Referring to exercise as training implies there is more at play than simply moving for the sake of moving. Activity wins out over inactivity one hundred percent of the time but when we begin to implement specific movements in order to bring about specific adaptations then we have gone above simple exercise and ventured into the realm of training.

Consistency is the key to success or in this case progression. A single workout or training session on its own won’t suffice and nor will sporadic sessions that don’t adhere to any of the core principles of sports science. For biological adaptations to take place certain conditions and thresholds have to be met, put simply we have to place the body under occasional recurrent stress and then allow an adequate amount of rest time before REPEATING with the goal each time to build upon  one or more elements from that previous session. 

It’s common and often good practice for individuals to use workout splits to organise their sessions through the week. This refers to the way the body is ‘split down’ and trained and these splits or combinations each carry pros and cons. There is rarely a one size fits all approach and that is certainly the case here. 

Some common split routines include but are not limited to:

Full body:

Fairly self-explanatory, the goal of each session is to include all the major muscle groups of the body and work them as a unit.

Pros – Works well for those that are on limited time and allows high frequency weekly stimulation of muscles for example just two sessions per week ensures muscle groups are worked twice a week which is often touted as optimum for hypertrophy or strength.

Cons – Low volume per muscle group during workouts due to the sheer number of muscle groups included may not be optimum in inducing metabolic stress induced hypertrophy. Again with the sheer number of body parts needing attention workout variety will likely be hindered meaning certain angles of work may be missed. 

Upper/Lower:

Workouts are often alternated upper body (above waist) and lower body (below waist) and typically done 2-4 x per week.

Pros - Ensures the two halves of the body are worked equally and also allows each body part to be targeted twice per week (if following an upper/lower/upper/lower structure). This approach also allows each half of the body to be well rested between sessions.

Cons – Beginners may find two lower body only sessions a week difficult to adequately recover from where as advanced lifters may struggle to fit enough variety into a session dedicated to the upper body with smaller targeted exercises for the arms or deltoids being shunned for larger compound lifts.

Push/Pull or Push/Pull/Legs:

Focusing on push and pull movements separately is a great way to ensure the front and back portions of the body are worked equally. Typically one or two sessions per week are dedicated to ‘push’ and two others to ‘pull’ for a 4 day split. Another popular option is to perform push/pull/legs either once each per week or twice over for a 6 day split.

Pros- An equal amount of pull volume is an excellent way to starve off any postural problems that may arise from over focusing on pushing based exercises. Novices may appreciate splitting lower body work into the push and pull workouts and including quad based movements with push and hamstring dominant exercises with pull. Even advanced lifters may find a benefit in this more specific approach to lower body training.

Cons- Although the upper body work is split across the front and back portions the joints are shared in both. This could lead to over use issues such as tendentious in the elbows, shoulders or wrists. In order to work each muscle group twice in a week six workouts would be required if following a push/pull/legs approach, this may be too much volume for many.

Body part split:

Often referred to as the ‘bro split’ due to its popularisation by bodybuilders this approach involves dedicating each workout to just one or two specific muscle groups.

Pros – Deep diving into specific muscle groups allows for a wide range of variety and diversity within sessions.  For bodybuilders in particular this split allows extra focus on areas that are deemed to be lagging. For advanced lifters one intense workout per muscle group per week may be enough volume to facilitate progress.

Cons – Generally speaking, for anyone who isn’t an advanced lifter or athlete, targeting each muscle group twice within the week is deemed optimum and this split makes that outcome difficult to achieve.



It’s important to remember that while sticking to a chosen split is vital in order to see results, this is not a lifelong commitment. Outlined above are just a small number of popular training splits but there are many more out there. Different splits are likely to suit different people. The right split is the one that delivers the user the results they set out to achieve and this is often the one that they feel most inclined to adhere to.