Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

46 Elite Physique
Full-Body Versus Split Workouts
There are two primary ways to design a workout. On one hand, you can perform
a full-body workout, which usually consists of at least three exercises:
• Upper body pull (e.g., row or pull-up)
• Upper body push (e.g., bench press or overhead press)
• Lower body–dominant exercise (e.g., squat, deadlift, lunge or swing variation)
Examples include a workout consisting of a circuit of the pull-up/dip/deadlift
or row/overhead press/lunge or lat pull-down/bench press/squat. On the
other hand, a split workout consists of exercises that target a specific region of the
body, such as arms and back in one workout and chest and shoulders in another,
which we cover later.
Basically speaking, a full-body workout activates and strengthens the majority
of muscle groups in the body. This can also be accomplished with two exercises.
For example, a workout consisting of only the deadlift and bench press challenges
enough muscles to be considered “full body.” Even though this combination lacks
a pure upper body pull, such as a row or pull-up, the deadlift requires significant
activation of the upper back muscles. Variations of the clean and the squat also
develop upper back strength, especially the Zercher squat. Since a horizontal push
works more muscles than a vertical push (i.e., greater activation of the pectorals),
some variation of a bench press, push-up, or dip is often recommended when
choosing only two exercises. However, a vertical push can also work if you lack
strength in that movement.
There are numerous other combinations as well. Basically, any squat or deadlift
variation combined with an upper body push will target the majority of muscles
in the body. If you have the mobility and coordination to correctly perform a
clean and jerk, it alone can train most of the muscle groups since it consists of an
upper body pull, squat, and vertical push. Any variation of a clean (e.g., power
clean, hang clean) could be combined with an upper body push. If you want more
chest development, use a horizontal push. The Turkish get-up (TGU) activates all
the major muscle groups except the upper back. Therefore, you could perform
a TGU with a pull-up or row. Another popular combination is the TGU paired
with a kettlebell swing since it strengthens the upper back as well as the posterior
chain. The key point is that sometimes it’s optimal for a full-body workout to
have the fewest exercises possible. This is especially true when you’re short on
time or energy. Here are a few examples of exercise combinations that can form
a full-body workout:
• Upper body pull + upper body push + squat or deadlift or lunge or swing
• Upper body push + squat or deadlift or swing or clean
• Horizontal upper body push + snatch
• Upper body pull or kettlebell swing + Turkish get-up
Other exercises, whether another multijoint movement or an isolation exercise,
can be added, depending on what you’re trying to build or strengthen.
A split workout, as mentioned earlier, focuses on training specific regions of
the body. For example, one workout trains the upper body, and another workout
trains the lower body. This upper–lower split is also known as a two-day split