A lot is starting to change for the better in the world of fitness. With more studies, journals and research papers readily available, the industry can start to make informed recommendations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of training and diet for both sport specific training and recreational fitness. This doesn’t in any way mean that I don’t disagree with a large amount of the information and advice still being thrown around. So behold a stream of slightly aggressive blog posts aimed at explaining every full on mistake I see on a daily basis, and why it’s annoying me.
Literally since 2008 I have been a huge believer in the use of full body workouts. Even to the point where other trainers have questioned why I don’t try something new? How about doing a split routine? Well, I’ll tell you why. It’s because they are a monumental waste of time! Why don’t I try banging my head against a wall and see if it helps me stay lean? I see people carry out split routines. I hear them talk about international chest day being a Monday. I hear them say they feel so sore from their last workout and how that means it’s working. The problem is, I don’t see them change and what’s worse is that I don’t see what they lift change.
So why doesn’t a split routine work? Isn’t that how all the pro body builders train? Well, some of them do train like that. But the majority of pro body builders and probably a lot of the people you are engaging with on social media are on steroids. In reality this means that whatever they do, they will make progress and gains. When you try to recreate it, you will achieve something in the initial stages and then progress to a very long plateau.
Now to understand why it doesn’t work to do a split routine, you have to understand a few different aspects to how muscle grows and develops. Prepare yourself for some knowledge bombs.
Supercompensation
There is a theory in the sports science world known as supercompensation theory. This theory is suggests that after a muscle is damaged, the repair process over compensates for the stress that caused the damage in the first place and allows the muscle to produce a greater output. In very simple terms, if you imagine you have 100 muscle fibres in a muscle. Your body may only allow you access to 80 of the 100 fibres but those 80 are now damaged to a point that they can no longer be used. Your body starts to repair these fibres after training. After a set amount of time all 80 fibres are repaired however in an attempt to stop you doing so much damage again, you will now have access to 85 of the 100 fibres. This is supercompensation and based on this, you would be stronger if you were to train again during the time period in which your available fibre count is at its highest.
The actual adaptations to allow for supercompensation are seen in damage levels to the mitochondria and glycogen in the strained muscles. Without getting too complex, after roughly 48 hours, it is suggested that both measurements have fully recovered and are actually better than they were originally. Different variables and factors influencing muscular strength require different length of time to reach the supercompensation stage. The general rule to follow however is to train the same muscle again roughly 48 hours after its initial session.
Neuromusclular adaptations vs muscular adaptations
Supercompensation theory explained as it is above, is also a great example of neuromuscular adaptations. What are you talking about James? Neuromuscular adaptations are basically strength gains made from how the body communicates with a muscle. A stronger mind to muscle connection results in stronger contractions. The body is a very conservative being and will usually only allow you access to a safe amount of resources. We have all experienced times where we have tried to pick something up, expecting it to be heavy and then we have proceeded to launch it into the air as we realise it was actually not as heavy as we expected. This of course can also happen the other way around and we have to have a second attempt at moving an object.
In terms of early stages of training, this is all that is happening. Your brain is getting better at allowing you to move heavier objects. It is becoming more efficient and developing a better understanding of what outcome you are trying to achieve. In the above example of supercompensation theory, that is pure neuromuscular adaptations. Let’s look at it slightly differently now however. There is still strong debate as to whether new fibres are created in muscles or whether existing fibres just become bigger and stronger. Let’s assume the latter.
You have 100 muscle fibres. They each have a power output of 50. You train and damage 80 of them. The body recovers and at the end of its recovery process you have created neuromuscular supercompensation which now allows you to use 85 fibres. Each fiber now also has a power output of 55 which would class as a muscular adaptation. Both adaptations would allow for increased output if you were to train at the time when your body has increased its available levels.
Muscle workload and training intensity
So now we know that in an ideal training plan, a muscle group needs to be trained every 48 hours. Well clearly this won’t happen on a traditional week split. The famous chest and triceps, back and biceps, legs, shoulders etc will not allow for you to return to the muscle group in time for you to make the most of supercompenstaion. So instead we need a cleaner breakdown. That breakdown could come in the form of a push and pull split. Note I haven’t said an upper and lower split and that is because once again it doesn’t actually fit the model unless you train every day. The best split in my opinion however is legs, push, pull. This way you can train every other day and hit all muscle groups to maximise any supercompensation gains. A solid benefit of this layout is that you can focus on maximal lifts for each muscle group.
Imagine a standard leg day routine. It would maybe contain 5 exercises each with 3 sets (not including warm ups). Common sense would dictate that the first exercise would be the most compound based and hardest of the exercises and then they would proceed to work more towards isolation exercises and accessory work. The issue is that by the time you get to your last few exercises, your muscles are no longer operating with a decent output. You would start to use other muscles to assist, drop technical strictness or even just fail to do the exercise all together. But surely complete muscular fatigue is a good thing? It is, but it certainly doesn’t take 5 exercises to achieve it. You can do it in one. That right there is what we in the business call efficiency. One exercise on legs and you work maximally, maybe even with tempo to fatigue the muscle group fully. Then you move onto the push muscle group and do the same. Finish the lot off with your pull movement and that’s it. Next day off and then you’re back in again to do it all again (maybe mix the exercises up slightly e.g squats become deadlifts).
Think about your mindset now. How much weight would you put on the bar to do squats knowing you have 4 more leg exercises to do after the squats? What if all you had to do today was squats? Chances are you would lift more with just the one exercise to do. That weight increase combined with supercompensation theory is only going to have one outcome. You will get stronger.
Cross Sectional area of muscle
Why do I want to get stronger James? My goals are for fat loss and toning. Calm yourself! Strength is fat loss and toning. That’s right you heard it here first. Well maybe not first as it’s been very well researched and reported for many years. It’s just not been put forward to or accepted by gym goers very well. I’m about to condense a lot of physiological information into a few sentences to support these ground breaking revelations.
The cross sectional area of a muscle is directly related to its strength. The bigger it is, the stronger it is. Strength and power based activities have favourable impacts on hormones and metabolism resulting in reduced potential for fat gain. Strength based training is purely anaerobic which when combined with good diet practices will mobilise and oxidise free fatty acids and a great rate. In other words, strength training burns fat while you train and after you train. The list could go on.
In conclusion…
So what do we make of all this? In summary, stop with the circuits, the light weights, and the split routines. Train every other day with one goal: strength. Yes you can argue that your goals aren’t to lose fat or to tone or build muscle. If that’s the case then why are you doing a weights routine in the first place? You could argue that if you do strength training you’ll get really big and muscular. I will respond to that statement with a blank stare. If you’re eating surplus calories or taking anabolic steroids then yes that is true. But why eat surplus calories or take anabolic steroids if you’re not aiming to get bigger?
Hopefully I’ve made sense in my ramblings and have solidly put forward reasoning as to why the traditional split routine is a failed endeavor. If not, feel free to comment below questions. I’m more than happy to discuss all this in more detail. Keep an eye out for the next of my infamous moans and let me know what your biggest gym frustrations are.