Training splits – frequency part two

Last week’s post was about frequency in general and why it is more optimal to hit each muscle group at least twice per week. Today we continue with the talk on frequency with something rather practical – actual training splits that you can examine and incorporate into your routine. Almost no science talk, just splits and advice.

The bro split (the body part split)

This split is the one I labelled as less optimal for practically everybody except the elite of the elite. Essentially, you do one body part per workout. A week would look something like this:

Monday – back

Tuesday – chest

Wednesday – legs

Thursday – shoulders

Friday – rest

Saturday – arms

Sunday – rest

Your workouts are probably going to be pretty hard because you have to cram all of your weekly volume into a single session for each body part. Now, why does this work for the elite guys? They are so advanced in their training that only extreme stimulus will cause an adaptation and you cannot get extreme stimulus if you’re hitting multiple muscle groups in a session. For everybody else, doing less per session is actually more.

Full body splits

As the name suggests, you do full body during each workout and here are two options:

Option 1

Monday – full body with a focus on lower body movements

Thursday – full body with a focus on upper body movements

The remaining days are rest days

Option 2

Monday – full body with a focus on lower body movements (quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and calves)

Wednesday – full body with a focus on pushing movements (chest, shoulders and triceps)

Friday – full body with a focus on pulling movements (back and biceps)

The remaining days are rest days

These two options are fantastic for beginners. They allow you to focus on technique whilst still getting sufficient volume and frequency. The sessions should not be too long and too exhausting because you’re trying to set yourself up for hitting the same muscle groups one or even two more times that week. Early intermediate and intermediate lifters can also benefit from full body splits.

Upper/Lower (4 weekly sessions)

Rather obviously, this split has you doing 4 sessions in a week and that might look something like this:

Monday – Upper body with a focus on pushing

Tuesday – Lower with the focus on quads

Thursday – Upper with a focus on pulling

Friday – Lower with a focus on glutes

The remaining days are rest days

While beginners still can use this split to great effect, it is unnecessary to start going for more volume, harder, specialized sessions early on because beginners will grow from practically anything and then why not make it fun, with a ton of variety and a general fitness feel that full body splits provide. I highly recommend this 4 times a week split for anyone with a year or more of experience, basically, anyone who is not truly advanced. A truly advanced lifter for me is someone whose rate of progression is ridiculously slow and they’ve either been on a high level bodybuilding stage or they could go if they chose to do so. In any case, the Upper/Lower split is an awesome way to cram in volume, do a lot of heavy work and progress without compromising recovery and without fear of overlap.

Upper/Lower (6 weekly sessions)

You would alternate between upper and lower workouts with a single day of rest (Sunday for example). This split is a bit harder to execute properly because of overlap, but it is nonetheless possible. It is an option for intermediate and advanced lifters who want to benefit from higher frequency training. However, I don’t think it’s the best option available.

Push/Pull/Legs (twice)

This routine is highly popular and for good reason. Unlike the option above, it runs into significantly fewer issues in terms of overlap and makes it easy to manage fatigue and recovery as a result. It would look something like this:

Monday – pushing movements (maybe more chest focused)

Tuesday – pulling movements (maybe more focused on vertical pulling)

Wednesday – leg day focused on quads

Thursday – pushing movements (maybe more shoulder focused)

Friday – pulling movements (maybe more focused on horizontal pulling)

Saturday – leg day focused on glutes

Sunday – rest day

Going to the gym 6 times a week is not for everybody, but this routine is excellent for supporting growth in intermediate and especially in advanced lifters. It provides enough room for variety, recovery and of course volume. Frequency, which is the topic of the text, is not an issue as you get two sessions for each muscle group.

This piece is already quite lengthy and I’ve given you quite a few splits to work with so I am going to conclude here with an invitation and a brief discussion on other splits.

Obviously this is just a short list of options, but there are many more out there. You could be doing two daily sessions, you could be doing a hybrid split made up of two splits mentioned above (Upper/Lower + Push/Pull/Legs), you could be doing specialized splits to improve a lagging body part or anything in between. Now, if you’re interested in finding out more about this feel free to leave a comment below or contact me either through the website here or through my Instagram, I’d gladly answer any and all questions.