|
We know through a multitude of studies that training each body part 2-3x per week is a good idea if you're trying to maximize muscle growth and strength gain [1-4]. Because of this, I regularly get asked whether an upper/lower (2x per week) or full-body (3x) split should be used. - It's important to understand that a split is nothing more than a way to organize your training. The type of split you should use will depend on how much training volume you can and want to perform in a week (volume can be defined as the number of sets per muscle group). - For example, if you need to perform 15+ sets per muscle group in a week in order to make progress, fitting all that volume into only 3 full-body sessions is not practical. Organizing this volume in an upper/lower or push/pull/legs split will help you to get in the required volume over the week. - On the other hand, if you are relatively new to the gym and can make good progress by training every muscle group with about 10 sets per week or so, a 3-day full-body split can work just fine. - So, if you're wondering what training split is best, first think about how much training is appropriate for you (take into consideration time availability, experience, fatigue tolerance etc.). Once you've established a good starting volume range, use a split that allows you to organize your training well throughout the week. - References: 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/25932981 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/27102172 3. https://www.ncbi.nlm./pubmed/17326698 4. https://www./publication/232186690_Comparison_of_1_Day_and_3_Days_Per_Week_of_Equal-Volume_Resistance_Training_in_Experienced_Subjects |
|
|
