Are you trying to determine what training method to perform? Maybe you are a complete beginner when it comes to resistance training, or a professional athlete or bodybuilder, one of the most argued subjects in the training world is which routine provides the quickest gains. In this article, we talk about the advantages and disadvantages of full body workouts performed two to three times per week versus working individual muscle groups only once per week, in other words, single muscle group splits.
One of the topics you will come across most often asked over the Internet concerning resistance training is which method is most likely to lead to quicker gains,Guest Postingtraining the whole body more than once a week or dedicating a day to one or two muscle groups at a time, or is it best to train each muscle group more than once per week? You will notice numerous debates over the answer, especially across many muscle building and fitness forums. To be perfectly truthful, there is no definite answer to the debate, likewise no perfect training regime exists, perhaps only each person specifically. This is basically meaning an individual may train individual muscle group once for a week for many years, before mixing up the frequency to twice a week and suddenly find they achieve much greater and faster gains. Another individual may choose to follow the same approach, eat identical food, get the same amount of sleep, only to find the routine not as effective. It is therefore the responsibility of each individual to test the different types of routine and come to a conclusion which one leads to quicker gains.
It can be very confusing designing a workout, especially when starting for the first time. If you were to browse the majority of the forums, the general consensus tends to agree with full body workouts or training each muscle group two to three times a week. However, if you follow the routines practiced by professional bodybuilders and cover model workouts you will notice they tend to follow single muscle group splits. Quite a number of personal trainers often advise full body workouts, especially for newbies. This is down to the fact full body workouts permits you to concentrate on the heavy compound moves, which utilise numerous muscle groups when performing, compared to isolation moves often carried out in single muscle group splits. This also allows you to go heavier, and combining an exercise which enables you to go as heavy as you possibly can, perform two to three times a week (which is also better for improving technique), and works numerous muscles at a time, is going to be very effective when it comes to size and strength gains. This is specifically true when lifting for the first time, and is a method often used by power and strength athletes due to the fact it allows them to lift as heavy as possible. The above few paragraphs read like full body workouts already have an advantage compared to single muscle group splits, however this does not mean you should turn a blind eye to the latter too quickly. Keep reading as we will review the advantages and disadvantages of full body workouts against single muscle group splits, after which it is up to you to try for yourself and choose which one produces the best gains.
Advantages of Full Body Workouts
Allow more compound moves to be performed per workout – As already stated full body workouts enable you to focus on heavy compound moves. This lets you train several muscle groups at the same time leading to quicker gains whatever your end goals are, and the heavier you go the more your strength improves, the more powerful you get the quicker size gains you will achieve (providing you are consuming enough food of course). It also means you are working your body as a whole unit, which will lead to your muscles looking generally more evenly proportioned compared to if you were just working your mirror muscles once a week then paying no attention to other body parts.
More aerobic training – Following exercises that utilise numerous muscle groups is bound to be more draining on the body, which means full body workouts may result in increased calories being burned. Common understanding is that you can afford to consume more calories when performing full body workouts without sacrificing too much lean definition, this is especially useful if aiming to increase size and minimise fat gains.
Greater frequency per muscle group – Training each muscle group more than once per week means they are stimulated much more frequently than training just once per week. Compare against training each muscle group once a week over forty-eight weeks out of one whole year, you would have worked your muscles potentially ninety-six to one hundred and forty-four times in comparison to only forty-eight. This is also beneficial if you ever skip a workout as you would still have trained the muscle on one of your other training days, whereas when training each muscle group once a week you would have to wait a full week for your next session.