Splitting your workout

[BruceLee]

Are splits really that great? I understand the idea of it because it takes 48 hours for your muscles to heal, so it's better to seperate and do groups of muscles, but what about if u work them all, and then the next day u do cardio, and then rest and do simple stretching and cardio... I'm pretty overweight, so would that be better to do? one day of weight-lifting, then two days of cardio?

[Natural]

Hi, weight lifting does'nt help you to lose weight but if you want to do the splits my suggestions is to eat or watching tv while doing the splits positions excercise is a good thing to do if you are overweight am 5'7' and about 57 kg, I think work on one or two strecth because relax and strecth is just as good as trainning, I can do the front splits but cannot do the fulll I'd a warm up, strech for about 5-10 then I do the splits it helps my hips to losen so I can freely kick without causing much injuries to myself hopes my advice helps.

 

I think work on all of your muscle is a good ideas too.

[WolverineGuy]

He means split workouts. If you're cutting (I assume that's what you are doing), do cardio...lots of cardio. When you lift, keep in mind that you're going to be weaker while cutting than any other time, so don't expect to put up the same kind of weight that you normally do. Go for a moderate weight and do the 3 sets of 10-12 reps. Full body workouts are fine, split routines are ok too...doesn't make much of a difference. Like I said, the key is cardio...and NUTRITION! Watch your calories and the fats you ingest

[Rich67]

If you ar overweight, then here's a good deal for you:

 

one day, do a complete all-body workout. I do pushups, dumbbell presses, curls, squats, and tricep extensions. I do all those exercises, one set, without any rest in between. At the end of that group, I rest for a minute and light stretch, then repeat it 2 more times. This is more like an aerobic workout than an anaerobic one, even though you are using weights.

 

second day, I do cardio. A 10 minute stretch followed by 30 minutes of any cardio you like. As long as you finish drenched in sweat, you did a good job. My week looks like this:

 

1) Weights

 

2) Cardio

 

3) Rest

 

4) Weights

 

5) Cardio

 

6) Rest

 

7) Light weights and light cardio (or rest, depending how I feel)

 

I lost 20 pounds in 3 months doing this, and have about 10% bodyfat. I also watched what I ate, and avoided sweets, breads, and excess carbs.

[SevenStar]

thanks for the laugh, natural.

 

you can work the whole body, but

 

1. most people have time constraints

 

2. it can in some cases lead to over training

 

3. long workouts are not conducive to building muscle mass

 

that said, I split. there are various ways to split - I work muscle groups that perform a similar function:

 

chest/shoulders/tris

 

bis/back

 

legs

 

the session are shorter that way, and I on occasion do cardio on the same day.

 

On a side note, you can work your muscles every day - that's one of the more effective ways to gain strength, actually. BUT, you have to do it right, otherwise, you will overtrain and get weaker.

[BruceLee]

What I'm doing right is one hour or so of just working out the full body, using weights and jumping some rope to warm up. Then the next day, I'll just do cardio for like 30 or 45 minutes.. and then repeat from there. Of course I will watch my diet and stuff, and I know I won't be able to lift much, so that is why I am keeping the weights low and the reps around 15. Do you think i should change it?

[DokterVet]

I use the same split as SevenStar.

 

It's impossible for MOST people to do a full-body workout with the kind of intensity you can use while only doing a few muscle groups.

 

Sure, you might be able to do an easy routine using machines, but using free weights and progressing on most of your lifts each session - most people would just collapse. Hell, squats alone take a hell of a lot out of me. I couldn't imagine doing squats, bench, chins, and everything else in one session.

[BruceLee]

Yeah, from what sevenstar, I tend to overtrain a lot. It's not that hard for me to work every muscle and that's what I just feel like doing. It's weird for me to workout just my arms and chest and then just stop there.