Perfect Your Routine

Are you putting in the hours at the gym but not seeing the progress you hoped for? The issue might not be your effort but your workout split. Many people unknowingly follow ineffective splits that hinder their muscle growth and recovery. This article dives into the three secrets of crafting a perfect training split, designed to help you avoid common pitfalls and optimize your workouts. We'll show you how to balance volume, frequency, and recovery to ensure you're getting the most out of every session. This article is your solution to transforming your workout splits and finally achieving the results you deserve.

Here’s what we will talk about:

· Factor 1 – Volume

· Factor 2 – Recovery

· Factor 3 - Frequency

People often ask, "Is my split good or did I mess up?" Here's my approach to determining if a training split is effective, boiled down to three key factors.

Factor 1 - Volume

First, consider if you are doing enough weekly volume regarding the number of sets. Generally, you should aim for 6 to 20 sets per muscle group per week. This range is a good benchmark, with exceptions depending on individual needs. For example, if you're training your back with 15 sets per week, that’s typically effective.

The arrangement of these sets is flexible. You could do one set per muscle group six days a week, or you could do 10 sets for a muscle group twice a week. Both approaches can work, and there’s no single right answer. However, if your plan includes only three sets for legs per week or 36 sets for chest per week, it might be worth reassessing, as those numbers could be too low or too high.

Factor 2 - Recovery

Second, ensure there is enough recovery time between sessions. Specifically, avoid overlapping muscle soreness. For instance, if you train your chest on Monday and it's still sore when you train it again on Tuesday, that’s not ideal. You should rarely train muscles if they’re still sore; they need to be close to fully recovered to maximize growth and minimize injury risk.

Additionally, don't train a muscle if it still feels weak. If you train your chest on Monday and it feels sapped on Tuesday, it's a sign you need more rest. Aim for sufficient recovery time, where the muscle feels good to the touch and strong during warm-ups. This indicates your recovery time is adequate. For example, training chest on Monday and Thursday allows better recovery than on Monday and Tuesday.

If you experience overlapping soreness or weakness, you have two options: increase the time between sessions (e.g., from one day to three days) or adjust your routine. For those who prefer full-body workouts daily, it’s possible to train different muscle groups while allowing others to recover, ensuring you still maintain an effective overall regimen.

You can train the same muscle every day, but you need to adjust the number of sets you do. For instance, instead of doing six sets of quads in one session, you could spread it out to one or two sets each day. This way, your muscles aren’t overly sore or fatigued when you train them again the next day.

If you find yourself too sore or tired, consider spacing out your training days more evenly throughout the week. If that doesn’t help, reduce the overall volume. By making these adjustments, your program will significantly improve.

However, there’s another potential issue: spending too much time in a recovered state. For example, if you train legs with two sets on Monday, feel ready to go again by Tuesday, but then wait until Friday or even the following Monday to train legs again, you’re missing out on valuable training time. If your muscles are no longer sore and feel strong, you should train them again rather than waiting unnecessarily. Maximizing your training frequency within your recovery limits will help you achieve better gains.

Factor 3 - Frequency

The third key factor to look for in a solid training program is a frequency of at least twice a week per muscle group. While the traditional "bro split" of training each muscle once a week can be effective, most research indicates that higher frequency, especially with more volume, leads to better gains.

The relationship between training frequency and muscle growth is incremental. Training a muscle once a week yields good results, twice a week provides great gains, and three times a week might be slightly better. Beyond that, the improvements become less noticeable. Therefore, aiming to train each muscle group at least twice a week is optimal. You can push it to three or four times for short periods, but twice a week is sufficient to see significant progress.

In summary, if your program includes sufficient weekly volume, spreads that volume to avoid soreness and fatigue, and trains each muscle group at least twice a week, you're on the right track.

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Source: Renaissance Periodization.