I often get asked by people in the gym how I split my workouts, and> whether I think workouts should be split or if full body workouts are OK! I thought I would try and> break it down for you and> give you some advice on how to effectively split your workouts. First up it totally depends on you, your goals and> your training frequency. For someone who struggles to get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week, splitting workouts into a 5 day split just isn’t going to be effective as they could go 2 weeks before they train a specific muscle. On the other hand> someone who consistently trains 5 times a week may struggle to train the same muscles consecutively due to soreness or fatigue.
For anyone just starting out at the gym I always recommend full body workouts, and> recommend 3-4 gym sessions a week, one cardio based session and> 2 to 3 full body resistance workouts. This means while you establish a routine you can make sure you are still working all muscles, and> if you miss a session it doesn’t mean you don’t train a specific muscle for a couple of weeks! Full Body routines are great for fat loss, but make sure you take rest days in between sessions – for example resistance training could be Mon/Wed/Fri with a cardio session at the weekend.
Once you have established a routine and> if you want to get more from your training look into splits, my first go to split would be Push/Pull & Legs, this still only requires the 3 training sessions a week but you can dedicate more time to each muscle group. A push session would typically include upper body movements that use a push motion targeting mainly the Chest, Triceps and> possibly Shoulders. A pull day would be the opposite and> target more of the Back & Biceps, and> again possibly some shoulders.
If you want to get even more advanced with your training, and> feel you have more time each week to dedicate to individual muscle groups you can further break down the muscle groups – for example Legs, Chest & Arms, Back & Shoulders, Abs, Hamstrings & Glutes or any combination of the above. This is currently what I do, I train 4 to 5 times a week, ideally 5 sessions and> they are as follows:
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ONLY TO PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE, IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR EVERYONE!
Monday – Legs
Tuesday – Chest & Arms
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Back & Shoulders
Friday – Hamstrings & Glutes
Saturday – Abs &/Or Yoga
Sunday – Rest
If for some reason I can only train 4 times, I will skip Hamstrings & Glutes are this is a second leg day, or Abs. I also add 10-15 minutes of HIIT onto the end of my workouts currently as I am focusing on getting a little bit leaner for summer!
I hope this helps a little bit in terms of training splits, and> how best to fit your workouts into your schedule based on your goals. If you’ve got any questions let me know I’m @ode2fitness on all social media, or for personalised training plans email me rachel@ode2fitness.co.uk