When you’re trying to achieve a fitness goal it’s always best to find a gym split that aligns with your mission, and your availability. This way, you can maximize growth and efficiency, creating a great physique that you can be proud of. Workout splits divide your muscle groups into different sections, providing you with a regime you can follow effectively. In this blog, we will showcase the different types of gym splits, along with their pros and cons.
1. Full Body
The full body split consists of performing a full body workout, targeting all the major muscle groups. It is usually targeted to those who only want to train 3-4 days a week or are too busy to train more often than that. It's also ideal for beginners who want to learn all the movements and not over train at the beginning.
Pros:
- Efficient use of time, the 3-4 days a week split provides you with plenty of time to achieve your other weekly goals, whilst also achieving a great physique.
- Overalls Strength development – the full body split means you’ll be training all body parts simultaneously in the same session, thus avoiding any muscle or strength imbalances.
- Improved Cardio, this workout method contains plenty of compound exercises, which increases heart rate and provides better endurance and cardio.
Cons:
- Limited volume during the week, since you’ll be working every muscle group each session, you may find a reduction in the number of exercises performed for each muscle group.
- Inability to focus primarily on one muscle group, if you have specific muscle group goals such as underdeveloped traps or legs, you may find that it's difficult to provide enough volume or frequency for growth.
2. Push/Pull/Legs (PPL) Split.
This split is my personal favorite, and it is one that is used heavily in the bodybuilding world. The PPL split consists of training a Push Day (Chest and triceps), a Pull Day (back and Biceps) and then a Leg Day. Some people train 5 days a week with this routine, some train 6. Typically, you’ll perform this split with three consecutive training days, followed by one rest day.、
Pros:
Super balanced training, with the Push Pull Legs split, there is enough volume and frequency dedicated to each muscle group, resulting in a balanced development of muscle.
Since you’re training separate muscle groups each day, there is plenty of recovery time for each muscle, ensuring the next time you go to train that muscle group, you’re ready to go.
Exercise Variety, if you're like me and become bored of the same exercises each week, this split allows you to switch up exercises as you go, as you have access to muscle specific exercises, as opposed to mostly compound workouts.
Cons:
In comparison to the full body split, the PPL split requires a higher time commitment, as you’ll be training at least 5 days a week. This may be challenging for those with limited time, or for beginners who are just starting out. Beginners, remember to take your time!
Upper/Lower Split:
The Upper lower split consists of training only Upper body workouts one day, and only lower body workouts the next. This split is primarily trained over 4 days a week, making it a good mix between the full body style of training and the Push/Pull/Legs.
Pros:
Training opposing muscle groups means that they get plenty of rest before training again.
This split is super flexible in the way that you can program it, since there are plenty of upper and low body exercises, you can switch it up daily, ensuring you target all muscle groups.
Cons:
Can be demanding for beginners, training half your body in one session may be too much for some beginners, like the full body split, if you’re a beginner, take your time!
We hope this array of different splits proves to be useful for you! Don’t forget to always warm up before each session, regardless of which split you choose! When choosing a split from these choices, consider your experience level, your weekly availability, and which one makes you more excited to train! If you’re enjoying your split, you’ll be more consistent, so choose a split you know you’ll love! Keep in mind that you don’t have to do one split forever. You could change your splits based on your current lifestyle situation. If you’re super busy with work, try a full body, 3-day training week split! If you’ve got time to kill, try the PPL split to maximize your gains! Don’t be afraid to test out splits over a few different weeks and see what works best!
For more advice on which diet to match with your training splits, which specific exercises work best, and other important info check out our other blogs!
