Monday is chest day. At least for the huge line of guys waiting for the bench press every Monday. May we suggest hitting up the squat rack instead? Churning out some deadlifts? And flat-out eliminating body-part splits (think: leg day, back and biceps day, and (gasp) chest day).
“The benefits of making every strength workout a total-body workout are numerous,” says strength coach Dan Trink, C.S.C.S., director of training operations at Peak Performance in NYC. “Most notably, since you are working all body parts in each training session, you can do more complex, multi-joint movements in every workout.”
Hitting multiple muscle groups in a single workout as opposed to performing body-part splits has a ton of benefits: It burns more calories, builds more overall strength, and trains the body to work together as a whole unit, just like nature intended. Plus, it does all of that in far less time.
Plus, hammering a single muscle group for an entire workout isn’t always as effective as many men hope, says exercise physiologist Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D., C.S.C.S. After performing only two isolation exercises in a row, guys’ performance drops off pretty fast. The muscles are already fatigued, so you are able to lift less and get less out of your last four, five, or six exercises than you would if you spread them out through the week, Nelson says.
Similarly, since the muscles can get so worn out, overuse injuries with body-part split workouts are pretty common. Even more common is for guys’ form to get progressively crappier as they move through a body-part split workout. “They are so focused on fatiguing that one muscle, they forget quality,” Nelson says. That’s where so-so strength gains and injuries set in.
Luckily, contrary to what you might think, working your entire body during each workout doesn’t mean you have the limit yourself to just a couple gym sessions per week, Trink says. “You can build up to four, five, or even six training sessions a week if you train total body.” The trick is working up to it as well as mixing up your routine with different variations, loads, and set and rep schemes.
Still, all of this isn’t to say that isolation exercises and even full body-split days don’t have their time and place. They do. They can be beneficial for guys who are looking to gain a lot of size (hence why body-part splits are a favorite among body-builders) or need to shore up weaknesses in a certain muscle group, Trink says. But, even if you do perform body-part splits, they should be a part of your workout routine, not your routine’s focus.