pio
Iron
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Simple guide to maximize hypertrophy and gains in the gym through programming a split.
In order to maximize muscle growth, you should stay consistent with a good split that allows you to easily progress over time. Now, what makes one split better than another? The answer is: training frequency, limiting fatigue + redundancy, easy to progressively overload, and adequate rest. Now lets go over a few good splits.
Split #1: Upper/Lower/Rest
or U/L/R/U/L/R/R How should you program?
Upper: Lower:
1-2x Incline Press 2x Leg Extension
2x Pec Deck 1-2x Squat Pattern
2x Lat Raise 2x Hamstring Curl
1x Shoulder press 1-2x RDL/SDL/any hyperextension
1-2x JM Press/Dips 1x Abductor + Adductor
2x Tricep Extension 2x Calf Press
2x Transverse Plane Row 1-2x Weighted ab exercise
1-2x Frontal Plane Flap/pulldown
1x Sagittal Plane Flap/Row
2x Preacher curl
Split #2: Anterior/Posterior/Rest
or A/P/R/A/P/R/R or A/P/A/P/A/P/RHow to program:
Anterior: Posterior
2x Flat press/fly 2x frontal pulldown
1x Incline press/fly 1x sagital pulldown
2x Leg extension 2x kelso shrug
1x Squat pattern 1x uni rear delt
2x adductor 2x preacher curl or 1x preacher curl/1x recline curl
1x uni lateral raise 1x seated ham curl
1x wide shoulder press 1x 45 hinge
1x tricep extension 2x abduction
1x tricep press 1x calf raise.
1x ab crunch
Split #3: Upper/Lower/rest/Anterior/Posterior/rest/rest
self expained just combined u/l and a/p
Why are these splits effective?
1. High frequency, each muscle group is getting trained a lot more often than on a "gym-bro" split.2. Easy to bring up weak points, lacking in a certain group? Train it at the start of the session, very easy to progressively overload.
3. Managing fatigue allows for many rest days and avoids muscle fatigue overlap.
You may be wondering why we are doing only 1-2 sets of exercises and possibly only one exercise per muscle group on U/L. Basically, the reasoning behind it is that when you train your first set of the day for a muscle group, you can exert 100% effort, and you are not limited by fatigue. As you go on through the workout, each set after that, you are exerting less and less force because of fatigue. So if you were to do 9 sets of one muscle group in the same session and then not train it for the rest of the week, your first 1-2 sets would be the most growth-producing and would taper off after that. While somebody who only trained 1-2 sets per session but trained the muscle group more frequently, now all their sets are worth a lot more than yours because they were able to exert more effort in each respective set. Muscle is built by mechanical tension, stay under 8 reps with heavy weight and proper form. Thanks for reading.
