You are either a full-fledged fitness enthusiast or someone trying to get their week’s workout done, and there is no in-between.
So what differentiates the two? Goals and reasoning.
For example, if you are training for a particular sport or competition, you might focus on some muscle groups more intensively than others.
Some people go to the gym a few times a week solely to fit in a workout between their hectic schedules that don’t allow for much movement, like desk jobs.
So, ideally, in these situations, a full-body workout or a split workout becomes an essential choice to determine whether you are achieving your desired goals. Hence, to help you understand which of the two is better suited for you, we have compiled this guide.
What is a Full-Body Workout?
A full-body workout is, as the name suggests, a routine that includes exercises targeting all the muscles and engaging your core.
If you are a beginner, you will be trained in full-body workouts, as they don’t require you to be at any certain fitness level, and their flexibility allows them to be tailored around your needs and skills.
Full-body workouts are excellent for people who are:
- Beginners who need to build base strength and learn various training types and techniques
- Those who require more recovery time and rest
- Individuals on a tight schedule
- People who want a complete workout and aim to lose weight
If you need more information or want to explore specific exercises, just let me know!
Benefits of Full-body workout
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Time crunch
For people working 9 to 5, it becomes extremely hard to find the time or energy to work out. Therefore, the time they can spare at the gym must be utilized for full-body workouts.
Even if you miss out on a few sessions, you can go back and rework all your muscles instead of focusing on one each session.
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Better endurance
With full-body workouts, you can focus on developing all the muscle groups, which helps improve muscular strength and endurance.
When all muscle groups are stimulated simultaneously for an extended period, it can build resistance and strength.
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Better recovery time
Splitting workouts among different muscle groups can help take the strain off one muscle group, which helps maintain a balance and allows for recovery time between sets.
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Enhanced metabolism
Working your full body can help keep all your muscles active, reduce overall fat, and increase lean muscle mass. Being active can enhance your metabolism by burning excess calories through the workout.
How to perform full-body workouts?
A simple routine to follow for a full-body workout 3-4 times a week with recovery time in between is:
- Warm-up: loosen up those muscles and warm up by performing 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching or light cardio
- Squats (lower body): follow it up with 3 sets of squats with 8-12 reps.
- Push-ups or Bench Press: either of them can be performed to work your core. Do 3 sets with 8-12 reps.
- Deadlifts: to work on your muscles 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps
- Planks: 3 sets of 30-60 seconds
Cons of full-body workouts
There are some disadvantages to full-body workouts, such as:
- Since you utilize your full body, it may lead to fatigue and exhaustion.
- With limited focus on specific muscle groups, it could hinder their growth.
- You could potentially overtrain without adequate rest, resulting in an increased risk of injuries.
What is a split-body workout?
Now unlike a full-body workout with the split-body workout, you focus on specific muscle groups and movements at a time.
When you intensively work certain muscle groups there’s better potential for muscle growth and reduced risk of injury.
Split-body workouts are excellent for people who are:
- Bodybuilders/athletes that have intermediate or advanced training experience
- Have time to dedicate at least 4-6 days of the week
- Want to focus on specific muscle groups
- Want to gain muscle hypertrophy
Benefits of Split-body workout
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Increased gains per muscle group
With split-body workouts, there is enough time to focus on specific muscle groups in each session, allowing for higher-intensity workouts.
You can perform additional sets, reps, and exercises targeting muscles like the chest or legs. This promotes muscle hypertrophy as the muscles experience greater tension and stimulation.
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Better recovery
Once you have trained a specific muscle group, moving on to another allows the muscles to relax and recover until they are back in the rotation for a session.
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Focus & precision
When you focus on a specific muscle group, it allows you to try several exercises with different intensities and angles.
This focused approach can help reduce fatigue from working unrelated muscle groups.
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Adaptable
Split-body workouts are exclusive to your needs. You can carefully design your routine to accommodate working on your weaker muscle groups and steadily achieve your body goals.
How to perform split-body workouts?
To design a split-body routine with a specific muscle group you need to:
- Choose a muscle group: it could be common splits that include upper/lower body, push/pull, legs etc
- Stick to a routine: Create a schedule that suits you for eg. 4-6 sessions per week with specific muscle group
- Determine sets & reps: ideally, you can perform between 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
- Rest & recover: rest between the sets for 1-2 minutes to ensure you do not fatigue yourself and keep a gap of 48-72 hours for recovery before retargeting.
Cons of split-body workouts
- Requires investment of time with at least 4-6 workout sessions a week
- If not recovered properly can cause overstrain & Injuries
- You are limited to specific muscle groups
- Not suitable for beginners
Split Body Workouts vs. Full Body Workouts: Scientific Review
A study was conducted to compare the effects of 12-week full-body and split-body resistance training regimes on muscle mass, strength, and explosive performance in 50 untrained women.
It was found that both groups showed significant improvement in maximal strength, which included bench press, lat pulldown, and leg press, along with upper body power and muscle mass.
There was no significant difference between full-body and split-body routines, indicating that they have similar efficacy. Both are scientifically effective approaches for improving strength and muscle mass in untrained individuals.(1)
Conclusion
Full-body workouts and Split-body workouts are equally effective for individuals wanting to increase muscle mass and strength. However, each workout serves a specific group of people, identifying what group you belong to will help you realise your goals better.
Before you begin any routine, seek help from a professional trainer to tailor a workout plan just for you.
FAQs:
1. Is it better to do full-body workouts or split to build muscle?
If you are a beginner then full-body workouts are better for you and for trained athletes and bodybuilders split-body workout is a better option for building muscle.
2. Do any bodybuilders use full-body workouts?
Yes! Some bodybuilders do use full-body workouts, especially during certain phases of their training.
3. Are bodybuilding splits effective?
Yes, they are effective as you focus on certain muscle groups each workout that can help muscle hypertrophy.
4. What split do most bodybuilders use?
Most bodybuilders use push/pull/leg split or body part split
5. Is a full-body workout better than a bro split?
It depends on your goals, experience and fitness level.
