Full body workout versus upper/lower body split?

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Nikkimaxim
Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Which is more effective for building lean muscle? I've been doing two days a week of upper and 2 days of lower consisting of 6-8 exercises each workout. I'm thinking about trying to do a full body workout 3 days a week instead. ..4 workouts for upper and 4 for lower for each exercise, 3 sets each. Do any of you find a full body routine more effective? If so, can you give me an example of the exercises you do per workout? Do you do the same exact exercises on each full body workout day or do you change it up? What do you recommend?

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  • FatMoojor
    FatMoojor Posts: 483 Member
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    How long have you been training?
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    edited October 2015
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    As a beginner lifter, full body is more effective. You still can make gains really fast, therefore hitting the same muscle groups more often hels with your gains.

    Also, as a beginner lifter you should be following a program, because those have a proven balance of muscle groups etc. don't try to make your own program if you are new to lifting.
    Great beginner programs are:
    - Stronglifts 5x5
    - Starting strength
    - New rules of lifting
    - Strong curves
    - ICF 5x5

    Just follow them to the letter and your progress will be really good.
    All are full body, some have 2 different workout days, others 3.

    Personally I do strong curves. It has 3 different workouts in a week, but all the differences are variations of the same exercise. So every time all the major muscle groups are targeted.
    Same goes for stronglifts. It has two different days. All days have three of the five compound lifts (squat every time.).

    So in case you didn't notice yet, I totally recommend doing one of the beginner full body progressive overy programs suggested. They have have been proven successful.
  • armylife
    armylife Posts: 196 Member
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    Nikkimaxim wrote: »
    Which is more effective for building lean muscle? I've been doing two days a week of upper and 2 days of lower consisting of 6-8 exercises each workout. I'm thinking about trying to do a full body workout 3 days a week instead. ..4 workouts for upper and 4 for lower for each exercise, 3 sets each. Do any of you find a full body routine more effective? If so, can you give me an example of the exercises you do per workout? Do you do the same exact exercises on each full body workout day or do you change it up? What do you recommend?

    Adding muscle is a combination of eating at a caloric surplus and lifting in a way that introduces an overload (stimuli) that is just enough to allow the body to adapt, then repeat. The higher the caloric surplus the more body fat you will also gain during that time.

    That being said, I agree with @AsISmilez If you are going to do a full body program you should be looking to do one like those listed above. The beauty of them is both their simplicity and their effectiveness. Lots of newer lifter make the mistake of doing 7-8 exercises at 8-10 reps for 3-5 sets and wonder why they stall quickly. The volume of a workout like this is too high for an inexperienced lifter and by nature it limits the total weight that can be lifted.
  • big_striker
    big_striker Posts: 15 Member
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    Fierce 5 is a good routine in addition to those above. Have a look on Reddit Fitness for workout plans.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
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    "Which is more effective for building lean muscle? " - there are good arguments for both approaches, but dedicated long-term lifters usually do split routines.

    I agree with all the previous answers, the only thing I would suggest is to add an extra rest day here and there if you need it.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I like both and have done both. Right now I do an upper/lower split but I'm not married to it. I'm sure that I'll switch back and forth between them in the years to come.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Making a lot of assumptions about the specifics of the program, intensity, progression, etc etc...

    Neither is inherently more effective. For most people, full body will probably be more efficient.
  • chrisarmitage1980
    chrisarmitage1980 Posts: 5 Member
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    I like a split work out based on normally 12 weeks. The first 4 weeks I build Endurance with reps in the range of 15-20, second four weeks I go for Hypertrophy rep range around 8-10 with the final 4 weeks being strength reps around 3-5. I keep sets 3-4 through out. Once I've reached the 12weeks I either start start at week one, perhaps substituting a move or two. Or I start at the Hypertrophy stage moving on to the strength and finishing in Endurance before finally starting on the strength and finishing on Hypertrophy.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Full body burns more calories, hands down. Much more after-burn too!
  • Nikkimaxim
    Nikkimaxim Posts: 221 Member
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    FatMoojor wrote: »
    How long have you been training?

    Off and on about 4 years now. When im off, it's usually about 3 months at a time because of some personal reason, then i get back on it
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I don't know. I would prefer a split if I were trying to build muscle personally.
  • smslogan317
    smslogan317 Posts: 39 Member
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    I never limit myself to a particular workout routine, ..!! Feeding your body correctly will be invaluable in building lean muscle.
    As far as routines go, personally as I said, I never limit my routines, even ones I do not care for, I still do. I change my workout every 4 to 8 weeks. I just finished a bodyweight routine so, now I am doing a Full body and Upper body program. 45 minutes of HIIT on an elliptical then start my workout. Full body 3 days a week 4 exercises per major muscle group, heavy and compound exercises 8-12 reps. Upper body is 3 days a week also, 2 different exercises per major muscle group, compound, and heavy 8-12 reps. If I can get 12 reps its too light.
    I never want my muscles to learn my routine and I want to incorporate different muscle fibers with every routine, to stimulate growth and build strength. I use Metabolic resistance training, German Volume training, Circuit training, (which I do not care for), all of your typical splits, high volume, low volume etc. but the one thing that I try to keep the same with all of my workouts is, the Intensity.
    This is what works for me and what I enjoy. Just don't limit yourself.

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