It’s time for another contentious topic, my friends.
No, not volume, frequency, or intensity. Today, we’re talking about workout splits. Specifically, full-body training.
Full-body and higher-frequency training has become more popular lately. And if you’ve followed my work over the years, you know I haven’t been a big proponent of full-body workouts. In fact, in previous editions of Bigger Leaner Stronger, the workouts had typical “bro-split” names (even though the workouts themselves were more like a Push Pull Legs split with added accessory days).
So, it’s not too surprising that I frequently get asked for my thoughts on full-body training versus body part splits and the “best workout split” in general.
Well, full-body workouts can definitely work well in certain situations—like when you’re a beginner or when you can only train one or two times per week. But for this episode, I decided to bring in a big proponent of and expert on full-body training, Menno Henselmans.
Menno has been arepeatguest on my podcast, but in case you’re not familiar with him, he's a bodybuilding coach, writer, and published scientist who’s also on theScientific Advisory Board of my sports nutrition company, Legion Athletics.
In this episode, we chat about …
- Why you should use a full-body split if you training infrequently
- The primary benefits of full-body training (optimizing volume and work capacity)
- How to properly program "supersets" without hurting performance (and actually improve it)
- How to program an effective full-body routine
- Saving time in the gym, inter-set rest time, and exercise order considerations
- Periodization and why you shouldn't change exercises too frequently
- Situations when full-body routine wouldn’t be the best choice
- And more …
So, if you want to learn all about full-body training and whether you should give it a shot, listen to this episode.
8:03 - What qualifies as a full body workout versus something else?
17:32 - Does full body workouts give you more high quality volume?
19:02 - What is a superset? How would you implement supersets without impairing your performance on the exercises?
28:05 - How do you like to program your full body workouts?
31:04 - Is that your exercise or is there another component to it as well?
32:08 - How do you like to order your exercises?
35:45 - How do you like to periodize this type of training?
40:30 - Do you do your heavier workouts earlier in the week after a rest period?
41:39 - As far as volume, what are you shooting for?
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Mentioned on The Show:
Menno Henselman’s Website: https://mennohenselmans.com/
Menno Henselman’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menno.henselmans/
Books by Mike Matthews: http://legionathletics.com/products/books
Beyond Bigger Leaner Stronger: https://legionathletics.com/products/books/beyond-bigger-leaner-stronger/
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Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews