Should you train your chest and back together? Or would you rather have your legs one day and your upper body the next? The answer is: it depends! Split training for intensive muscle building has different variants. Read here about the factors that determine the ideal muscle combination.
Muscle building or strength training in bodybuilding should take certain load standards into account in order to achieve success. These include, among other things, the ideal training frequency, intensity, number of sets and repetitions.
Advanced and experienced strength athletes in particular use certain training principles to stimulate additional muscle building and train effectively. In addition to the principle of supersets, these include drop sets, forced repetitions and split training. The latter is discussed in this article because the type of split dictates which muscle groups should ideally be trained together.
Split training: how it works, advantages and disadvantages
In a split you train certain body parts or muscle groups on different days. With the help of split training, it is possible to train a specific body region/a specific muscle group intensively and still adhere to the required regeneration phases. In studies, better results in muscle building could be achieved.
Another advantage of split training: Compared to whole-body training, it can also mean a time saving for the individual training units - for example, if you can effectively complete a focused leg training in 30 minutes and concentrate on your arms and shoulders the following day. An effective full-body workout, on the other hand, easily takes 45 to 60 minutes.
A big disadvantage of split training is that it is no longer effective if, for example, you have to unexpectedly postpone or even cancel individual training days. The individual muscles may then no longer be used often enough or the regeneration time may be shortened.
Also interesting: How much muscle can you build in a month?
Anatomical muscle types and main muscle groups
What are we actually talking about when we talk about muscle groups? The human body has different types of muscles: the smooth, involuntary visceral muscles, the striated, involuntary cardiac muscles and the striated, voluntary skeletal muscles. This makes up around 40 percent of the body weight and, unlike the other two types, can be controlled consciously.
The skeletal muscles relevant to fitness training can be divided into:
Upper body and torso:
Breast
Back
Belly
Shoulders
poor
In addition, the neck/skull muscles and hand (joint) muscles should also be mentioned, but these are rarely or mainly specifically trained in the rehabilitation area.
Lower body:
Legs/buttocks
Furthermore, there are pelvic, hip and ankle muscles in this part of the body, which are particularly important in competitive sports, for example to prevent injuries in runners.
Specific classification of muscles: agonist-antagonist, push-pull
The muscles can also be divided into much smaller parts, for example into agonists and antagonists:
Biceps (arm flexors)/triceps (arm extensions)
Quadriceps (hamstrings)/hamstrings (hamstrings)
Pectoralis major/upper back
Calves/shins
Etc.
Based on this, a division according to movements or functions can also make sense for split training:
Push: Chest, shoulders, triceps
Pull: Lattisius, hood muscles, rear shoulders, biceps
Squats: Quadriceps femoris, hamstrings, glutes
Raise: Hamstrings, glutes, back, forearms
Read more: 10 push-up variations for effective muscle building
What is important when combining muscle groups?
There is no universally valid ideal combination of muscles that should be trained together in one training session. Because it always depends on the individual factors of the trainee, especially:
Training experience (beginner, advanced, experienced)
Goal (e.g. improve general fitness, build muscle, increase maximum strength)
Time budget per day and per week
If you put together your training plan for classic muscle building and consider which muscles you should train together, you should make sure not to train the same muscle groups on two consecutive days to enable regeneration and adaptation (e.g. not legs or legs twice in a row breast twice in a row). Each muscle group should be trained at least twice, preferably three times a week to achieve success. Plan realistically when it comes to the duration of individual training sessions and the frequency of sessions per week. For example, can you really do a split of 6 units per week or complete a daily workout of more than an hour?
With the ideal combination of muscle groups, it is also recommended not to train more than one large muscle group (legs, back, chest) in one day, as this costs a lot of energy. It can also make sense to combine training of muscles that are close together. The reason for this is that most fitness exercises do not train muscles in isolation, but always involve synergists. For example, if you strengthen the pectoralis major muscle when doing the bench press, the front shoulder muscles and triceps also work.
Split variations for beginners
Split training is not necessary for fitness beginners to build muscle effectively. According to training science, you are well advised to do a full-body workout, which you should ideally do two to three times a week. All large muscles are strengthened in every training session. There is at least one day of rest between each training session.
Motivated beginners who would like to train shorter and more often can, for example, spread a split over four training days. All of the main muscle groups mentioned above should be trained.
Example:
2-part split with 4 training days
per week
Day 1:
Chest, shoulders, arms, stomach
3 sets of 12-15 repetitions each, set break 60-90 seconds: chest press, rowing machine, butterfly, shoulder press, side raises, crunch machine
Day 2:
Legs, glutes, back
3 sets of 12-15 repetitions each, set break 60-90 seconds: leg press, hamstrings, abductors, adductors, lat pulls, back extensions
It is important to complete the 2-part split twice a week (with rest days) so that each muscle group is trained at least twice. This is the minimum to build muscle effectively. The only exception: absolute beginners. According to studies, you can achieve progress with just one day of training per muscle group. This also applies to the following 3-way split:
Example:
3-way split with 3 training days per week
Day 1:
Chest and shoulders
3 sets of 12 repetitions each, set break 60-90 seconds: bench press, lateral raises, butterfly, shoulder press, push-ups
Day 2:
Legs
3-4 sets of 12 repetitions each, set break 60-90 seconds: leg press, leg curls, Bulgarian split squats, hip thrusts
Day 3:
Back, abs, arms
3 sets of 12 repetitions each, set break 60-90 seconds: back extensions, crunch machine, rowing, triceps dips, lat pulls, biceps curl
Download the 8-week “100 push-ups in a row” training plan for free from our PDF library here.
Split variants for advanced users
Example:
2-part Upper-Lower split with 4 training days
Day 1:
Upper Body
(Chest, Shoulders, Upper Back, Arms)
Day 2:
Lower Body
(Buttocks, Thighs, Calves, Lower Back, Abdomen)
Day 3: Break (or cardio)
Day 4:
Upper body
Day 5:
Lower Body
Day 7: Break (or cardio)
Day 8: Break (or cardio)
Read more: No muscle gain despite training? Study shows what can help “non-responders”.
Example:
3-way split push-pull legs + abdomen with 6 training days
per week
Day 1:
Push
in focus: chest, shoulders (front and middle part) and triceps: e.g. bench press, shoulder press, French press, triceps dips, lateral raises
Day 2:
Pull
in focus Back, back shoulders, biceps, forearms: e.g. pull-ups, lat pulls, rowing with dumbbells or on the machine, deadlifts, biceps curls
Day 3:
Legs + abs
e.g. leg press, leg curls, barbell squats, Bulgarian split squats, calf raises, crunches, leg raises
Day 4: Break
Day 5:
Push
Day 6:
Pull
Day 7:
Legs + stomach
Important notes: Remember to do a short warm-up before every workout to increase your core body temperature and prepare your muscles for the strain. Stretching after strength training is good for many people, but it is not absolutely necessary. Clean technique takes precedence over weight and number of repetitions!
During split training, less experienced strength athletes in particular tend to overload. Assess your current performance level realistically - how often, for how long, and with how much weight can you really train per week? Get help from specialist staff with individual training planning if you are unsure.
The author is a former competitive athlete, certified ski instructor and fitness trainer (B license).