Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Full Body vs. Bodypart Splits

How your workouts are designed are what is going to define how your body is shaped and acts. The truth of the matter is that we are complex beings with bodies designed in push and pull systems that act together day in and day out. That being said there are multiple advantages to doing workouts that incorporate total body work.

By doing total body you're actually able to burn more calories while still being able to pack on pounds and pounds of muscle. The key to this is pairing the correct exercise together to reap the most out of every workout.

Through personal experience I've found that what works well is doing the following:
Day 1: horizontal push, generally a chest exercise such a barbell or dumbbell press, followed by a horizontal pull, which is a back exercise more like rowing, such as seated cable row barbell or dumbbell rows, and finishing with a leg exercise, preferable something that required full activation of the legs like a squat or a dead lift or a lunge.
Day 2: vertical push, some type a shoulder press, a vertical pull, like a pull down pull up or chin ups, and a leg work out again such ad a dead lift squat or a lunge. After those two days a solid reset can be used if your goal is to gain quality muscle while if your goal is fat lose I would recommend a session of high intensity interval work.

Notice that every example exercise I mentioned was a multi-joint, multi-muscle action. The reason is that these compound movements activate the most muscle fibers there by giving you the most work for both maximum muscle growth and calorie burning. And as we all know, the bigger the muscles on your frame the more calories you burn.

Not that single body part work doesn't have it's own benefit. Bodybuilders are notorious for single body part work. The reason being is that these men and women are after a physique with much larger attributes and and are judged by their muscle belly size, proportions, and how symmetric they are.

The type of physique you wish to attain is going to determine the type of workout will use. The key to changing your physique and your life is putting in the effort. So do the work an hold yourself accountable for not only your gym time but your diet as well. If you diet is off then you can't reach your ideal physique. Only you can do it.

Jack Lazarus

1 comment: