Discovering Your Best Fit
Hey, fitness pals! If you’ve been in a gym before, or perhaps you’re one of those folks on Instagram or YouTube doing a workout video, you quietly might have come across something called a “split workout routine.” So, what is that? And, unimportantly, maybe it’s the missing ingredient to achieving what you want out of your fitness journey? Let’s check into this topic together!
What is a Split Workout Routine?
To start, a split workout routine is just a fancy way of saying that you have divided your weekly workouts based on muscle groups or areas of the body. Rather than doing your entire body in one session (which is referred to as a “full-body workout”), you focus on specifics on different days. For example, you could do one day for upper body, one day for lower body, and another day for cardio or active recovery. It’s like every part of your body has its own day—how rad is that?
Why Use a Split Routine?
Now, you may be asking yourself why choosing to have a split routine versus any other workout style is beneficial or worth it. Good question, let’s look at a few reasons:
- Increased Focus: Taking the time to split your workouts allows you to focus more on each muscle group, which typically leads to improved strength and growth. Can you blame anyone for wanting to add definition to their arms or sculpt their legs more?
- Flexibility and Variety: Split routines allow for a little bit of flexibility. You can change the order around, try new exercises, or even change up different pieces of equipment. This variation forces your body to guess what is going on—and bored muscles are not happy muscles!
- Rested Recovery: Similarly, since you are focusing on specific muscle groups the other areas of your body are resting and recovering, therefore preventing burnout and assuring you cannot push yourself to death every single time.
Varieties of Split Routines
With a good understanding of what a split routine is, let’s move on to the types of splits you can try!
1. Upper/Lower Split
The upper/lower split is a traditional model where one day focuses on the upper body (chest, back, arms) and one day focuses on the lower body (legs and butt!). Straightforward, effective, and a good choice if you are able to work out four days a week.
2. Push/Pull/Legs Split
My personal favorite! In this split, you have three different types of workouts: push (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull (back, biceps), and legs (obviously). This tri-split works well to build balanced strength, and can even be done as a six-day split if you want to take the plunge!
3. Body Part Split
Often referred to as the “bro split,” the body part split is where you dedicate workouts to just one body part. For example, you might do legs one day, chest the next, and back another. You may not hit each muscle group as frequently, but you really get to hammer down on those muscles and provide them a strong workout.
Making Your Own Split Routine
Making your own split workout routine can cause a little anxiety at first. However, contrary to anxiety, it can be so enjoyable! Here are some helpful hints for you to consider:
- Determine Your Goals: Are you trying to gain some not-so-humble muscle, or are you working to shred some fat off your physique? You will want your goals to steer you toward a certain type of split.
- Decide What’s Right for You: How many days do you want to work out? Most individuals will find that working out 4-6 days a week is what most suits them; however, listen to your body! Everybody is different.
- Plan: Plan out days / times, what exercises you will do, sets, reps for each muscle group. Be creative; there are lots and lots of apps and web pages to get workout ideas.
- Be Flexible: Don’t panic if you need to change your plan as you go. Real life has a funny way of getting in the way, and one week can easily develop into something else.
- Cardio: Remember and enjoy any cardio that you may incorporate into your routine. Don’t forget you’re improving your heart health too. You can do this on your split days or just as active recovery.
Final Thoughts
A split workout routine can change the game entirely in your path toward achieving your fitness goals. It provides more focused training, increased recovery periods, and can help to alleviate some of that ‘overwhelmed’ feeling we sometimes experience when starting to exercise. Also, how great of an idea is it to have all those fun “theme days” to think about for your muscles? No matter if you decided to go the upper/lower, push/pull/legs, or body part split route, enjoy the experience, and remember—consistency is the key! If you just keep with it and enjoy the process, your body will not let you down:
Now go find the split that fits your schedule and start achieving your fitness goals. You all got this!
Know more about Workout Routines :- Beginner-Friendly Workout Routines You Can Do at Home
