Which kind of workout is better?

[Óttar]

Which kind of workout is better? 5x a week focusing on a different specific body part each day or workouts that work on several parts of the body?

[Psychonaut]

Judging from your previous posts, your goal is to gain size and strength at this point, right? If that's the case, then, for proper development, you shouldn't be exercising each muscle group more than once every week. There're a number of ways to break this up into a meekly split, but this is my favorite:

Day 1: shoulders and triceps
Day 2: back (including traps)
Day 3: rest or cardio
Day 4: rest or cardio
Day 5: chest and biceps
Day 6: legs
Day 7: rest or cardio
Day 8: rest or cardio

With a split like that, you might be able to get away with only resting one day where I have two; it all depends on how you're feeling. Getting a sense of how your body is recovering from lifting and when it's ready for more punishment is more important than slavishly adhering to any set schedule. And, since you're on a gain cycle, you wouldn't want to be doing too much cardio, since that will interfere with your gains.

[thetank]

i recommened to do different body parts a day

[Oreka Bailoak]

Which kind of workout is better? 5x a week focusing on a different specific body part each day or workouts that work on several parts of the body?
The ones that do several parts of the body. Doing only individual body parts are not best for beginners. There was a great article on yahoo health the other day talking about this very same topic- and their conclusion was it's best to do multiple parts together and avoid focusing on isolation (I printed it out but if you want to read it just look it up- or just copy the workout I'm posting below). The body building experts, and professional athletes strongly agree with this too. (doing some body parts such as calfs or biceps which are more difficult to target in the exercises that target multiple areas are ok)

Alright. What you want is to be cut (little amount of fat) and muscular. (unless you're training for sumo wrestling or Olympic marathons)

I strongly disagree with Psychonaut's work out. I don't think it's very structurally efficient. For somebody serious about seeing results I don't think it would work very well.

Let me break this down into 3 sections... 1) Weights 2) Running 3) Nutrition- all of which are absolutely integral in order to get into good healthy shape.

1) Weights-

A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843&CJAID=10409402&CJPID=4145986

Also if you want to learn the proper form for weight lifting buy the video (or download it) "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe. (His book is great too to hear the passion he has for training and how intense he is for motivation)

2) Running-
In order to burn fat you need to try High Intensity Interval Training about 2-3 days a week.
For a beginner you can try something like this on a treadmill
warm up 6.5 mph for 1 minute
1 minute at 10 mph
2 minutes at 4 mph
1 minute at 10 mph
2 minutes at 4 mph
1 minute at 10 mph
2 minutes at 4 mph
1 minute at 10 mph
2 minutes at 4 mph
1 minute at 10 mph
2 minutes at 4 mph

^ once you get used to it reduce the 4 mph run for 2 minutes down to 1 minute. Now the total time running should be about 12 minutes which is in the HIIT time range. Then you can slowly increase your top speed up to about 12 mph. Soon you'll be running a 5-6 minute mile.

You can also do light runs on an off day- my personal favorite is a light 5 mile run in 40-45 minutes which is very light but burns about 500 calories. I can get you some of those interval mph/time charts if you want for those types of runs too.

3) Nutrition - If you're trying to gain muscle and you're not eating right you will see virtually ZERO results.

Try to base your meals off primarily these foods...

Proteins
boneless/skinless chicken breast
turkey breast
salmon
tuna
swordfish
haddock
tilapia
flounder
round steak
sirloin steak
flank steak
beef tenderloin (filet mignon)
lean ground beef, chicken, turkey
orange roughy
egg whites
lean pork
crab
lobster
shrimp
buffalo
whey powder


Complex Carbs
brown/white rice
whole wheat pasta
oatmeal
yams
sweet potatoes
red potatoes
beans (pinto, black, kidney, lentils)
farina (Cream of Wheat)
rye cereal

Fibrous carbs
romaine lettuce
celery
asparagus
broccoli
cauliflower
brussels sprouts
cucumber
green pepper
red pepper
zucchini
spinach


Fruits
bananas
apples
blueberries
strawberries
rasberries
grapefruit

Fats
real cheese
olive oil
flax oil
fish oil
udo's oil
almonds
natural peanut butter
natural almond butter
avacado
http://training.fitness.com/nutrition/lvs-grocery-list-19098.html

Also calculate your required calories (if it doesn't feel right to you adjust accordingly...)


“English BMR Formula”
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

“Metric BMR Formula”
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
This is just a general estimation, some may be above or below this, but this is a good place to start.

Multiply this number by your activity level factor:

1.0 - Sedentary (doing nothing all day)
1.2 - Very light activity (Working a desk job or on a computer and not performing any type of physical activity during your day.)
1.4 - Light activity (having a non-physical job (desk, computer, etc.) but performing some sort of physical activity during the day (e.g. above average walking) but no hard training.)
1.6 - Moderate activity (having a non-physical job, performing some sort of physical activity during the day, and including a daily workout session in your routine. This is where most of you are at.)
1.8 - High activity (either training plus a physical job or non-physical job and twice-a-day training sessions)
2.0 - Extreme activity (a very physical job and daily hard training.)

Now you have your daily maintenance calories.

Now that you know how many calories it takes to maintain your weight - how many should you eat to achieve your goals?

Well, the general rule of thumb is +/- 500. Plus 500 to gain, minus 500 to lose. However, it can be a better idea to go by percentages, +/- 20% of your maintenance. Remember, if you’re trying to bulk and eat too much - you will gain fat instead of muscle. If you’re trying to lose fat and eat too little, your body will hold on to the fat you have for dear life. Moderation, dear readers, moderation.
http://training.fitness.com/nutrition/nutrition-101-a-32846.html

^ Also on there learn to balance your foods
like start off with 1/3 protein 1/3 carbs 1/3 fats (of which 1/3 saturated, 1/3 monounsaturated, and 1/3 poly unsaturated).
*Get your protein in for sure. I'm 170 lbs and I take 170g (many would say this is insufficient but it feels good to me- I'm happy with my body progress so I'm not changing) a day much of it through a protein shake.

The most important thing is to be consistent, usually people who change a part of their plan form the normal ones I just listed end up messing up the results they could have had.

And I think that's about all you need to know. Sorry if this was too gigantic an answer to such a simple question- I just like to make sure people are on the right track because I've spent many years training wrong myself and that really sucks.

[Max]

Do light full body workouts 5x a week if you want to get toned. This is what I do now.

Do heavy exercises 2-3 times a week(till your muscles rip) if you wanna get big.
I used to do this a year ago. I usually did 2 upper body and 1-2 lower body a week sessions. Add some protein and I bulked up 25pounds within 4-5 months.

Now days I just go to the gym 3-5 times a week and do 5x15 reps of pretty much any free weight/machine exercises. Work out till im sore not till my muscles are about to explode(I suggest this)

It all depends on what you wanna do. Don't do cardio:thumb001: Thats for women,fat people and non-smokers:D

[thetank]

any routine that lets you hit your all your muscles twice a week is optimal for growth

[Caismeachd]

If you're new to working out it's better to do workouts that focus on your whole body. Once you do that for a couple of months and get into good shape then it's good to focus on individual parts if you want to build muscle. I'm out of shape these days compared to my past (I used to be 187lbs 4% BF) so I do intensive full body workouts now and HIIT. Calisthenics since I had a bad injury and can't lift weights anymore.


Also it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

[thetank]

I agree a full body workout is great for a beginner because it makes them hit their muscles more frequently but it there is not much room for specialization since you have to be efficient so they are mainly compound movement with very few isolation movement... I used to do a lot of HIIT training but I don't train to failure anymore so instead I do a push/pull/leg split where I hit my muscles twice a week and I never train to failure

[Wadaad]

If you are a beginner, concentrate on compound movements (bench press/ dead lift/squats). Here is a good program to follow for as long as you're making gains before you advance into a 5 day split

Workout A (SET x REPS)
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
5x3 Power cleans

Workouts A and B alternate on 3 non-consecutive days per week. (eg Monday Wednesday Friday)

[Mister X]

Best type of workout is usually a high intensity workout. As it does your entire body. Including your heart and lungs/cardio. Not only that but its the best way to burn fat and build a high metabolism.

I used to box 6 days a week for two hours at one point. Which is pretty much nonstop cardio and calisthenics for 2 hours.

To this day I do an occasional 2 hour routine once or twice a week, but other than that I do dont much anymore. Aslong as I eat I maintain the way I look, which is pretty learn and with barely any fat. The metabolism does all the work pretty much.

[Conan]

Which kind of workout is better? 5x a week focusing on a different specific body part each day or workouts that work on several parts of the body?

Hi Óttar,
5x a week focusing on a different specific body parts each day is better as you have enough time to workout on a specific body part which brings desired fitness results rather than working on several parts of the body in limited time in gym.

[Corvus]

I prefer high intensity training 5 times with plyometric elements and cardio 2 (running or swimming) times a week to split training.
Its not so time consuming and you even get better results. The only disadvantage is the high injury risk.
I am constantly confronted with light injuries which sometimes force me to adapt the schedule.

[Stefan_Dusan]

It depends what you want to do but in reality 3 X 1 hour works or even 7 X 1 hour workouts won't make you in "shape." To be in shape you have to be active most of the day, every day.

Unless your main goal is to build muscle, I would workout entire body intensely for 4-5 days a week. Something like crossfit. If you do you will have a good body for your little effort (and 4-5 hours a week is little effort).