I have been pretty clear that I am just working most of my body in a single workout lately but there is of course another way which is the 2 day split workout. The split workout.
With a split schedule you can do the same amount of work in one day but get twice the number of sets per workout.
As you start lifting more and more and your body gets accustomed to the workouts you may start to get tired of and start not getting the results that you were getting before.
If you are at that point than breaking up your workout may be just what you need to get to the next level.
Here is the classic 2 day split workout:
- Day 1 – Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Hamstrings
- Day 2 – Back, Biceps, Quads, Calves
The reason that you are doing the workouts this way is so that you do not overtax secondary muscles. If you are doing bench press for your chest for example then you will get assistance from your front shoulder muscles and triceps.
These muscle would not have a chance to recover between workouts if they are getting pushed every workout. In exactly the same way if you are doing lat pulldowns you are working your biceps and back of your shoulders.
2 day Split Workout
If you want to do more sets per muscle group it is impossible unless you break your body up. As it is now I will do a total of 1 set of warmup and two sets of hard sets per muscle group.
Working the above system means that you will do two exercises instead of one and even though you should still do two warmup sets (one for each exercise) you will now be getting four heavy sets in instead for each muscle group and this is more enough for most of us mere mortals.
Of course the drawback to this kind of workout is that it then takes twice the number of workouts to get your whole body trained.
So doing this kind of system may mean doing four workouts a week instead of just two. For many people once they have reached this level though the idea of four workouts a week does not seem too much of a stretch.
When to move to a 2 day split workout
Two day split workout
So how do you know if it is time to move to this classic 2 day split workout?
Well mostly it has to do with how you feel after your workout and the next day.
- Do you feel like you have gotten the most out of your workout?
- Do you feel like you are recovering the next day?
- Do you have more energy than you feel you should after working out?
The problem with the whole body in one workout system is that after a while your body has gotten too used to the stress on the muscles and stops getting stronger and you stop making muscle gains.
These workouts each day will be at least as hard as your one day workout was but your muscles should be absolutely spent. The nice thing is that these workouts are going to push your muscles fully so that you will start making really nice gains in muscle size and strength again.
When you are ready it may be a great time to switch to a 2 day split workout.
Related posts:
Splitting up your workout
Weight Training Split Schedule Part 1
Sets, reps, and exercises for a great workout
Weight Training Split Schedule Part 2