Advantage Of Total-body Workouts: Do Bodybuilders Have It Wrong?

Advantage Of Total-body Workouts: Do Bodybuilders Have It Wrong?

If you walk into most gyms on the planet, everyone there hitting the weights is probably using some type of split-training workout that systematically trains specific muscle groups on different days. One of the primary reasons for the preponderant use of split training is most top-level bodybuilders typically utilize split routines that train each muscle group twice a week1 and since they’re so big and strong, most of us surmise that this training approach must be the best way to gain muscle. Well, despite the tremendous popularity of split-training approaches, there are some very good scientific reasons demonstrating that the use of total-body workouts, which train the entire body in one workout, are more effective than split routines at promoting muscle growth.

TRAINING INTENSITY AND VOLUME

The most apparent advantage of split-training routines over total-body workouts is the relatively greater training volume achieved with split-training protocols. For instance, when training chest, split training routines incorporate several sets of many different bench press movements such as the flat bench, incline bench and decline bench followed up by some sort of non-pressing movement to finish off the pecs such as flyes. Of course, this is quite a bit more volume than the four or five sets of bench presses that are done during a full-body program. So, split routines are presumptively more effective at increasing muscle mass, since greater training volume is supposedly more effective at stimulating muscle growth.