Anyone still do bro split?

[ben1500]

Hi, I’m here to ask if anyone still does a straight up 5 day bro split? I feel like bodybuilding is being over complicated a lot and I don’t know where to go from here. I normally do a 5/6 day push pull legs but always worry if I’m doing too much intensity/volume. I’m currently benching 112.5lgx10, deadlift 135kg x8 and squat 130x8. Am tempted to just simply things and hit each muscle once a week intensely or is this not a good idea?
Thanks

[air2fakie]

It’s usually good enough at least for maintenance for most people.

Do it & see how you respond progress-wise.

[SuffolkPunch]

I don't see why a higher frequency routine should be more complicated. You could start with a brosplit and shuffle the exercises around a bit over the week. Basically the same contents but with each muscle group being hit more often and with more of the sets being "from fresh".

The first thing I do is separate the chest and overhead presses - and the quad and posterior chain based exercises since there is a lot of overlap between those.

[ben1500]

It’s usually good enough at least for maintenance for most people.

Do it & see how you respond progress-wise.

Okay thanks mate, I might do

[ben1500]

I don't see why a higher frequency routine should be more complicated. You could start with a brosplit and shuffle the exercises around a bit over the week. Basically the same contents but with each muscle group being hit more often and with more of the sets being "from fresh".

The first thing I do is separate the chest and overhead presses - and the quad and posterior chain based exercises since there is a lot of overlap between those.

Yeah higher frequency is better but I always fear about overtraining, what’s your current split?

[SuffolkPunch]

Yeah higher frequency is better but I always fear about overtraining, what’s your current split?

You only overtrain if total weekly volume is excessive for your needs. It is easier to do more volume in total with a higher frequency program but it's not hard to quickly count up the number of sets per week...

1. bench, deadlift
2. squat, overhead press
3. back

[ben1500]

You only overtrain if total weekly volume is excessive for your needs. It is easier to do more volume in total with a higher frequency program but it's not hard to quickly count up the number of sets per week...

1. bench, deadlift
2. squat, overhead press
3. back

Cheers, no accessary work and just 3 days a week?

[air2fakie]

Okay thanks mate, I might do

Bro splits work fine for some people, “optimal” or not. As long as you’re happy with the results or change if you’re not, doesn’t matter if you give it a try.

Just don’t be one of those guys who complain that their biceps aren’t growing even though they do 30 sets of curls on biceps day.

[SuffolkPunch]

Cheers, no accessary work and just 3 days a week?

No, 6 days a week and accessories as I fancy it. Often they are geared towards joint health like facepulls, reverse flys, hip abductions - but there are some curls, laterals etc.

[TAWS6]

Of course people do. Lots of people who don’t do their own research and follow the pros. The biggest thing is how fast you make progress. Training a muscle only once a week yields much slower progress than a less extreme approach. People who aren’t trying to maximize their progress might not care. The best thing I ever did was switch from a bro split to an upper lower.

[MyEgoProblem]

https://weightology.net/the-members-...e-based-bible/

Just read this my guy.

Bro split - If your progress is great on 10 hardsets max per week.
Not much matters for hyp.

For anecdote? After 5 or so years, of hard graft me good eating. It won't have mattered how you got there.

[ben1500]

Of course people do. Lots of people who don’t do their own research and follow the pros. The biggest thing is how fast you make progress. Training a muscle only once a week yields much slower progress than a less extreme approach. People who aren’t trying to maximize their progress might not care. The best thing I ever did was switch from a bro split to an upper lower.

Thanks for your response mate, upper lower sounds good it’s just I feel 4 days a week isn’t enough? I don’t know I might be wrong

[ben1500]

https://weightology.net/the-members-...e-based-bible/

Just read this my guy.

Bro split - If your progress is great on 10 hardsets max per week.
Not much matters for hyp.

For anecdote? After 5 or so years, of hard graft me good eating. It won't have mattered how you got there.

I just feel like there’s so much information out there and so many people have different opinions it gets confusing. I like to hammer my muscles with high intensity and high volume, is this counter productive?

[SuffolkPunch]

If there is a difference of opinion between two things that work, it shows that either
a) What they are arguing about isn't important
b) It works for some people but not others.

The answer is always to try it and see. Without self-feedback from your own attempts, you'll never get beyond a very basic level.

[jaxqen]

First time I went to a gym was in college, 10 years ago.
Didn't read anything about lifting, just went in there and started lifting.
The machines were intuitive + the popular bench presses and bicep curls.
No programming, no knowledge, I just did mostly upper body 5-6 times a week... maybe I did some legs, I don't remember.
I mean I training each upper muscle each day... very high frequency.
And I have seen results... being young probably mattered.
I had no idea about bro splits.
I noticed in time that people used to work only one muscle in a day and I didn't know why... it seemed boring to be to train only one muscle.
One day, I started talking with an advanced guy who gave me some advice that I didn't ask about an exercise.
And I remember asking him "You only train one muscle each day?"
And he looks at me, surprised, and says "Well, yeaaaah, that's the only way to train...doooh"


Then I started to do some reading on a bb forum {not this, not in English} and many threads started like this "How about my split? Chest Monday, Shoulder Tuesday, Back Wednesday..." and the replies were "No, you don't do shoulders after chest, are you crazy" or "no, don't do arms after back, your bis will not be recovered in 24 hours"
It seemed like rocket science.


Then I gave up on gym for some years.
When I got back, I tried some bro splits for a short while and my two cents:
- I get severe DOMS from it;
- it gets very boring for me after 8-10 sets;
- although I can do very high volume and I believe I have a good work capacity for fatiguing a muscle, all my muscle groups recover after 3-4 days, so I don't see the point of waiting 7 days to work a muscle group again.

Then I discovered this forum who transformed me in the weirdo at the gym who does full body or upper-lower, while everybody is on bro splits or PPL.

The only group I'd like to train on a bro split, with high volume, is back.
- some extensions for the lower back
- several types of rows
- a vertical pull
- reverse flyes or face pulls {shoulders, but can be added to back}
- pullovers

While I hate to do chest on a bro split, after 6-8 sets I'm getting extremely bored.

But some people had success with bro splits, so who am I to judge.
Still, I would do a 4 day bro split, putting delts on other days:
- vertical press on chest day
- posterior delt on back day
- lateral delt on arms day
This way, at least one muscle group gets worked out twice a week, if you lift 5 times a week.

[air2fakie]

I just feel like there’s so much information out there and so many people have different opinions it gets confusing. I like to hammer my muscles with high intensity and high volume, is this counter productive?

It’s counterproductive if it doesn’t work for you or you’re not happy with the results. If you are, why do you care what anyone else thinks? If you’re not, then do something else.

[TAWS6]

Thanks for your response mate, upper lower sounds good it’s just I feel 4 days a week isn’t enough? I don’t know I might be wrong

I can’t imagine you’d get better results lifting 5 or 6 days per week tbh.

[BeginnerGainz]

I tried one earlier this year.

Any split can work.

[SuicideGripMe]

I bro split right now. Gives me good results and I enjoy my training. When I need or want a change, I change. Bro splits get a bad wrap because many people do bro splits poorly. A fullbody workout that focuses on compounds will be better than a bro split that focuses on isolations, but a bro split that focuses on compounds... different story.

[jaxqen]

I bro split right now. Gives me good results and I enjoy my training. When I need or want a change, I change. Bro splits get a bad wrap because many people do bro splits poorly. A fullbody workout that focuses on compounds will be better than a bro split that focuses on isolations, but a bro split that focuses on compounds... different story.

Most guys on splits focus on compounds

chest - it's bench, db, machine or smith press then flies. I've seen guys who do bb flat, bb incline, bb decline all-in-one, "must hit all those three portions of the pec"

shoulders - seated bb, seated db, smith, than flies

back - many focus on vertical pulls and straight arm pulldowns, leaving rows at the end.

arms - no compounds here, only a "how many reps in total can I do today?" contest

legs - indeed, here they do a lot of extensions, some knee flexions, very rarely I see a hinge pattern, only if they drop something, usually most of them start with leg press, fewer with squats or walking lunges.

[MyEgoProblem]

On Monday we hit chest!
We bounce bench, half rep incline and pump with 6 different flys

On Tuesday we do back!
Lat pull downs behind the neck , some swinging tbar row and a machine row.

On wed, we do shoulders.
2 press machines, Side raises, front raises, side raises. Sides raises, 1 set of rears

On Thursday.. We skip legs because we are blessed to have huge legs anyway and jog once a week

On Friday we do arms.
Curls. Press downs, calfs, more side raises Then we hit the bars and a bag.

Bro split 101

[TAWS6]

My old college split

Chest/tris
Because chest and shoulders interfere with each other and I need tons of pressing.


Shoulders/back/bi
Because I need to separate shoulders from chest because they need more pressing and front raises.

Legs
At least I have one leg day right
Squats 225. Thinks legs are big enough because I do cardio

[EliKoehn]

I typically do U/L even when training informally, but Suffolk made that pattern sound good so I think I will try that for a while. I used to do benches and deads together and that's a lot of fun.

[SuffolkPunch]

I typically do U/L even when training informally, but Suffolk made that pattern sound good so I think I will try that for a while. I used to do benches and deads together and that's a lot of fun.

It's worth noting that I'm doing a hack squat the day after deadlift... full on back squat might be a bit much for your lower back but I know this doesn't affect everyone in the same way. In the past I've has low back spasms trying to squat with low back DOMS.

[kanis999]

I think the forums greatly overexaggerate how sub-optimal bro splits are. You can most likely reach your natty peak using a bro split. The rate of progress just might be a tad slower. Nothing too dramatically different. Your recovery time as an individual may also be longer than average.

[TolerantLactose]

The thing I see with bro splits is that guys tend to slack off after international chest day. This is the most common version I see at my gym.

[MyEgoProblem]

It's worth noting that I'm doing a hack squat the day after deadlift... full on back squat might be a bit much for your lower back but I know this doesn't affect everyone in the same way. In the past I've has low back spasms trying to squat with low back DOMS.

On regular programming..
I dont recall actually setting a squat the day after a big dead lift session. Squat variations after deads on the same day tho.

Hmmm.

Not that I'm against it per say, just never entered my head as something id do.

[TAWS6]

I think the forums greatly overexaggerate how sub-optimal bro splits are. You can most likely reach your natty peak using a bro split. The rate of progress just might be a tad slower. Nothing too dramatically different. Your recovery time as an individual may also be longer than average.

Sean Nale actually has a video in which he says exactly that. Unfortunately for me I needed higher frequency to reach my peak. Some might not.. who knows

[air2fakie]

I think the forums greatly overexaggerate how sub-optimal bro splits are. You can most likely reach your natty peak using a bro split. The rate of progress just might be a tad slower. Nothing too dramatically different. Your recovery time as an individual may also be longer than average.

It’s more that in the world outside these forums of typical commercial gyms, most bros doing bro splits will make it to the gym 2-3x/week so at best they hit chest, arms and shoulders. And they never get to legs.

Even for serious lifters beyond their 20s, work, life and family get in the way of workouts often enough so if doing 1x frequency, it’s more disruptive if you miss a day or two than some sort of full body, UL, etc.

But yeah, if you hit the gym 5 days like clockwork every week, most people will respond well to a properly programmed bro split. Some still won’t though.

[MyEgoProblem]

I think the forums greatly overexaggerate how sub-optimal bro splits are. You can most likely reach your natty peak using a bro split. The rate of progress just might be a tad slower. Nothing too dramatically different. Your recovery time as an individual may also be longer than average.

For hypertrophy purposes only...
Its not abysmal.

And people who can get away with 12 or less hard sets per week. Can make great size gains.

People who need more (and aren't gassed up..) tend to do better splitting that extra workload into 2+ sessions.

The long and short of it tho it's this. We *those of us who care and/or have coaching exp* try to give the most optimal advice, especially as people generally never last more than a couple of years once the intermediate slowdowns kick in hard and want the quickest gains.

5+ years in of HARD WORK, we probably wont even be able to tell the difference in people who aren't competitive

Fun fact.
Im Doing way less than The average bro split, I've lost 20kg of fat and maintained 99% of my strength and brought up some weak points.. Madness i know..