Choosing Your Training Split: A Fantasy Adventure Guide

Embarking on the quest to build strength and muscle is a journey filled with choices, and one of the most crucial decisions you’ll make is selecting the right training split. Just as every hero needs the right weapon, every lifter needs the right plan. Here, we explore the pros and cons of three popular training splits: Full Body, Upper/Lower, and Push/Pull/Legs (PPL). Choose wisely, for your gains depend on it.

Full Body Training Split

Pros:

1. Frequent Muscle Activation

It's easy to target muscles 2 times a week, keeping them constantly challenged and growing. For weaker body parts you can even challenge them 3 times a week.

1. Scalable Workouts

Begin with 3 sessions a week and gradually increase to 5 as you gain experience and need more volume to continue growing.

1. Flexible Training

When you move up to 4-5 sessions, you can train the muscle groups that aren’t sore, ensuring you’re always ready for battle.

Cons:

1. Extended Warm-Ups

Training chest, legs, and back all in the same day require multiple warm-up sets which can lengthen your training sessions.

1. Risk of Overtraining

Without careful attention to recovery, you might find yourself overtraining.

1. Leg Training Exhaustion

Training legs when done properly is exhausting, which can pose a problem for the rest of your workout. Train legs at the start and you are pre-fatigued for the rest of your workout, but if you train legs at the end you may not have enough energy to really challenge yourself on your leg exercises.

Upper/Lower Training Split

Pros:

1. Balanced Muscle Activation

Hit muscles 2-3 times a week with at least of day of rest in between workouts of the same muscle group. This can help prevent overtraining.

1. Scalable Volume

It is easy to start with four sessions and increase to six if you need more volume.

1. Leg Fatigue Management

Prevents pre-fatigue seen in full body workouts by separating leg and upper body training.

Cons:

1. Long Upper Body Workouts

Training all the muscles in the upper body can lead to lengthy gym sessions.

1. Exhausting High Volume

If you move up to 6 training days per week, the large amount of volume can be taxing on your joints.

1. Uneven Recovery

Muscles such as the biceps and triceps typically recover faster than larger muscles such as the lats. This means if you wait to train your biceps until you can train your lats again, then you may be leaving gains on the table.

Push/Pull/Legs (PPL) Training Split

Pros:

1. Shorter Workouts

Individual sessions are typically quicker and require fewer warm-up sets. For example, if you start your push day off with bench press, then from this one exercise your chest, front delts, and triceps are all warmed up and ready to go. Since these are the main muscles you will be training in a PPL split, you don’t need more warm-up sets.

2.       No Pre-Fatigue Spillage

Proper structuring prevents lower back fatigue from leg workouts affecting your pull workouts. Since deadlifts target the entire posterior chain, which includes your back muscles that you will train on pull days, by setting up your training days correctly you can recover from leg days in time for pull cays.

1. Intense Focus

If you enjoy training to failure, the PPL split allows you to train muscle groups hard with built-in rest days between sessions.

Cons:

1. Limited Volume Increase

The only way to increase volume is to double from 3 to 6 days a week. For intermediate to advanced lifters, 3 training sessions per week is not enough, so a 6-day split is required.

1. Inconsistent Muscle Activation

The PPL split makes it difficult to target weaker muscle groups 3 times per week, which may hinder weak point development.

1. Demanding Schedule: 

Six days in the gym is time-consuming and might be difficult for busy adventurers. This is a similar issue to running the Upper/Lower split over 6 days each week.

So Which Split is Right for You?

The path you choose will largely depend on your experience level and personal quest. Here are some recommendations based on your current stage:

For the Novice Hero

If you’re a beginner, start with 2-3 full body workouts per week with at least one rest day between sessions. This allows you to target each muscle group multiple times a week while still ensuring you have plenty of recovery time. For a perfect starting point, try the Fellowship Fundamentals program at Lord of the Gainz.

For the Seasoned Adventurer

As you gain experience, if you are enjoying the full body training sessions, consider increasing the number of full body sessions up to 4 times per week and eventually 5 times per week. If you are up for new challenges, you can try transitioning to an Upper/Lower split to which will allow you to push more sets to failure, with built in recovery time between workouts.

For the Veteran Warrior: Once you have several years of experience and need to further divide your upper body training for continued growth, the 6-day Push/Pull/Legs split becomes an excellent option. This demanding schedule ensures each muscle group receives focused attention while allowing ample recovery time.

Brave adventurer there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing your training split. Ultimately, the best program for you is the one you are able stay consistent with and train diligently each week ensuring incremental progress. So take solace in knowing that whatever path you choose, if you train diligently, you will achieve legendary strength and muscle gains. Onward to glory!