weight lifting whole body vs targeting

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Holmesfamily26037
Holmesfamily26037 Posts: 18 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have heard of arm day, leg day etc. When I go to lift..I work arms, abs butt, legs in one session..so three days a week almost full body lifting...should I be changing that to targeting just one part each day? Still clean eating and losing weight so didn't know if this would be a smart change up...any advice?

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  • SonicKrunch
    SonicKrunch Posts: 192 Member
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    The reason to target upper/lower is for recovery. It's about the amount of times you hit the gym. For a normal 3 day/week cycle, a general full body routine is just fine since you are giving your body almost two days to recover before going again. Once you start going 4+ days, it's harder for your muscles to recover fully before your next workout, so going to a lower/upper split or focusing on one group each day so that you give your muscles the time to recover.

    I do 3 days full body, unless I was going to add a 4th day, I'd stick with it.
  • Holmesfamily26037
    Holmesfamily26037 Posts: 18 Member
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    SonicKrunch wrote: »
    The reason to target upper/lower is for recovery. It's about the amount of times you hit the gym. For a normal 3 day/week cycle, a general full body routine is just fine since you are giving your body almost two days to recover before going again. Once you start going 4+ days, it's harder for your muscles to recover fully before your next workout, so going to a lower/upper split or focusing on one group each day so that you give your muscles the time to recover.

    I do 3 days full body, unless I was going to add a 4th day, I'd stick with it.

    I hit the gym 4 times a week..cardiovascular 4 lifting 3...
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Full body is fine if you're strength training 3 days a week with rest days in between. What program are you doing?
  • Holmesfamily26037
    Holmesfamily26037 Posts: 18 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Full body is fine if you're strength training 3 days a week with rest days in between. What program are you doing?

    I'm not doing any program..that's just my lifestyle now..I changed it months ago and I am comfortable with it...of course I do workouts out of my Comfort zone to keep the body guessing though
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Holmesfamily26037 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Full body is fine if you're strength training 3 days a week with rest days in between. What program are you doing?

    I'm not doing any program..that's just my lifestyle now..I changed it months ago and I am comfortable with it...of course I do workouts out of my Comfort zone to keep the body guessing though

    You don't need to keep your body guessing. You need progressive overload, which is why a structured program is suggested to make sure you are hitting all muscle groups properly as well.
  • smslogan317
    smslogan317 Posts: 39 Member
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    It really depends on your goals and your intensity level. I do a 5-6 day split with 2 workouts a day 3 times a week, weights on one end of the day cardio on the other. When I am cutting weight, I will lift HEAVY and low reps 6-8 4-5 drop sets, 60 second rest, in any form i.e. upper/lower, single group, entire body, pairs, either way it is heavy (80-90% max) and low reps, I will then change my routine every 4 to 6 weeks. Reason for lifting heavy when you are cutting weight is to retain as much lean muscle mass as possible. That's not to say I don't do high rep workouts, I do, and when I do my diet and routine changes. No one here is wrong, its really about what your goals are. I am able to train this way, and I enjoy training this way, not everyone does. Try every recommendation and find which one has the most benefit for you. Remember it never an issue of overtraining, but rather under recovering. As long as you get good rest and good nutrition its hard to overtrain. When I put my diet and training in perspective, my diet is 80% of the success the other 20 is training.
  • colldej
    colldej Posts: 2 Member
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    You don't need to keep your body guessing. You need progressive overload, which is why a structured program is suggested to make sure you are hitting all muscle groups properly as well. [/quote]

    @arditarose - what program do you suggest?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    colldej wrote: »

    You don't need to keep your body guessing. You need progressive overload, which is why a structured program is suggested to make sure you are hitting all muscle groups properly as well.

    @arditarose - what program do you suggest?[/quote]

    The most common beginners full body program is Strong Lifts 5x5. Good if you're going to do 3 days per week.
  • SonicKrunch
    SonicKrunch Posts: 192 Member
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    I moved from SL 5x5 to Ice Cream Fitness to get some hypertrophy work in and to find good accessory work for the main lifts.
  • Shanel0916
    Shanel0916 Posts: 586 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    colldej wrote: »

    You don't need to keep your body guessing. You need progressive overload, which is why a structured program is suggested to make sure you are hitting all muscle groups properly as well.

    @arditarose - what program do you suggest?

    The most common beginners full body program is Strong Lifts 5x5. Good if you're going to do 3 days per week. [/quote]


    @arditarose Can you coach me because the way you look is exactly how I would like to look?
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Holmesfamily26037 wrote: »
    I have heard of arm day, leg day etc. When I go to lift..I work arms, abs butt, legs in one session..so three days a week almost full body lifting...should I be changing that to targeting just one part each day? Still clean eating and losing weight so didn't know if this would be a smart change up...any advice?

    Here's the thing, there is no absolute best way to train regardless of what people will tell you. Three days isn't best because of recovery unless you're lifting in a manner that demands longer recovery times. Me, I'm getting old and I do push my limits pretty hard, so I do lift only 3-days actually but that's what's right for me and my goals. #1... you MUST figure out what your training goals are as that will dictate how you train. "Losing weight" is not a training goal that is more of a nutrition goal than anything. Once you know what your training goal is then that will help guide your training. For instance, you want to look like a fitness model or bodybuilder, then yes you will probably need a 4 to 5 day a week hypertrophy program. If you want to run marathons then 2-day full body might actually be more applicable for you.

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