Weight Training Full Body Vs Isolation

aalpass
aalpass Posts: 124 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Currently I do 3 x full body weight sessions a week. The days in between I either rest or put in a bit of cardio.

Does anyone know if there is any benefit doing 6 weight sessions a week of like legs,back, arms, legs,back, arms (or whatever muscle group isolations you do) over doing the 3 full body sessions?

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    The answer lies in how long you've been training. A relatively new lifter isn't going to be able to work a single bodypart hard enough to justify only training that part once per week. (okay, technically you can work it as hard as you like, but you won't recover and most likely the program would be detrimental. New or newish lifters are better served with 3x per week, full body work.

    If you are an intermediate level lifter, a good 4 day, 3 bodypart per day, hit 2x per week program can be a good next step after full body workouts. They have an added benefit in that you can ramp them down or up depending on your experience/fitness level.

    There are 6 day, 1 bodypart per day programs that work, but it's generally for advanced or older lifters as it gives them additional recovery time between torching a particular bodypart.
  • aalpass
    aalpass Posts: 124 Member
    Awesome! Makes sense. I'll keep on keeping on with what I'm doing then :D cheers!
  • Cajunmalakai
    Cajunmalakai Posts: 59 Member
    Isolation vs. Split training really depends on your goals. Split training can help you develop lagging muscle groups and can be especially helpful if your injured or if you want to focus on something specific. In general however, body part splits, especially the 6 day splits Dav mentioned are designed for body builders. Yes, they are advanced workouts and are built mostly around the idea of presentation.

    Full body training however, is more about fitness. It burns more calories and generally works more muscle groups with fewer moves.
    Stick with your fullbody routines. As you progress there are a number of weighs to keep your training fresh. More reps, more weight, even slight tweaks in your exercises should be all you need to keep training for a long time.

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