We share some ideas on how to put together your weekly plan and split up your training days to optimize performance and recovery!
Hey friends! How’s your week going? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far! I’m putting together Team Fit workouts for this month and next. If you’d like to work with us as we focus on training strategies, nutrition, and self-care, Join us hereEveryone who signs up today will also receive a personalized nutritional guide and a thank you from me 🙂
For today’s post, I’m talking about how to split up your training days and how to do it strategically. I’m a big fan of splitting up your training schedule throughout the week. It can help you strengthen different areas of your body (especially during leg day!), giving you enough time to recover, and it also gives you freedom to control how you train. Today, I’ll be sharing practical tips to help my fellow readers split up their training days and get the most out of their training sessions.
(Please note that while I am a certified personal trainer, I provide general information for educational purposes. This is not medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician before starting or changing your exercise routine.)
How to split up your training days
Full body split
This type of full-body split routine involves a full-body workout every time you train. The benefits of this type of training are that you can use more sophisticated and *fun* compound movements, working multiple major muscle groups at once, and because of the peripheral action training, your heart rate can be higher, indicating a higher calorie burn during the workout. I like to work the entire body for my beginner clients (focusing on bodyweight-only exercises first) and also for my clients who have major weight loss goals.
The downside to this type of training is that it can be harder to reach muscle fatigue, which is conducive to muscle growth, and it is not ideal to work your entire body two days in a row. I recommend alternating full-body workouts with a day of rest and cardio.
Upper/lower division
This type of training involves working your upper body one day (back, shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps) and your lower body another day (hamstrings, glutes, abs, calves). The benefits of this type of training are that you can strength train on consecutive days (upper body one day, lower body the next) and you can more easily add volume and load to a specific muscle group. This can encourage muscle development, which is the *toned and lean* look many of us are after.
My favorite way to organize a routine is to work upper body one day, lower body the next, and do a full body circuit another day. This is how I organize most of our training team workouts as well.
4 day split
For your four-day split, there are a few different ways to do it:
Upper body, lower body and two full body days
and antagonistic or synergistic muscle training.
Antagonist muscle groups
This type of training involves working opposing muscle groups four days a week, such as chest and back one day, biceps and triceps the next, hamstrings and calves, and shoulders and calves (which work on their own, lol). This is especially effective for superset-style workouts because you can go straight from one set to the next, allowing the opposing muscle group to rest. (When one of the antagonist muscles contracts, the opposite muscle stretches.)
The main benefit of this type of training is the ability to build muscle. If you are looking for gains, try this style of training.
Synergistic muscle groups
This is when agonist muscles (those that work together to perform a movement) are used. An example of this would be:
shoulders, chest, triceps, legs, back and biceps.
This is another one of my favorite ways to train and another great way to build muscle. I would recommend this type of training to my friends who want to see some serious muscle definition, improve their metabolism, and have three days to strength train each week.
Sample training splits
Your training split will depend on a few different variables, including what equipment you have access to use, your current training level, what you enjoy (!), and your fitness goals. The key here is to figure out how many days a week you want to strength train. I like to train each muscle group at least twice a week (on off days or within the same workout) and make sure to have at least 1-2 full rest days each week. We all have different needs, interests, and end goals, so I highly recommend considering what these look like for you so you can determine what your perfect week looks like.
If you need help planning your workouts for the week, Join us on Fit Team! I also have a free PDF here on how to create your training program and set up your plan. If you are looking for custom training plans, my The 1:1 coaching app is here.
For more information on fitness and how to create your perfect workout regimen, check out my post on whether you should do strength training or cardio first.
Have a wonderful morning and see you soon!
Kisses and hugs
Gina
