Reasons to Use a Split Routine Workout
Updated June 19, 2014.
Split routines in weight training have various definitions, but in general terms, what this refers to is the allocation of training to various body regions and muscle groups on, usually, different days of the week, or even different sessions of a single day if you train twice a day.
Although split routines are mainly a training approach of bodybuilders rather than weightlifters or powerlifters, even fitness trainers can utilize this technique to pack more training into a week by week program.
For general fitness trainers, dividing upper body exercises and lower-body exercises is just about the only split you should ever need. You can add core -- abs and lower back -- to either of the upper- or lower-body sessions.
One strategy for splits is to spend approximately the same amount of time in a workout session as you would for a full-body workout (or perhaps a little less) and pack in a range of different exercises for the same muscle group while alternating specific exercises through different muscle groups. For example, you might do dumbbell arm curls for biceps, pushdowns for triceps, upright rows for shoulders and pulldowns for back, and then start again with biceps but select a different exercise for that and each subsequent each muscle group.
This way, you're working these muscle groups extensively, yet getting a slightly different hit each time because of the specificity of each exercise.
Split routines are one way of being flexible in your weight training. If you get bored with the same old workout, give split routines a try. Check out Hugo Rivera's splits with the links below.
Split routines in weight training have various definitions, but in general terms, what this refers to is the allocation of training to various body regions and muscle groups on, usually, different days of the week, or even different sessions of a single day if you train twice a day.
Although split routines are mainly a training approach of bodybuilders rather than weightlifters or powerlifters, even fitness trainers can utilize this technique to pack more training into a week by week program.
For general fitness trainers, dividing upper body exercises and lower-body exercises is just about the only split you should ever need. You can add core -- abs and lower back -- to either of the upper- or lower-body sessions.
Typical Split System -- Upper Body and Lower Body
- Day 1. Arms - biceps, triceps, radialis; chest - upper and lower pecs; shoulders - front, mid and rear deltoids; back - upper and middle back, lower back
- Day 2. Legs - quads, hamstrings, calves; butt - gluteus maximus, minimus; core - abdominals
- Day 3. Repeat Day 1.
- Day 4. Repeat Day 2.
How to Program a Split Routine
One strategy for splits is to spend approximately the same amount of time in a workout session as you would for a full-body workout (or perhaps a little less) and pack in a range of different exercises for the same muscle group while alternating specific exercises through different muscle groups. For example, you might do dumbbell arm curls for biceps, pushdowns for triceps, upright rows for shoulders and pulldowns for back, and then start again with biceps but select a different exercise for that and each subsequent each muscle group.
This way, you're working these muscle groups extensively, yet getting a slightly different hit each time because of the specificity of each exercise.
Reasons to Use a Split Routine
- Serious, full-body workouts with compound exercises can make you very tired or sore, and depending on your fitness, limit the number of weight training sessions in your program. Split training can vary the load of work by alternating target muscle groups over a week.
- Split routines can make room for sport-specific training when upper or lower body is the focus of that training on a particular day. For example, running or alternative leg work on the day you do the upper-body routine; or rowing on the day you do the lower-body routine.
- Split routines could enhance your time allocation. For example, a 30-minute split workout might allow you to train six days a week around your work or family schedule rather than trying to find an hour on several days.
- With split routines, you can better target those micro elements of muscle training - different sections or heads of a muscle group for example.
Split routines are one way of being flexible in your weight training. If you get bored with the same old workout, give split routines a try. Check out Hugo Rivera's splits with the links below.