The Real Benefits of a Total Body Workout Split

Total Body Split makes you more bad-ass, and I’ll prove that mathematically in this article. No matter what workout split you choose, if you track your progress, eat right, and follow progressive overload, you’re likely to make gains. That said, not everyone can do any type of muscle split you want. Choosing the right split for your schedule is just as important as the lifts you do or the nutrition you get. Inability to stick to your split will mean missed workouts and missed gains, that’s why you have to choose the right one for your schedule. Which leads me to my first point:

Greater Schedule Flexibility

Choosing a total body split means that you don’t have to workout as many days per week as someone doing a traditional bodybuilding split. Getting 2–3 total body workouts per week is more than enough frequency to provide sufficient muscle stimulation, given you work every muscle group every workout. Working out only 2–3 days allows you time to do other things in life, it doesn’t force you to take a chunk of your day everyday going to the gym. It also allows for you to adequately let your muscles recover, arguably the most important part of training yet the most difficult thing for most lifters. The workouts themselves are typically shorter than others, as you will use compound movements to hit your muscle groups and get them working together rather than hitting one muscle from 4 different angles. There’s no need to do 11 exercises with 3 sets each because you’re working a larger number of muscles per exercise when doing a total body split.

Frequency > Intensity

A traditional thought in training is to hammer a muscle group until you can’t lift your arms, admire the admittedly awesome pump, then not work that muscle again until next cycle (usually 4–6 days later). While the pump is solid, and it may feel like it is working better, several studies show the benefits of frequency over intensity. A study from 2016 by Michael Thomas and Steve Burns compared the results of 8 weeks of training between a group doing total body workouts 3 times per week vs. a group doing a more traditional split of Push, Pull, and Legs. The results showed that the Total Body split group gained 2 extra pounds of lean muscle mass and added 10 more pounds to their bench press than the group following a muscle group specific split.

Testosterone Levels Increase and You Look Bad-ass

If scientifically proven gains and more free time are not enough to persuade you, then what if I tell you doing total body workouts will increase your testosterone AND make you look like a bad-ass? It’s true. More testosterone is produced when you do compound movements vs isolation. A total body workout is made up mostly of compound lifts, solely due to their effectiveness and efficiency in building muscle. Total Body Split = more compound lifts = more testosterone = more muscle = look bad-ass. It’s the transitive property of equality back from 8th grade geometry, and if you think I’m wrong take it up with Mrs. Dreibelbis. Finally think about it…what looks cooler, doing a set of concentration curls all hunched over or banging out a couple standing overhead presses with a loaded up barbell? Exactly.

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