Should you do full-body workouts or split different body parts into different workouts?
In this article, we’ll look at the results from a study comparing a full-body workout routine to an upper/lower split routine.
Then, we’ll go over some of the most common full-body vs split workouts and list the pros and cons of each approach, along with sample training programs for every type of routine.
Study: Full-Body vs Upper/Lower Split Workouts for 12 Weeks
A study published last year had fifty women follow a 12-week strength training program.1
They were split into two groups:
- One group performed two full-body workouts per week.
- One group performed four half-body workouts per week (two upper body and two lower body)
They performed the same exercises and number of sets and reps: three sets of 8–12 reps per exercise. The only difference was the second group split the workouts of group number one into two halves.
After twelve weeks, both groups had increased their one-rep max in the bench press, lat pulldown, and leg press by 25–30%.
Both groups had also increased their muscle mass by 1.7–1.9%, without any significant difference between groups.
The results show that both training routines were equally effective: two full-body workouts or four half-body workouts per week yielded similar results.
Training Volume Is More Important Than Frequency
These results align with other studies on training frequency: as long as the training volume is equated, training frequency doesn’t seem to impact muscle growth and strength gains.2 3
While I think you should take those findings with a grain of salt, it hints that many types of training routines can work.
The most important thing is what you do, not how you distribute it. (Again, to some degree).
This means that you can use both full-body workouts and split workouts to increase your strength and muscle size.
Still, they are not without their benefits and drawbacks, and which one is better for you might vary depending on your training level and how much time you can devote to training.
In the rest of this article, I’ll go over the most common split routines, listing the benefits of each and also providing sample training routines and links to our programs.
After you’ve read it, you’ll have a good idea of which routine best suits your current goal and circumstances.
Let’s kick the list off by taking a look at full-body workouts.
What Is a Full-Body Workout Routine?
As the name states, a full-body routine is a workout routine in which you work all (or almost all) of your body’s major muscle groups every training session.
If you go for a minimalistic approach, you might settle for just four fundamental movements:
- Push something away from you. Examples: bench press, overhead press, push-ups, machine chest press.
- Pull something towards you. Examples: pull-ups, lat pulldown, barbell row, dumbbell row, cable row.
- Hip hinge. Examples: deadlift, good morning, Romanian deadlift, clean, kettlebell swing.
- Squat. Examples: squat, front squat, Bulgarian split squat, goblet squat, leg press.
Push, pull, hinge, and squat. That’s it.
Generally speaking:
- Pushing exercises work your chest, shoulders, and triceps.
- Pulling exercises work your lats, traps, and biceps.
- Hip hinge exercises work your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
- Squat exercises work your quads, glutes, and adductors.
Pick one exercise from each category and train it once or more per week, and you will have an excellent basic strength training program.
If you want to work every major muscle group optimally, however, you will probably have to do many more exercises than just four, meaning that your workouts might take a long time.
Benefits of Full-Body Workouts
- Fewer visits to the gym. Sure, you might have to spend a longer time there once you’re actually at the gym, but you won’t have to make the trip as often. This is beneficial if your commute to the gym is long or you don’t have the option of working out more than a few days per week.
- Work your whole body every time. Knowing that you’ve trained all your major muscle groups every time you’ve been at the gym can give you a certain satisfaction. You’ll know your entire body is constantly in growth mode from the previous workout.
- Simplified routine. Often, full-body programs allow for less complicated routines. Since every single session works your entire body in and of itself, you don’t have to consider your entire training week and how each body part split workout interacts with each other to the same extent.
Full-Body Workout Routine, 2x/Week
Below is an example from our twice-a-week full-body workout.
Perform each workout (A and B) once per week for a total of two weekly sessions, with 3–4 rest days in between.
Workout A
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 3 | 5–10 |
| Bench Press | 3 | 5–10 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 5–10 |
| Barbell Row | 3 | 5–10 |
Workout B
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 3 | 5–10 |
| Overhead Press | 3 | 5–10 |
| Front Squat | 3 | 5–10 |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 5–10 |
Read more about the program here.
The above program is fairly general and almost minimalistic. Sure, it will make you far bigger and stronger than someone who doesn’t lift weights at all, but it will not give you optimal development of every major muscle group.
(This is doubly true if you’ve been training for a few years.)
For more advanced training, check out the sample program below.
Full-Body Hypertrophy Workout Routine, 3x/Week
This sample is from our 3-day full-body hypertrophy workout. It is designed as the ultimate full-body training program for muscle hypertrophy and is intended for intermediate to advanced lifters, athletes, and bodybuilders.
In this program, you train thrice weekly, rotating between three different full-body workouts.
Workout 1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 4 | 8, 6, 4, 4 |
| Bench Press | 3 | 8, 6, 4 |
| Barbell Row | 3 | 8, 6, 4 |
| Overhead Press | 3 | 8, 6, 4 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 2 | 8, 6 |
| Close-Grip Bench Press | 2 | 8 |
| Barbell Biceps Curls | 2 | 8, 6 |
| Hanging Leg Raise | 3 | Max |
Workout 2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 3 | 8, 6, 6 |
| Incline Bench Press | 3 | 10 |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 10 |
| Leg Press | 3 | 10 |
| Lying Leg Curl | 2 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 3 | 10 |
| Barbell Lying Triceps Extension | 2 | 10 |
| Hammer Curl | 2 | 10 |
| Cable Crunch | 2 | 10 |
Workout 3
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Barbell Lunge | 3 | 12/leg |
| Leg Extension | 2 | 15 |
| Standing Cable Chest Fly | 3 | 12 |
| Dumbbell Row | 3 | 12 |
| Lying Leg Curl | 3 | 15, 12, 12 |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 12 |
| Tricep Pushdown | 3 | 12 |
| Barbell Preacher Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Kneeling Ab Wheel Roll-Out | 2 | Max |
| Plank | 1 | Max time |
Read more about the program here: StrengthLog’s Full-Body Hypertrophy, 3x/Week.
Those were the full-body workouts.
Now, let’s move on to split workout routines.
What Is a Split Workout Routine?
Split workout routines get their name from “body split”. The idea is that you split the training of your major muscle groups over several workouts, training your whole body over a week’s time.
Some of the most common splits (and links to our programs) are:
- Upper/Lower Split. You split your workouts into upper and lower body workouts, and alternate between them.
- Push Pull Legs. You split your workouts into pushing, pulling, and leg muscles, and cycle through them weekly.
- 5-Day Bodybuilding Split. A mix of the two, with one each of an upper, lower, push, pull, and legs workout.
Benefits of Split Workouts
- Shorter visits to the gym. Instead of a few long workouts, you’ll be doing more but shorter workouts on a split workout program. This is beneficial if you can work out many days per week, but not for too long each time. An example of this could be if you work out before or after school or work.
- No drop in energy. Because full-body sessions can run long, there’s a risk of a big drop in energy towards the end of the workout, giving those last exercises and muscle groups less love than they deserve. In split workouts you avoid this issue as the workouts are shorter.
- More focus. Whereas the full-body routines incorporate every major muscle group into each workout, body part splits allow for more focus on a few specific muscle groups per workout. This might help you feel like you train every single muscle group more thoroughly. Albeit not in as many sessions every week.
- More rest. Do you feel your muscles or joints require more recovery time between each workout? Then, a split routine might be better for you. Split routines allow more time before you work a body part or specific muscle group again, giving you more time to rest and recharge.
Let’s take a look at some sample split workout routines.
Upper Lower Split
The routine below is from our 4-day upper lower split program. This is one of the most popular free programs in our workout log app.
Upper Body Workout #1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 5 | 5 |
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10 |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 | 10 |
| Barbell Row | 4 | 10 |
| Tricep Pushdown (optional) | 3 | 10 |
| Barbell Curl (optional) | 3 | 10 |
Lower Body Workout #1
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 5 | 5 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 4 | 10 |
| Leg Extensions (optional) | 3 | 10 |
| Hanging Leg Raise (optional) | 3 | Max |
Upper Body Workout #2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Overhead Press | 5 | 5 |
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10 |
| Close-Grip Bench Press | 3 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Row | 3 | 10 |
| Tricep Pushdown (optional) | 3 | 10 |
| Barbell Curl (optional) | 3 | 10 |
Lower Body Workout #2
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 5 | 5 |
| Front Squat | 5 | 5 |
| Lying Leg Curl (optional) | 3 | 10 |
| Kneeling Ab Wheel Roll-Out (optional) | 3 | Max |
For more advice on weight selection, progression, rest intervals, and more, read the full article about our 4-Day Upper Lower Split.
Push Pull Legs Split
Below are samples of a how pull, push, and leg day workout could look within a PPL split.
The idea is that you complete each workout at least once per week, but you could cycle through them slightly faster if you like.
Pull Day Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Deadlift | 3 | 5 |
| Barbell Row | 3 | 8 |
| Lat Pulldown | 3 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Row | 2 | 10 |
| Face Pull | 2 | 12 |
| Barbell Curl | 2 | 10 |
| Preacher Curl | 2 | 15 |
Push Day Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Bench Press | 3 | 6 |
| Overhead Press | 3 | 8 |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 | 10 |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 3 | 12 |
| Dumbbell Chest Flyes | 2 | 12 |
| Barbell Lying Triceps Extension | 3 | 15 |
Leg Day Workout
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 3 | 6 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 8 |
| Bulgarian Split Squat | 3 | 10 |
| Seated Leg Curl | 3 | 12 |
| Leg Extension | 2 | 12 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 3 | 15 |
Check out our Push Pull Legs split for a comprehensive program with more guidelines on weights, frequency, and rest.
5-Day Workout Split
Finally, one of our most popular programs is the 5-day workout split.
This program combines a strength-focused upper/lower split with a hypertrophy-focused PPL split.
This program is designed for the intermediate to the advanced lifter who wants to build muscle like a bodybuilder and get stronger in the three powerlifting lifts.
Here’s an overview of the 5-day split:
- Day 1: Upper Body – Strength
- Day 2: Lower Body – Strength
- Day 3: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps – Hypertrophy
- Day 4: Back and Biceps – Hypertrophy
- Day 5: Legs and Calves – Hypertrophy
Below follows an outline of the exercises in each workout.
(Please note that this is one of the premium training programs in our workout log app, and that you will need a premium subscription in order to follow it and see sets, reps, and recommended weights.)
| Workout 1, Upper Body (Strength) |
|---|
| Bench Press |
| Overhead Press |
| Barbell Row |
| Bar Dip |
| Hammer Curl |
| Workout 2, Lower Body (Strength) |
|---|
| Squat |
| Deadlift |
| Leg Curl |
| Calf Raises |
| Workout 3, Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps (Hypertrophy) |
|---|
| Bench Press |
| Incline Dumbbell Press |
| Standing Cable Chest Fly |
| Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press |
| Dumbell Lateral Raise |
| Barbell Lying Triceps Extension |
| Overhead Cable Triceps Extension |
| Workout 4, Back and Biceps (Hypertrophy) |
|---|
| Lat Pulldown |
| Seated Cable Row |
| Dumbbell Row |
| Barbell Curl |
| Preacher Curl |
| Workout 5, Legs and Calves (Hypertrophy) |
|---|
| Squat |
| Leg Press |
| Romanian Deadlift |
| Leg Extension |
| Calf Raises |
Download the StrengthLog workout log app to see the % of 1RM, number of sets, and reps of of StrengthLog’s 5 Day Workout Split.
Which is The Best Option For Fat Loss?
Both full-body training and split workouts can be equally effective for fat loss.
You lose fat and maintain muscle by creating a caloric deficit while simultaneously resistance training. The goal of the resistance training is to stimulate muscle growth, and as you now know, both a full-body split and a body-part split can accomplish that goal.
If you struggle to keep your energy and intensity up through long full-body workouts while you’re in a caloric deficit, then try a split training program.
The important thing is to stimulate muscle growth in all of your muscles over a week, not how many calories you burn lifting weights.
Which is Best For You?
Which type of program fits you best depends on you and your circumstances.
- Full-body workouts typically fit better when you only want to work out a few times per week. The total training volume tends to be lower in full-body workouts, but, as is evident in our 3-day full-body routine, these programs can get quite voluminous.
- Split workouts typically allow for higher training volumes in general and require more frequent (albeit shorter) visits to the gym.
By now, I hope you have a good idea of which type of training program suits your goals and circumstances better.
Once again, here are the links to the programs mentioned in this article.
Full-Body Workout Routines
Split Workout Routines
Looking for something else? Click here to view our full list of strength training programs.
Good luck with your training!
References
- A randomized trial on the efficacy of split-body versus full-body resistance training in non-resistance trained women. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2022 May 14;14(1):87.
- How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. J Sports Sci. 2019 Jun;37(11):1286-1295.
- Effect of Resistance Training Frequency on Gains in Muscular Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2018 May;48(5):1207-1220.
