# One body part a day and upper lower split.



## Blinkey (May 14, 2012)

I recently changed to a one body part a day routine, after years of doing an upper lower.

I always had reservations about the one a day routine and I think I was right. It does not seem to work by body enough. despite a massive effort I am not growing as I did.

My upper/lower routine worked my parts twice a week for each part and for me this seems to be the most effective, so I will be going back to that.

Has anyone else had the same issue with the one a day. It seems to be the routine that is set in stone, but for me the most ineffective.

Anyone got thoughts on this, am I right?


----------



## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

My split is a bit different to an upper/lower (mine's torso/limbs), but is 2x a week frequency as well which I've found works best for me.


----------



## Sway12 (Oct 29, 2013)

Plenty of people do well on splits.. I don't know how people have the energy to hit things twice a week with full intensity. Every body part I do is fried when I leave the gym, aint touching it again for MINIMUM 4 days, specially legs.


----------



## Red Viper (Mar 14, 2014)

science agree's with you OP as muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is elevated for 36-48 hours post training, so basically you only grow for about 2 days after you trained that muscle. So if you want to maximise your gains you should be training each muscle twice a week, at least for a natty.


----------



## Sway12 (Oct 29, 2013)

Red Viper said:


> science agree's with you OP as muscle protein synthesis (MPS) is elevated for 36-48 hours post training, so basically you only grow for about 2 days after you trained that muscle. So if you want to maximise your gains you should be training each muscle twice a week, at least for a natty.


If this is the case then why have so many naturals built amazing physiques off splits?

Honestly, there is so much so called scientific evidence floating around these days but anecdotally speaking I see way more size built on one body part splits as opposed to other routines. Didn't dorian Yates also take a minimal approach to training? Low frequency and volume obviously didn't hinder him....


----------



## Red Viper (Mar 14, 2014)

Sway12 said:


> If this is the case then why have so many naturals built amazing physiques off splits?
> 
> Honestly, there is so much so called scientific evidence floating around these days but anecdotally speaking I see way more size built on one body part splits as opposed to other routines. Didn't dorian Yates also take a minimal approach to training? Low frequency and volume obviously didn't hinder him....


everything will work and yes a lot of good natty physiques are still built on body part split routines.

but what if i told you yates trained with an upper/lower routine for the first 2-3 years that gave him the majority of his mass, nearly all the bodybuilders from the golden era of the 70's hit each muscle 2-3 times a week including arnie. powerlifters, olympic lifters and strongman competitors train muscle groups multiple times a week and all of these have a lot of size.


----------



## harryalmighty (Nov 13, 2011)

Sway12 said:


> If this is the case then why have so many naturals built amazing physiques off splits?
> 
> Honestly, there is so much so called scientific evidence floating around these days but anecdotally speaking I see way more size built on one body part splits as opposed to other routines. Didn't dorian Yates also take a minimal approach to training? Low frequency and volume obviously didn't hinder him....


yeates is a freak thats why he was who he was.

proof that these 'amazing' physiques were built on body part spits?

not trying to attack you mate but from what ive seen and experienced myself i disagree.


----------



## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

its hard to change routine and still get it effective, i tried the other way from full split to ppl and just couldnt get anything out of it, couldnt balance out effort in sets to work everything well enough at all.

could be the same for OP, new routine is like starting from scratch, it will work but you need to find that sweet spot of 100% effort


----------



## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Sway12 said:


> Didn't dorian Yates also take a minimal approach to training? Low frequency and volume obviously didn't hinder him....


Dorian actually used an AB styled routine to build most of his mass, with a 2x per week frequency (this came from his own mouth in his own book). He switched to a split routine later as it allowed for greater levels of muscular fatigue to be created, thus being able to create seperation and striations in the muscles. Would have been hard to do that with only a couple of exercises per muscle each workout even though it was performed twice a week, but for building mass quickly it seemed to work well enough.


----------



## Sway12 (Oct 29, 2013)

harryalmighty said:


> yeates is a freak thats why he was who he was.
> 
> proof that these 'amazing' physiques were built on body part spits?
> 
> not trying to attack you mate but from what ive seen and experienced myself i disagree.


I just use the bodybuilding.com transformations section as an example as well as anecdotal evidence. Anyone whos in decent shape at my gym uses a split, I haven't seen a soul using full body.....


----------



## harryalmighty (Nov 13, 2011)

Sway12 said:


> I just use the bodybuilding.com transformations section as an example as well as anecdotal evidence. Anyone whos in decent shape at my gym uses a split, I haven't seen a soul using full body.....


im not saying that a body part split wont work over pplx2 / upper lower / phat etc just saying what is optimal and for a majority of people a body part split is NOT optimal.


----------



## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

I said:


> Dorian actually used an AB styled routine to build most of his mass' date=' with a 2x per week frequency (this came from his own mouth in his own book). He switched to a split routine later as it allowed for greater levels of muscular fatigue to be created, thus being able to create seperation and striations in the muscles. Would have been hard to do that with only a couple of exercises per muscle each workout even though it was performed twice a week, but for building mass quickly it seemed to work well enough.[/quote']
> 
> He might have done that but now he reckons once a week is better giving more rest and more chance to grow. Both will work well though


----------



## Sway12 (Oct 29, 2013)

harryalmighty said:


> im not saying that a body part split wont work over pplx2 / upper lower / phat etc just saying what is optimal and for a majority of people a body part split is NOT optimal.


I don't understand how it's not optimal. On p/p/l you have to dilute the intensity and sacrifice volume, when it's been shown that volume is the most important factor when determining muscle growth.

Let's take yesterday as an example when I did chest + triceps. I hit them hard to the point of failure, got a pump and great mind muscle connection because I really had the chance to focus on them with multiple exercises. They won't be recovered for atleast 4 days now probably. Even then, if I hit them again I am re-tearing down the muscle fibres once again, so they surely won't grow if I am re-damaging them before the body has a chance to fully recover.

One day a week high volume will undoubtedly create more damage to the muscle over twice a week with reduced volume and intensity.

I very much doubt that you can only stimulate 48 hrs growth in one session, if you really train to failure then I can see it being longer than that...


----------



## harryalmighty (Nov 13, 2011)

Sway12 said:


> I don't understand how it's not optimal. On p/p/l you have to dilute the intensity and sacrifice volume, when it's been shown that volume is the most important factor when determining muscle growth.
> 
> Let's take yesterday as an example when I did chest + triceps. I hit them hard to the point of failure, got a pump and great mind muscle connection because I really had the chance to focus on them with multiple exercises. They won't be recovered for atleast 4 days now probably. Even then, if I hit them again I am re-tearing down the muscle fibres once again, so they surely won't grow if I am re-damaging them before the body has a chance to fully recover.
> 
> ...


are you training natty or assisted?

i can go to failure doing 6 work sets for a muscle group. example just got back from the gym for my chest i did:

flat dumbbell press warm up sets 15k db's x 12 , 30k db's x12 then working 42.5 db's x 6, 42.5k dbs x 6, 45k db's x 6. then weighted dips bodyweight + 32.5k x 6, body weight + 35k x 6. done if you can still go and press with a weight that is going to cause any benefit after that then IMO your not working with high enough intensity.

and yes volume is important but if you see volume as 15 sets for chest and your not slamming 1g of test and cycling anavar ace then youve got it all wrong. frequency is much much more important - train more frequently with a higher intensity and cut the volume back.

with regards to recovery if your natural then it takes 48hrs for your muscles to recover. done. fact. no debate. CNS may take longer IF the volume is ridiculous.

doing PPL you dont sacrifice volume or intensity and is a much better routine over a 5 day split.

rambling a bit now but @DiggyV @dtlv @Mingster they will be able to explain this better than myself.


----------



## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

Sway12 said:


> I don't understand how it's not optimal. On p/p/l you have to dilute the intensity and sacrifice volume, when it's been shown that volume is the most important factor when determining muscle growth.
> 
> Let's take yesterday as an example when I did chest + triceps. I hit them hard to the point of failure, got a pump and great mind muscle connection because I really had the chance to focus on them with multiple exercises. They won't be recovered for atleast 4 days now probably. Even then, if I hit them again I am re-tearing down the muscle fibres once again, so they surely won't grow if I am re-damaging them before the body has a chance to fully recover.
> 
> ...


If you want to grow forget fancy routines and do the hard work. This would be an excellent protocol...http://oldschooltrainer.com/minimalist-power-and-bulk/


----------



## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Personally I think that for most naturals the optimum response comes with moderate volume and a training frequency that involves hitting a body part once every 3-6 days - the precise amount of time between depending on personal preference and response when it comes to balancing intensity vs volume - you've just got to experiment and give various routines a decent go for a long enough time. Sometimes a routine starts out seeming not to work but with a few tweaks you can turn it around significantly. Don't be afraid to tinker.

I genuinely don't think everyone is suited to the same frequency. I don't like PPL personally, but that's more to do with a personal preference for training body parts in antagonistic fashion rather than separating them into push, pull. I seem to respond best when I train chest and back together, bis and tris together, hams and quads together etc.


----------



## Porkchop (May 24, 2012)

Mingster said:


> If you want to grow forget fancy routines and do the hard work. This would be an excellent protocol...http://oldschooltrainer.com/minimalist-power-and-bulk/


Interesting read. I've been looking to simplify my routine out a bit, might give this a go.


----------

