Is one really better than the other?
I know, I know—a boring title, but you clicked on the article anyway, didn’t you? OK, let’s get straight to it!!!
Why the hell does this need so much debate? These training formats—full-body and split routines—have been around for decades. Only in the past decade have strength coaches somehow started becoming “monogamous” in their approach, insisting that one is better than the other or that you absolutely have to choose between the two.
What’s going on? Honestly, I don’t understand why this has become such a big issue and sparked so much debate. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no problem here and little to argue about. It’s much like the debate over whether you should use a high or low rep count to stimulate hypertrophy. Just as with rep counts, both approaches to structuring your training have their advantages!!! It pays to use both from time to time!!!
“But if you had to choose one…”
OK, I don’t know what hypothetical world you’re living in, but in real life, you don’t have to make that choice. In real life, you can and should use as many different approaches as you like, provided they work and are effective. It’s also a fact that full-body and split routines are completely different approaches, each with its own benefits. Some of you may find this concept radical, but you should try both and experience their benefits. It’s not a case of one being completely right and the other completely wrong, or one working and the other not.
Let’s take a look at what these different approaches have to offer:
Four benefits of a full-body routine:
1: You can train a muscle or muscle group frequently
The more often you stimulate a muscle, the more often you stimulate muscle growth, provided you allow enough time for recovery, train when you’re rested, stimulate the muscle across different rep ranges, and so on.
With a full-body routine, it’s common to train a muscle or muscle group as often as 3 or 4 times a week. That’s a lot of stimulation. Try training a muscle 3 or 4 times a week on a split routine, and you’d have to start training 3 or 4 times a day. That would be highly impractical and, you could probably say, virtually impossible.
2: You expend more energy during your workout
Energy expenditure is considerably higher during full-body workouts than during split workouts. That’s because a full-body routine puts your entire body to work. Or think of it this way: which demands more energy—an arm day when you only train your biceps, triceps and wrists, or a workout that starts with squats, followed by dips, pull-ups and rows? It goes without saying that the second option uses more energy.
So, with full-body routines, you can eat considerably more. Secondly, you can comfortably skip the 15 minutes of cardio at the end of your workout. Thirdly, if you’re bulking, you’ll gain very little fat in the process.
3. Greater carbohydrate depletion means greater supercompensation
A full-body workout causes widespread microtrauma, protein breakdown and glycogen depletion throughout your body. All of these occur on a large scale with full-body training, creating favorable conditions for anabolism and supercompensation, provided you give your body adequate amounts of the various nutrients it needs.
4. A strong (stronger) stimulus for anabolic hormone release
Working a large amount of muscle mass and multiple muscle groups in the same workout also triggers the release of more anabolic hormones. The slightly greater effect of full-body training on anabolic hormone release has long been debated, and some people believe it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I, the author, believe that any increase in anabolic hormone concentrations has value. That’s because this hormone release and its effects occur at a particularly sensitive time: after training, your body is depleted, yet receptive and primed for anabolism. If you supply adequate amounts of nutrients during this sensitive period, even a slight increase in anabolic hormone concentrations will certainly have a positive effect.
Mike Mentzer was a big advocate of full-body training
OK, now let’s look at split training programs.
Three benefits of a split training program:
1: Less fatigue and fewer exercises = heavier weights, greater training loads
Firstly, although full-body training has its advantages, it’s still a hellishly tiring way to train, and you really feel that with each successive muscle and exercise. During a full-body workout, by the time you reach compound exercise 3 or 4, the weights you can lift have already dropped considerably. Your overall fatigue is already so high that you’re running pretty low on energy.
Secondly, remember that when you do compound exercises—and they don’t even have to be compound exercises—the muscles involved and their functions overlap. Try doing a standing barbell shoulder press after you’ve already done a dumbbell bench press and dips. You’ll be using considerably less weight than you would on a typical split routine.
With a split routine, overall fatigue is considerably lower, and if the program is structured properly, fatigue in the specific muscles you’re about to train is almost nonexistent. If your program pairs antagonist muscles, your performance should be even better: blood flow to the area is increased, but the muscles don’t fatigue each other much because they perform opposing actions.
Ultimately, when your overall fatigue is lower and your muscles haven’t already been tired out by the overlapping effects of earlier exercises, you can place the maximum training load on the muscle you’re targeting while it’s still fresh and rested. This clearly has a positive effect on strength and muscle mass gains!!!
2: You can focus more closely on fewer muscles at a time
Clearly, if you train only two muscles at a time instead of your whole body, those two muscles receive considerably more attention, but they also experience a greater training load and more microtrauma. With a split training program, every muscle gets plenty of attention and is effectively given priority. With full-body training, however, there is little scope to prioritize any particular muscle.
Full-body training certainly has its strengths, but when you work your entire body in a single workout, it is practically impossible to give those muscles the same attention you can with a split program. What’s more, when you can focus on one or two muscles at a time, the quality of your training is considerably higher. Try to work everything at once, and you end up rushing around, jumping from one exercise to another and from one muscle to another. Your concentration suffers badly, and so does the effort you can put in.
It is like working on a project. Think about it: would you achieve more by trying to develop the entire project all at once, or by tackling it section by section and putting it together systematically? Which approach would produce better results?
Arnold followed split training programs.
3: Split programs are less likely to lead to overtraining
Full-body workouts are long and very tiring. Despite the benefits outlined earlier, most people cannot sustain serious full-body training over the long term, keep it up, or continue making progress with it. These workouts are truly exhausting.
With a split program, you can complete an extremely focused, intense, high-quality workout in as little as half an hour. And you leave the gym still feeling motivated, fresh, and as though you have accomplished something. Do not underestimate those feelings. The more you look forward to getting back to the gym, the better your workouts will be and the more successfully you will reach your goals.
As soon as you start hating your workouts or feeling a little fed up with them, it is clear that your nervous system is fatigued, you have not recovered, and overtraining has begun to set in. From that point onward, every workout you do is less productive. Clearly, you can do more when you have recovered, your nervous system is fresh, and you feel motivated.
Conclusion
So, once again, I really do not know how this whole debate about full-body versus split training programs began, but I hope this article has helped pave the way for a return to polygamy in the world of strength training. Both full-body and split training have their strengths!!! Try both!!!
Translator’s note: I do not know how you felt, but despite the benefits of both styles, I still found myself more drawn to split training and its advantages. The article’s central point is sound: you should certainly try both. How long to use each, when, and at what stage of your training are separate questions. Personally, I still believe that an advanced, well-developed lifter will not get much out of using full-body training for an extended period. In my opinion, full-body training is an excellent fit for beginners and for general strength preparation in other sports. Athletes with a higher level of conditioning can certainly also use it after competition, once they have had a break and are starting a new training cycle. Full-body training could also be suitable after an injury, while you are recovering and trying to get back on track. In other situations, I have serious doubts about whether full-body training really works!!!
Translated by: Janar Rückenberg
Come and train! ArtGym
