Why do people do leg day, arm day etc? Why not do all of them everyday?

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mbanks123
mbanks123 Posts: 117 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Probabaly a very silly question but I've always wondered. I just prefer doing a bit of everything and just wondered if there was a reason I should change?
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  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
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    Because past the beginner stage you're generating too much fatigue per session to effectively stimulate all your muscles, hence the need to split it up.
  • mbanks123
    mbanks123 Posts: 117 Member
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    Thanks that makes perfect sense :)
  • kaizaku
    kaizaku Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Properly working all your body parts would take a very long time. Unless you plan to stay over
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Yeah, full body is fine past beginner stage. Even doing it a couple of days in a row can work if you vary intensity.

    I go back and forth between upper/lower splits and full body programming. But even on an upper or lower day I might throw in something from the opposite side between sets.
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
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    rybo wrote: »
    People
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    Because past the beginner stage you're generating too much fatigue per session to effectively stimulate all your muscles, hence the need to split it up.
    no, no, no. None of the responses are why.
    People do body part splits because most mainstream lifting emerged from the body building world. And that's what they did. Doesn't mean it is right or the best way to do things. For most people, it's much less than optimal to do body part splits like that. And unless you are going towards the direction of bodybuilding, you could lift on a full body program your entire career and make incredible gains.
    Most people should be doing full body routines, or at most an upper/lower split.

    I have to disagree with you. My program may not be the best for you, and vise versa. As long as the individual is getting the results they are looking for.
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
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    I train individual muscle groups.
  • _incogNEATo_
    _incogNEATo_ Posts: 4,537 Member
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    rybo wrote: »
    People
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    Because past the beginner stage you're generating too much fatigue per session to effectively stimulate all your muscles, hence the need to split it up.
    no, no, no. None of the responses are why.
    People do body part splits because most mainstream lifting emerged from the body building world. And that's what they did. Doesn't mean it is right or the best way to do things. For most people, it's much less than optimal to do body part splits like that. And unless you are going towards the direction of bodybuilding, you could lift on a full body program your entire career and make incredible gains.
    Most people should be doing full body routines, or at most an upper/lower split.

    You say the bolded with such certainty. Be careful using absolutes like that. I know that there is no way I could effectively work all of my muscle groups and still see strength gains by working them all every workout. I'm FAR from a bodybuilder.

    I don't know why you would say that focusing on specific muscle groups are less than optimal either? If you're doing a full body routine, are you not still focusing on specific muscle groups in that workout?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,668 Member
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    People usually do splits for couple of reasons: to spend less time in the gym and to focus on body part(s). I train each body part once a week. About 30 minutes average workout time. Do that 5-6 days a week and I'm not spending a lot of time in the gym.
    But for the majority of my clients, I have them do full body workouts. And we can still get done in 30 minutes doing one exercise for each body part for 3 sets.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • feetjustgo
    feetjustgo Posts: 36 Member
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    Beginner here. I've always loved Body Pump, which is a total body workout, but I'm having a lot more success after switching to a program that does body part splits. I get sore super easily, so it's hard for me to keep up with regular full body workouts. On this new program, I am working out 6 days a week, establishing a consistent exercise habit. I'm still sore everyday but it doesn't stop me from being able to make the most of the next workout. I like to work my muscles to failure (actually, that's the whole premise of the program I'm doing) and you simply can't do that with the same muscle group every single day!
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
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    I was going to the gym each night and my strength seemed to decrease/workouts got harder as the week went on.

    My Physio told me that my muscles needed time to rest and to alternate between upper and lower workouts, and that is what worked for me. Obviously, this may not be the same for other people.
  • reyoflightphoto
    reyoflightphoto Posts: 76 Member
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    I lift heavy. After a few sets of deads and a few sets of squats, I am toast. So if I try to follow that with bench and overheads, my upper body isn't going to get worked very well because I am already too wiped to push it as hard as I need to. I only do five exercises for the most part, but I still split them up. I personally think any workout where you can do it all in one session, is not really worth your time because you obviously aren't pushing yourself over the limits which means your body doesn't really need to step up it's game, and that means you aren't really moving forward. That's why I don't do it. :smile:
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    cgvet37 wrote: »
    rybo wrote: »
    People
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    Because past the beginner stage you're generating too much fatigue per session to effectively stimulate all your muscles, hence the need to split it up.
    no, no, no. None of the responses are why.
    People do body part splits because most mainstream lifting emerged from the body building world. And that's what they did. Doesn't mean it is right or the best way to do things. For most people, it's much less than optimal to do body part splits like that. And unless you are going towards the direction of bodybuilding, you could lift on a full body program your entire career and make incredible gains.
    Most people should be doing full body routines, or at most an upper/lower split.

    I have to disagree with you. My program may not be the best for you, and vise versa. As long as the individual is getting the results they are looking for.

    You can disagree all you want. My response came from a historical point of view. Old school body building is where the popularity of lifting weights emerged, that is a fact. And because body part splits are extremely common in that sport, that's what became the norm for most people who go to the gym.

    Nothing I've said refers to any individual reason or response to a particular type of training setup. I only speak from a historical roots perspective.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
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    I've been told by every trainer I've ever worked with - at least 5 of them - that you need a day of rest to repair your muscles. I do full body work outs when I go to the gym, but I go every other day or maybe every 3rd day so I've rested enough.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    _incogNEATo_ wrote: »
    rybo wrote: »
    People
    Mycophilia wrote: »
    Because past the beginner stage you're generating too much fatigue per session to effectively stimulate all your muscles, hence the need to split it up.
    no, no, no. None of the responses are why.
    People do body part splits because most mainstream lifting emerged from the body building world. And that's what they did. Doesn't mean it is right or the best way to do things. For most people, it's much less than optimal to do body part splits like that. And unless you are going towards the direction of bodybuilding, you could lift on a full body program your entire career and make incredible gains.
    Most people should be doing full body routines, or at most an upper/lower split.

    You say the bolded with such certainty. Be careful using absolutes like that. I know that there is no way I could effectively work all of my muscle groups and still see strength gains by working them all every workout. I'm FAR from a bodybuilder.

    I don't know why you would say that focusing on specific muscle groups are less than optimal either? If you're doing a full body routine, are you not still focusing on specific muscle groups in that workout?

    I say it with certainty because I'm speaking from a historical point of view. Old school body building is where the popularity of lifting weights emerged, that is a fact. And because body part splits are extremely common in that sport, that's what became the norm for most people who go to the gym.

    Nothing I've said refers to any individual reason or response to a particular type of training setup. I only speak from a historical roots perspective.

    And after explaining the history, nothing else I've said is an absolute. It's also pretty commonly recommended here and anywhere for beginners to stick to full body training using compound movements. I so very often say around here "there is no best" and that's still the case here. I trained using body part splits the majority of my life, made great gains. Do I think it was optimal looking back, no. I wish I'd have done more full body training. Was I happy at the time, yes, so it really doesn't matter.
  • Cylphin60
    Cylphin60 Posts: 863 Member
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    reyoflightphoto wrote: »
    I lift heavy. After a few sets of deads and a few sets of squats, I am toast. So if I try to follow that with bench and overheads, my upper body isn't going to get worked very well because I am already too wiped to push it as hard as I need to. I only do five exercises for the most part, but I still split them up. I personally think any workout where you can do it all in one session, is not really worth your time because you obviously aren't pushing yourself over the limits which means your body doesn't really need to step up it's game, and that means you aren't really moving forward. That's why I don't do it. :smile:

    I have to disagree regarding a programs worth. I train a combination of strength and body weight, and every session is full body, takes about 1.5 hours and has gotten me much more than I expected in the way of gains.

    But I'm not a power lifter or body builder either. :) I think determining the goals, and then choosing the program(s) needed to get there is the way to go really, rather than viewing lifting/workouts as one size fits all type programs.
  • Docbanana2002
    Docbanana2002 Posts: 357 Member
    edited February 2017
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    Just adding my two cents since I think I have a reason for splitting my workouts that hasn't been mentioned.... I don't only do weight training, nor is it a big priority for me now. Running, hiking, and yoga are my priorities and weight training is just for general health and to help me get better at the yoga and running. So.... I tend to do lower body work in the day before or after a strenuous yoga session that involves poses that stress my upper body, then do upper body work in the day before or after a long strenuous run. My schedule varies a lot from week to week but following this pattern allows me to let upper body heal/rest while lower body is worked out (and vice versa). When you go hard on the same muscle groups day after day with no rest it can lead to overtraining.
  • reyoflightphoto
    reyoflightphoto Posts: 76 Member
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    Cylphin60 wrote: »
    reyoflightphoto wrote: »
    I lift heavy. After a few sets of deads and a few sets of squats, I am toast. So if I try to follow that with bench and overheads, my upper body isn't going to get worked very well because I am already too wiped to push it as hard as I need to. I only do five exercises for the most part, but I still split them up. I personally think any workout where you can do it all in one session, is not really worth your time because you obviously aren't pushing yourself over the limits which means your body doesn't really need to step up it's game, and that means you aren't really moving forward. That's why I don't do it. :smile:

    I have to disagree regarding a programs worth. I train a combination of strength and body weight, and every session is full body, takes about 1.5 hours and has gotten me much more than I expected in the way of gains.

    But I'm not a power lifter or body builder either. :) I think determining the goals, and then choosing the program(s) needed to get there is the way to go really, rather than viewing lifting/workouts as one size fits all type programs.

    Fair enough. If you value high levels of endurance in addition to strength then your program is better for you. I don't see the value of endurance to that level in the long run unless your goals are to be able to run a marathon or climb a huge mountain or become America's next top ninja among many others.
    My goals have to do with wanting to be able to get up out of a chair with ease when I am 90, along with things like not falling out of bed and having to wait for someone to pick me up. I also want to be able to go on long walks still. Training for that requires more strength and less endurance. I try to maintain 10,000 steps a day for endurance enough to get around when I am older. I have no desire to run marathons or anything else that requires great amounts of stamina so it makes no sense for me to work on endurance to that extreme. I am looking for bone health and strength for a healthy future.
    I work out for about 2 hours a week, maybe 3. I would be curious how my strength gains compare to yours. I would imagine they might be similar, but you probably have more endurance. So yes, I can see what you are saying. If you value high levels of endurance in addition to strength then the extra time is not wasted. If you are looking for strength and enough stamina to lead a healthy life and you don't want to spend long hours in the gym, it's better to go heavy and keep it simple.
    It really does all depend on your goals and your lifestyle and what you value.
    But I must say to the original poster, don't work out full body every day. Your muscles do need rest. I really don't think that can be argued. At 23 you might be able to take it, but it won't go well as you age. Muscles are being torn down in a work out, they need time to rebuild. That's the truth!

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