Full body workout VS. 3 Day Split

[Dadof2]

I started doing this....
4 day split for 8 weeks
(M) chest
(T) arms
(W) off
(T) Back
(F) off
(S) Shoulders & Legs
(S) off
Then take a week off and move to a full body workout for 8 weeks (3 days a week)... Then repeat.
I'm going to try this for a few months and see how it goes.

Right now my training program looks like this:

Monday - Chest & Tri
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Back
Thurs - Shoulders & Traps
Fri - Bi & Tri
Sat & Sunday Off

In two weeks I am going to switch up to back and bi's on Monday, and train just chest on Wednesday. I am going to do this for two weeks.

Then I am probably going to switch up to :

Monday - Chest & Back
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Legs & Traps
Thursday - Off
Friday - Shoulders, Bi's & Tri's

I will likely try this for a month and then switch to a full body routine for 4-6 weeks depending on how my body is responding to training.

 

[Jim Mills]

I was using one like your first.... I found working 2 body parts during a workout day, I wasn't doing enough.... I like to only take 45min to and hour during a workout session.... When I do one body part for 45 min.... I know I did what had to be done.
Monday was chest day.... Looked like this.
bench press (1 warm up setx10) then 3 heavy sets x 6
Incline fly's (same as above).
decline bench (same as above).
seated machine fly's (same as above)
So I'm getting 4 warm up sets = 40 reps and 12 heavy sets = 24 reps.... a total of 64 reps.
Then I'll switch it up after a couple weeks.... Like what others said, what ever you do... May work or may not for others... I like to stick it out for 8 weeks to see how it goes.

Right now my training program looks like this:

Monday - Chest & Tri
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - Back
Thurs - Shoulders & Traps
Fri - Bi & Tri
Sat & Sunday Off

In two weeks I am going to switch up to back and bi's on Monday, and train just chest on Wednesday. I am going to do this for two weeks.

Then I am probably going to switch up to :

Monday - Chest & Back
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Legs & Traps
Thursday - Off
Friday - Shoulders, Bi's & Tri's

I will likely try this for a month and then switch to a full body routine for 4-6 weeks depending on how my body is responding to training.

 

[Dadof2]

I was using one like your first.... I found working 2 body parts during a workout day, I wasn't doing enough.... I like to only take 45min to and hour during a workout session.... When I do one body part for 45 min.... I know I did what had to be done.
Monday was chest day.... Looked like this.
bench press (1 warm up setx10) then 3 heavy sets x 6
Incline fly's (same as above).
decline bench (same as above).
seated machine fly's (same as above)
So I'm getting 4 warm up sets = 40 reps and 12 heavy sets = 24 reps.... a total of 64 reps.
Then I'll switch it up after a couple weeks.... Like what others said, what ever you do... May work or may not for others... I like to stick it out for 8 weeks to see how it goes.

When I do the one body part a day routine I work heavy and do 5 sets of my compound movements. I can get finished in 45 minutes but I generally am pretty worn out by the end, and I grow like crazy.

I am not a hardgainer, and I am just getting back into it, but I put on 5 lbs this month. Some of that is water weight, but I am happy.

My problem is that I tend to want to stick with this routine because of the results, and I wind up hitting plateaus.

 

[DreamOfWeight]

i didnt read everyones post but... i work 3on one off.. then repeat.

just my 2cents.

 

[Manimalia]

Full body workouts are really tough. I love them, but it hampers recovery but cardio sucks hard since you are recovering from your leg workouts all the time. I prefer to do a five day split now with two leg days.

recovery is fine if you do not concentrate on one particular movement for more than two sets. with this, though, you should focus on great form and do a three second up/down movement and really contract/expand to get good effect. my old full body was 2 sets at 10-12 reps each exercise. sometimes i switched up order/exercises, but it looked like this on m/w/f:

bench
pullups

lawnmowers
behind neck press

skulleez
reverse curls

squats
straight leg deads

situps (these to failure 2 sets)
scissor kicks

making sure on the weighted exercises (all but core) to do a three second/up down controlled movement with hard contraction/wide expansion.


i recovered very well, and made some good progress for a short while with it, til i went into a hiatus. i'm now returning to good fitness though.

 

[AnonyMoose]

none of the above - i do a three day split followed by a rest then full body rest. then back again.

 

[KLaw666]

i like to switch between 3-day(fullbody) and 4-5 day split routines every few months

 

[MattRoeske]

I do full body 3x a week but i do doubles
Morning; Chest tris shoulders labs abs upper + lower
Afternoon; Back bis forearms legs abs obliques + core

Def works for me

 

[workaholic]

Just my opinion- I don't really like full body workouts. In my opinion if your just wanting to put on overall size or mass they could be helpful. However I feel if you have lagging body parts, or really want to focus on having a body that is built perfect all around full body workouts don't work! How can you target something so specific such as the rear delt, the inner chest, the peak of a bicep, the different heads of the tricep, while still putting on mass! Think about it... a lot of people do concentration curls to really get the peak on the bicep, but if your doing a full body workout your not going to be able to do a lot of bicep training each day! You'll probably stick to something like a barbell curl because its one of the more dominant bicep exercises used for pure mass. Hey its just my opinion, but does anyone else agree!? Full body workouts just don't seem to target the specifics of the body enough to be completely developed in my opinion.... then again weight lifting is one of the most person specific activities, it all depends on the person. Just my thoughts!

 

[whoareu]

I have been doing the full body x3 routine for almost 4 months now and am very please with the results. if and when i plateau i will switch it up to a 2-3 day split routine. i also once a month will go and do a back to back just to shock the system. then take 2 days off, i read that it works so i figured id try it.