Split Decision

Is Full-Body Training More Effective Than Split Routines At Building Muscle?

- Pedro van Gaalen

Conventional body building wisdom suggests that the best way to develop muscle is a split routine training structure that focuses on one body part per session using multiple exercises to overload that muscle group with the right combination of volume and intensity.

There is no doubt that this approach works as it’s the one followed by most gymgoers and physique athletes whose main aim is to improve their aesthetics. But what if it isn’t the most effective? Well, some of the more recent research has certainly given us food for thought on the subject.

IS FULL-BODY BETTER?

In one study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, titled “Influence of Resistance Training Frequency on Muscular Adaptations in Well-Trained Men”, highly respected fitness and sports nutrition expert and exercise researcher, Brad Schoenfeld, PhD and his colleagues investigated the effects of training muscle groups one day per week using a split-body routine, compared to training three days per week using a total-body routine.

The researchers recruited 20 well-trained male volunteers from a university population and tested their one-repetition maximum (1RM) strength in the bench press and squat, and measured the muscle thickness of their forearm flexors, forearm extensors, and vastus lateralis, which is the largest and most powerful part of the quad.

The study participants were paired according to their baseline strength and then randomly assigned to one of the two groups, either following the split routine where 2-3 muscle groups were trained per session, or the total-body training group where one exercise was performed per muscle group in a session with all muscle groups trained in each session.