Upper and lower body days at the gym

Hanandlife
Hanandlife Posts: 4 Member
edited November 20 in Fitness and Exercise
I want to start doing weight training at the gym, but can only realistically commit to 3 days - 4 at the most a week. Goals are fat loss and overall strength.

what do people think about upper/lower body split?
I have thought about doing full body days but i ache everywhere after them so thinking the othere split would allow me to continue to train the opposite area.

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Upper lower splits are great. They are pretty commonly accepted as good (especially for intermediates and beyond.)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    edited July 2017
    I would suggest as a beginner and only have 3-4 days that you follow a 3 day per week full body routine. Check out Starting strength, stronglifts 5x5, or strong curves. After a few weeks, the soreness will lessen or even go away. Just make sure you have at least a day off in between sessions and you will be fine.

    these workouts also have you start light, so you shouldn't be too sore and by the time you get to heavy weights you will be pretty much used to the workouts.

    I am not against upper/lower or push/pull splits, but you would want 4 days/week, full body 3 days works well.
  • Soccermavrick
    Soccermavrick Posts: 405 Member
    Upper/Lower, Push/Pull, create a plan. Try it for a month, and then access whether it is working for you or not.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Full body would be better for your circumstances, but upper/lower is better than bro splits.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I split days for different muscle groups back when I was willing to do many weightlifting days (5+ per week).

    Eventually, I got bored with that and switched to fewer full-body weight days. The nice thing is that you can do them little as once per week, using the other days for some other type of workout (swim, ride, run, play with kids, etc.). The weight days then support your other activities and are not the main goal.

    I understand that some people just want to lift weights and watch their bodies change, but I found it more interesting to lift weights in support of some sport. (In the 90s, I lifted in support of windsurfing-- way fun!)

  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    I would suggest as a beginner and only have 3-4 days that you follow a 3 day per week full body routine. Check out Starting strength, stronglifts 5x5, or strong curves.

    I agree. Currently doing strong curves and loving it. There's also a bit more flexibility in a 3 day total body routine, which can be nice if you're like me with chaotic schedule changes.
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