body workouts with cardio mixed in off days..make sure you have at least one, one hundred percent rest day ...

total body workout where you hit arms/legs/back/shoulders/legs will be optimal at beginning..once you drop that 15 pounds and become more "advanced" you can move to more of an upper/lower split with less cardio....

Yup, this ^^^^


Also....it's so nice to see solid advice being given in this thread! Lot's of great info in here for you OP!

manda1978

I changed to 'body part specific' 3 weeks ago and the results have been awesome. I had been doing 'all body' workouts for years though.

rybo

I hate to be "that" guy but this is one of those cases where one size does not fit all depending on where you are with your fitness goals.

My opinion (note opinion) is that if you are new or even just intermediate to lifting than it would be more efficient to use a full body several times a week so your body can really thrive from the frequency. I also don't think it would be an efficient use of your time to hit your triceps from 5 different angles on one day until you have a much more advanced and developed tricep.

On the other end of the spectrum where you are more developed it very well be worth it to hit your tricep from 5 different angles if your tricep has an awesome base and is an advanced state. Body part days would be an efficient use of time then because you really have a diminishing return the longer your workouts are past a certain point. That said, a bodybuilder or strength athlete would use specific body part days to hit his arms for an efficient workout.

Two things to note: most importantly this is only my opinion. Also, both workouts will give you progress but key is to find the most efficient workout for you in your current state.

Well said

timg760

I am grateful to have received so much good solid advice from everyone!!

TG

SuperCrsa

Bump

Healthy_4_Life2

Bump for later too!

wild_wild_life

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-ultimate-weight-training-workout-routine/

I like this site a lot.

KatrinaWilke

It depends mostly on how long it takes you to recover between workouts and secondarily what your specific goals are.

If you recover quickly enough to do full body 2-3x a week, that's generally better. If you need extra time to workout, then splits are a good option.

Goals will also play a role in the conversation, but for the average MFPer won't be a big enough deal to outweigh the benefits of hitting each body part multiple times per week.



On a side note... adherence and effort should be considered. If you're more apt to stick with and kick *kitten* with a split routine, then go that route. A less efficient routine that you crush will be more beneficial than a "perfect" routine that you half-*kitten*.

.

I like this answer! I personally like to do upper/lower body splits or full body workouts. On the other hands, some people like doing 12 chest exercises in one day. I would die if I did 12 chest exercises in one session. But I can do 3 chest exercises 4 x a week (still equals 12).

whitebalance

Totally agree with the compound lifts.

I do 3 days of full body weight training per week which consists of just compound lifts.

This is what I'm doing, same lifts every time, and I think it'll be a long time before I outgrow it. Maybe once it takes longer than a single day off to recover. It took me a while to settle on this, but I like that I don't really have to think about which workout I'm doing today when I walk into the weight room. Just what was my work set last time, and can I beat it this time?