This is something i've been thinking about. Most of the members here advocate full body workouts whether its for strength or size.

and we all know u can't train how the pro's train because they have great genetics and are on steroids.
but what about all of the natural bodybuilders?  pretty much every bodybuilder i know of does splits.
When i first started working out i did split training for awhile with good results. I like full body training too but i've gotten just as good of results from a push/pull/legs set up that i've made up and another split from a bodybuilder (tom venuto) as from things like HST 

as i said i like both methods but i think i might have stayed on TBT too long awhile back and just thinking about it i dont see too much wrong with splits even though theres a lot of criticism towards them here. (i know that doesnt apply to everyone and many members do recommend both). 

opinions?  

To me it just doesnt seem that hitting your muscle once a week is enough frequency.

this is coming from a man who finds himself overreaching every 4-6 weeks

i have also never in my life done a once a week split, which makes me think maybe i should try it.

Most of my gains were made in the first 7 or so months of my training. For that entire period I was doing a 4 day split based on HIT principles that mandated working a muscle to positive failure once per week. I also had a ****ty diet and believed supplements were the end all be all of bodybuilding. I feel like most of my early gains were less dependent on clever training strategies/ knowledge of bodybuilding and more dependent on the fact that my body ready for some beginner gains and would respond to most anything.

I still plan on doing an HIT cycle every 2 HST cycles. I do feel like it had some things to offer that HST doesnt.

I wrestle with the same concept.  I feel like I get a more intense workout when I split up the body parts into days.  At the same time, once I learned what real intensity workouts were all about, I was able to really get a great workout full body as well.  When I do full body I end up leaving the gym completely wiped out.  Lately I've been on an upper/lower split and it seems to work.  I honestly think the key is to change things up often.  Try different things.  Be sure to track all your progress and what you were doing to make those gains.  An analysis of all that information will tell you what your body responds best to.

Well as we all know everyone is different and some routines may work better for you than others. Even though I believe your diet is a bigger part than whether your doing full or split routines.

What I have gathered though is that for the most part body builders are at that point where they have so much mass and are so progressed that they need the extra attention and isolations to work the muscle group.

Splits have their places, and its all up to personal preference. Whether you do full or splits, I think for most people the important thing is the exercises you choose to do, compounds vs isolations, diet and to a lesser extent cardio.

However in general full body routines are usually all compounds or compound heavy and therefore much beter for most lifters including beginers and their goals.

jmo though

ORIGINAL: David1991

This is something i've been thinking about. Most of the members here advocate full body workouts whether its for strength or size.

and we all know u can't train how the pro's train because they have great genetics and are on steroids.
but what about all of the natural bodybuilders?  pretty much every bodybuilder i know of does splits.
When i first started working out i did split training for awhile with good results. I like full body training too but i've gotten just as good of results from a push/pull/legs set up that i've made up and another split from a bodybuilder (tom venuto) as from things like HST 

as i said i like both methods but i think i might have stayed on TBT too long awhile back and just thinking about it i dont see too much wrong with splits even though theres a lot of criticism towards them here. (i know that doesnt apply to everyone and many members do recommend both). 

opinions?  

there was a good thread about this not too long ago where smound said something similar to what nmoney just said.  It was a good read.

From my own personal experience, and the experience of people that I lift with at the gym:
 
1.) I noticed that people that focused on only the big lifts build all types of muscle.  They do the big lifts frequently too. 
 
2.) A lot of people also do some isolation exercises along with the big compounds, and they build all types of muscle as well.  It seems that they frequently hit the same muscle groups since every workout contains primarily big lifts.
 
3.) Some people do MOSTLY isolation exercises and bench presses of course.  They get pretty big arms, but their torso and legs lack mass like crazy.  They look very awkward.
 
The people in group 3 tend to do random bodypart split routines a lot (back/shoulders one day, legs/biceps another, etc.... Or they do a 5-day one muscle group per day split). 
 
Then there's the push/pull/legs guys.  I don't see many of them at my gym, so I can't speak much about the results you get from that.  I used to do this split many years ago, but I also didn't do legs or have a diet back then, so I don't have enough personal experience to tell about it.  I'd imagine that if each day had primarily compound lifts in it, then you would get results.
 
This all breaks down to the conclusion, which everyone already knows, compounds are the building blocks of a solid routine.
 
The MAIN reason to do full-body workouts is to get your muscles to work in unison with each other.  Get your body to work as a single-unit.  This is the way to get a strong body.  Full-body routines are excellent bodybuilding routines, but they also functionally train your body better then split routines do (according to theory, not from personal experience.  It makes sense though). 
 
So.....Compound lifts are the main lifts that build the most muscle.  The diet (NOT THE TRAINING)determines if you get cut or get bigger, and both types of training do build muscle.
 
There you have it.  It now all just comes down to which one you think is more fun.
 
 

 For someone wanting to gain mass, full body is the way to go.

For someone wanting to gain mass for a specific reason, I could see doing a split.

I've done both splits and fullbodies. I've had good results from both. Personally I like to do fullbodies because I like to. I rather bench, squat, and deadlift 3 to 4 times a week than only once or twice. I feel it works better for me too because I've had better strength gains doing it more times a week. However it all depends on the person. What works for one does not always work for others.

i love to do split training, i seem to get the most results from them rather than full body workouts, i only use fullbody workouts when its been awhile since i been in the gym and i need a quick way to get back in the swing of things..never got results from em tho...right now im on a 3 day split with one day of rest between em...
 
ex... monday - back bi's
       tues. - chest tri's
       wed. - legs shoulders abs
       thurs. - rest
       fri. - back bi's
       sat. - chest tri's
       sun. - legs shoulders abs
 
and so forth...
 
on a side note, for some reason i cant train shoulders with chest and tris, i can barely lift anything!

I switch up the training from full body to a Push/Pull/Legs every cycle or so.  As for gains i see the most when i do the push pull routine.

Haven't read other posts but in all seriousness:

F_ck split routines. They aren't frequent enough to be of use to the general public in terms of MOST goals, and one will always get better results from full-body routines.

ORIGINAL: Wyrms

Haven't read other posts but in all seriousness:

F_ck split routines. They aren't frequent enough to be of use to the general public in terms of MOST goals, and one will always get better results from full-body routines.

I disagree Wyrms,When i do full body workouts I feel as though I'm wasting my time,only working out 3 days a week.

F_ck split routines. They aren't frequent enough to be of use to the general public in terms of MOST goals, and one will always get better results from full-body routines

 
I dont remember for certain if there was a post on this site regarding why the Full body excerises are more benefically to the overall outcome over splits.  can someone please link the post?
 

I disagree Wyrms,When i do full body workouts I feel as though I'm wasting my time,only working out 3 days a week.

 
is this just personal opinion or do you see improvement when doing your split routine over Full body?

ORIGINAL: bulkingup

I disagree Wyrms,When i do full body workouts I feel as though I'm wasting my time,only working out 3 days a week.

 
You must not be doing the right kind of full body workouts.  3 days a week is MORE then enough for me.  I treasure those times during the week where I get 2 days in a row to rest.