Why dont more people do "One bodypart per day"

[BigD11]

I was just wondering why people dont do this more. Ive talked to two people who use to compete in bodybuilding and they both use to hit each muscle once per week, with each muscle one day by themselves.
Like:
Monday-Chest
Tuesday-Back
Wednesday-Legs
Thursday-Arms
Friday-Shoulders

Is this not seen as a good way to lift?
Thanks
Big

[Amino Acids]

If your rate of recovery was accelerated or you naturually can recover quickly it "might" work. Otherwise, you might be setting yourself up for CNS overload and result in overtraining down the line.

Plus, you will have to eat many more calories to keep up with your workout loads. The volume will probably be high as well, and could really tax you in the long run bro.

[9cyclops9]

On the contrary, most people DO use bodypart splits like that. But no, this is not really a good way to lift. Can you get results? Sure. But are there better ways out there. Full-body routines are extremely effective.

[BigD11]

Well i was going to try that. Im not trying to compete or anything just want a nice body. I person that i would love to look like is Ryan Reynolds
Thanks Big

[Madcow2]

You will look like who you will look like - you. You can use resistance training and diet to increase or decrease muscle mass as well as increase or decrease fat. You won't be altering your genetic shape, or radically changing your proportions or anything so not much you can do.

As for the answer cyclops said it. You might see people training that way, and it has dominated BBing for the past 30 years. But you are also looking at a "sport" (very loosely) that compensates for near supreme ignorance in training methodology with massive use of anabolics. This is not an exageration. Consider how effective free weights are vs. machines. It's really night and day for a natural lifter. Yet BBers went from free weights in the 1970s to almost all machines in the middle 1980s to gradually adding back squats, rows, and even the deadlift. So pretty non-linear. However, drug use (anabolics, GH, and anciliaries) has increased very much linearly during that period. You tell me what fits the pattern.

Moral - looking to BBing sources for training information is horrendous. Most BBers who know their stuff (very few) will tell you this flat out. So - when you look outside BBing, you don't see bodypart splits being used to bulk and strengthen athletes anywhere around the world (except maybe in an upper/lower fashion but mainly due to necessity of high workload and not any of the reasons BBers commonly quote).

[Lee Hsiao Lung]

?? hold on, i was under the impression that this type of split WAS good
i mean, i thought it prevented overtraining because it reduces the stress on that muscle group to one day a week... rather than 2 or 3 ... can somoene explain please (i just started doing this split 3 weeks ago)

[9cyclops9]

?? hold on, i was under the impression that this type of split WAS good
i mean, i thought it prevented overtraining because it reduces the stress on that muscle group to one day a week... rather than 2 or 3 ... can somoene explain please (i just started doing this split 3 weeks ago)

Read and learn. "Frequency: The Key to Success" by Chad Waterbury.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=673054

[Lee Hsiao Lung]

herm, well, if you increase frequecy that will mean you just reduce the amount of work per session, that way i dont think you get to break down the muscle as far as you would if you did it all at once
my 5day split works muslces later on in the week, but not as primary movers ie. ill do benchpress for chest and close grip for triceps, on both occasions my chest and triceps are worked

similarly, for biceps, my biceps are worked both on my arms day and also on my back day
so i think the actual frequency is there in a 5 day split

[RipStone]

expanding on what Madcow and 9cyclops9 have already stated...

Most lifters don't understand how frequency has a lot to do with volume and intensity. You can train a muscle mutiple times a week and grow, granted you don't consistently train to failure on each set and your volume is relatively low for each workout. That way you can recover faster and train a muscle again sooner.

I think a lot of people think if you train a muscle 1x a week its a BBer routine, thus you will get results like a pro BBer. I guess people think this cus a lot of pro BBers hammer the crap out of a muscle group just 1x a week. However, pros can get away with a really high volume routine cus thet are using gear which makes their recovery better....plus, they are genetically gifted and probabaly can handle it anyways(but the gear helps no doubt).

[Defiant1]

I was just wondering why people dont do this more. Ive talked to two people who use to compete in bodybuilding and they both use to hit each muscle once per week, with each muscle one day by themselves.
Like:
Monday-Chest
Tuesday-Back
Wednesday-Legs
Thursday-Arms
Friday-Shoulders

Is this not seen as a good way to lift?
Thanks
Big

I just recently did a poll on this, and this is how most people train.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=620510

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=620516

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=620514

I actually have argued for and against this split at various times. My personal "jury" is still out.

First, it is DEFINATELY not for beginners. There is simply too much time between training sessions for each bodypart. Beginners should start with a 3-5 day per week, full body routine (the 5 thing should only be done for a short time for neural gain, then go to 3).

Is it a good split for advanced guys? Hmmmm....

I did it for awhile after reading an article by Greg Zulak that made sense. It is a good way for advanced guys especially natural guys, to get in enough volume.

Now the only problem is your workouts can get long for each bp, and people have a tendency to blast the crap out of their CNS each day trying to crush that bp.

So, try it and see if it works. But you may have to cycle periods of lower volume per session and higher frequency.

[sabonis224]

Because it's an inefficient way to train.

[J.L.C.]

I come close to that:

Monday - Delts/calves

Tuesday - Quads/Abs

Wednesday - Chest/Arms

Thursday - Off

Friday - Delts/Calves

Saturday - Back/Hamstrings

Sunday - Off

This is mostly because I am focusing on my weakpoints before my next show. It works for me. I plan on maintaining this frequency and altering the volumes and intensities......it really comes down to experimenting with yourself in my opinion.

[sloshy]

I was just wondering why people dont do this more. Ive talked to two people who use to compete in bodybuilding and they both use to hit each muscle once per week, with each muscle one day by themselves.
Like:
Monday-Chest
Tuesday-Back
Wednesday-Legs
Thursday-Arms
Friday-Shoulders

Is this not seen as a good way to lift?
Thanks
Big

The short answer to this question is that it is a crappy way to train and there are much more effective training methods for natural trainees.

[Big Will C]

Here's an interesting read on the subject . . .

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do...ydra?id=459292

I've been training for 11 years now (turn 30 in August) and have hit each bodypart once per week for the majority of those 11 years. Just recently I have started hitting bodyparts more often (once every 4 or 5 days) with less volume. Like Defiant, my "personal" jury is still out too. I made great gains hitting each bodypart once per week (143 lbs when I started in 1994 and now 235 with about 19-20% bf) but the question to myself has always been "could I have gotten even bigger, quicker another way?" That's what makes bodybuilding, especially when done naturally, a lifelong journey.

I know there are people on here who say hitting bodyparts to failure one time per week is no way to train, but like HIT, it does work for some people. I love reading what Madcow, Cyclops, and many others have to say because we all bring different ideas and tactics to the table, but once per week does work. It may just work more slowly than you're willing to accept. At almost 30, my experimental days with training are numbered because I only have a limited number of competition seasons left before family and career take my 100% attention.

So, if you're younger and have time to experiment, give a lot of training splits a try and find what works for you. But make sure to give each split long enough to produce results. Don't expect quick results. Stick with a routine for a couple (2-3) months and then try something else.

That's my two cents.

Will