Really good analysis on that. Its pretty much everything I got from trying it myself years ago but it does work well as a deload phase if your joints hurt and you want a bit of a break without taking time off. 😉
GREAT Video and advice mountaindog. U got a huge NECK Could u pls make a video on how to grow my neck! That's a body part I struggle to grow I have been doing plate bench lifts and is still lacking behind my other body parts. Maybe I'm doing do much reps?? Could you clarify the amount of reps to weight ratio OR ANY help I'd appreciate your that. Keep up the great video look forward to the next. Support amd good luck from South Yorkshire England.
Thoughts on doing abs and cardio on the "off" days in between mwf I think it maybe ok bc both are already strong and used a lot I just do tiny bit of abs on full body workout mwf and more on the off days Cardio sucks either way but it's a lot easier on the in between off day than after mwf squats or deads
As someone who's made great progress on full-body workouts for years, I'd like to add some points here. The main consideration is that when you train full body, you have to keep the volume for each muscle group down (in order to fit everything into one session). This doesn't necessarily mean low-intensity, just low volume. Low-volume training allows you to get VERY strong very fast. I like a Dante Trudel, DoggCrapp-type approach where you do one heavy set and then one light one (usually both to failure), and then move on to another exercise. If you do that for chest on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or even just Mon and Fri, with Wed subbing some light shoulder work in its place), your chest will grow. Of course, you have to vary the intensity, so you choose different exercises that make you vary the weight you use, and the rep ranges, but as long as you focus on progressive overload and get gradually stronger, you'll make gains. The frequency is where the magic lies. And that in combination with low volume allows you train each muscle when it's (more or less) fresh every session. You can go heavier, hit it harder, and get as good a response as you can doing body-part days (arguably even better, for some people). I agree about hitting the muscle from more angles as you get more experienced. But you can still do that on a FB split. Do flat bench on Monday, some kind of pushup on Wed, and db inclines on Friday. The next week, you can do cable and machine exercises. Then repeat the cycle. The amount of volume you accrue over the whole week should be about what you'd get from a bro split-it may even be greater. Full body training doesn't have to limit your exercise selection. And it doesn't have to make you reel back the intensity. No, I don't think you can take every set of every lift to failure, but you shouldn't do that on ANY split. You might emphasize squats/legs on Monday, chest on Wed, and back on Friday, but you can still train them all hard in each session. My biggest gripe with the FB approach is that it's hard to get out of the gym in under 90 minutes. It's a long workout, for anyone past the beginner level. If you squat in the mid 300s on up, it will take about 45 minutes just to get thru that portion of the workout... Then you have to go on to presses and rows, etc. John addresses this. The heavier you train, the longer it takes to warm up for your work sets. So I understand why bodybuilders and older guys with injuries like to slowly work into one body part and stick with it for a whole session. If your back/knees bother you, you shouldn't do squats right away. You'll need two or three leg exercises to prep, and then you can't really train FB in a realistic time span. But FB is GREAT for getting strong. Especially if you're trying to build your numbers on a specific lift. (Do that lift 3x a week, or even more.) It's great for conditioning (burns a lot of calories in one session). It's great for being efficient: if you miss a session, you don't have to wait days or a week to train a particular muscle again-you automatically hit it in your next workout. So, I'd say FB is a very smart split for beginners and intermediates, and even advanced guys can do well on it too-assuming they're not too beat up, or they choose exercises wisely. - Sean
I agree. This is a great video - but this comment ^ is also highly informative. Obviously the volume per body part within a full body workout needs to be kept in check - no more than 5 or 6 sets per body part, I would think. I like the idea of hitting flat presses for the chest on Monday; inclines on Friday, with perhaps a lighter exercise (decline push-ups, perhaps) sandwiched inbetween on Wednesday, for example... This will allow for the 3x a week protein synthesis while also aiding in more complete recovery. The same thing can be done for the shoulders; overhead presses on Monday, slightly higher volume lateral raises on Friday, with perhaps rear delt rows on Wednesday. A great structure, and still with slightly higher frequency than an upper/lower type of routine... But, I also think that this is primarily for beginners and intermediates; once you've become much more experienced, your level of conditioning will have gone up - necessitating the need for higher volume per body part per workout (I would think)... This is when 2x a week (upper/lower, for example) or even 1x a week body part split training routines can come into play. But at the end of the day, just do whatever works for YOU... Some people swear exclusively by full body routines; these are just some of my thoughts on the subject.
Good post! I've been training for 10 years now and the best ways for me have always been FB and a 2 split program. The FB I use for losing fat, the 2 split (usually pull/push) is for size.
@@RaveyDavey It will admittedly be a rather long workout; 1.5 - 2hrs in length. Some people do it... But I personally prefer more of a half body routine.
I am going to miss this man. My heart goes out to his family especially his boys. I have two boys too and I can't imagine leaving them. May God keep the family and bring a sense of peace overtime to recover from this loss. 🙏🙏🙏
@@pretty_flaco that's always been in the fitness industry....someone is trying to sell the newest fad. But it always goes full circle-the old school train hard, eat clean and shock your body still holds true today
John is on a whole other level compared to other RUclipsr's in terms of experience and honesty. So easy to get pulled off track by other RUclipsr's but listening to John is the jackpot
The “enjoying of the split” is the most important to me. If I feel like crap in a FB split and get frustrated not being able to feel the muscle, I won’t progress. Great video John!
13:31 Great point , this I feel also applies to certain exercises too. If you hate a certain exercise/movement, don't do it! Lol If I listened to every article I've read that's titled "6 MUST DO MOVEMENTS ", I'd be doing 100 exercises per session!
Tremendous respect not just for keeping an open mind and trying something contrary to your instincts, but also for being willing at the end to speak against a popular trend that many of your own friends have hopped on. It's hard to resist even gentle peer pressure like that, so it's great to see you do that here, and in such a respectful and illuminating way. This could've easily been one of those shallow "I did this for a week, it's great you should do it" type videos we see on many other channels, but you didn't do that. The viewers appreciate it.
To me, the most important thing in this video is telling people that they have to experiment and find out what works for them. I'm almost 67. I can't go balls out the way I did when I was in my '20s. I'll hurt myself. Right now, I find full body with medium intensity is working well for me. My fight today is not to get bigger muscles. It's to keep what I have, and it works. With half the things I do, and yes, I am careful about my form, it's not go to failure, it's go as far as I can without injury. So that works for me. I don't do the same exercise for a body part every day. There are plenty of variations and I use them. Some things go to failure. Some don't. Find what works for you! John, thanks again for what you do. I can't tell you how valuable your videos have been for me over the years.
John, guess what? I am doing a very ''weird'' split but it works EXTREMELY WELL! Day 1: Push Day 2: Legs (quads + calves) Day 3: off Day 4: Pull (rows, rear delts and pullups) Day 5: Push (extra arm work) Day 6: Lowerbody (hamstring focus) Day 7: Pull (upperback and traps, no rows)
Absolutely amazing content. Always delivered honest practical advice and is a sad loss to the bodybuilding community. Kudos to the team for continuing on his legacy and delivering amazing informative content. RIP John.
All this training splits are good but the main difference between someone who make progress and who don`t in the end is all about how much power of will, passion and love for the training you have. I remember when I started as a beginer and even then I trained the last sets to failure. I love the push pull legs split only that I do pull, push legs because i can press more safer when i work my back the day before I do my push training. The only thing that bothers me with this split is how to incorporate 1 pressing movement for the shoulders after pressing for the pecs, sometimes I am scared that maybe is too much for the shoulder health to press that much. BTW: Great video!
@@sterlingcampbell2116I think you two need to stop listening to skinny or "scientists" that are failed athletes and don't actually coach anyone remotely relevant.
You are experienced, knowledgeable, logical, calm, humble, positive and empathetic. You are telling us why you think what you think so you are falsifiable even. Listening to you is such a good thing for me. Thank you for existing.
That is how I train. I do my full body. That works great for me. Day on day off. If I'm still recovering I take the second day of aswell, however I make sure I get into the gym on the 3rd day. I also do high reps to low reps in the same gym session. That works good for me. However if I have still not recovered fully I will drop the weight down and do 4 sets of high or low depending on how my body feels. I don't have a program like, this is my heavy day or light day. I listen to my body. If I feel good it's a full work out to high reps to low reps. I don't like to get stuck in the programs where they say you can only work on power or muscle endurance only on that day. Find what works for you. We all have to be open minded to try other stuff. Good information John
@@JoluVideo That is good bud. If it works for you good. Just remember you are putting the body through a lot of stress. You don't have to go everyday. However if it is working for you good. I'm not a big beliver in letting my body adapt to my workout. Everyday we have different energy levels, that is why I don't go the the gym with a plan saying this is my heavy day, because if you feel like crap that puts most people of from working out cause that was meant to be heavy day. Have a good weekend bud
Exactly. It's not rocket science. If I need a second recovery day, I take it. Growth happens outside the gym. Don't wait too long to listen to your body.
@@blackgoblin1004 That is correct it is not rocket science. However it is hard for people when there is so much miss leading information out there. Have a great night
@@ianfraser2009 athleanx, mountain man, alpha destiny and Scott Herman are the main trainers I go to. Even if I don't always agree with them, they're so knowledgeable! So even when I first started (Oct 2017), I at least had a good base. Everything else you have to figure out through experience. You as well!
Absolute gold dust John, straight forward honest common sense. I'm a 50 year old beginner and have developed so much respect for you, please keep it up.
Common sense! Years of experience will teach you this. 100 % Agree. Listening to Jhon words carefully and I totally agree with his methods and thinking. Great teacher.
I do full body every week day , I'm at the stage in life where I dont want to get bigger I want to keep my muscles and drop fat , I've been training 40 years or there about, its working for me and I'm really enjoying it , and that my friend is the MAIN THING
Thank you for sharing your experience John. I do full body Monday and Thursday, Arms to failure on a Saturday. I keep changing the exercises and sets n reps. Keep going big man. You don't realise how supportive your channel is buddy
I’m so glad I found you. Not only am I learning new things but a lot of stuff I knew but might have started to forget, you are right there reminding me
I did full body workouts everyday (just body weight) for 3 months. It worked wonder for me. Now when I'm at the gym (5d/w) and lifting more weight, you realize how important recovery is. Good job with the videos as always John!
35 years for me too, just like you John, but gotta admit Man....I'm Bro-Split for life! lol I just love how it feels to be able to go in 5-6 days a week and hit 1-2 body parts hard and fast with little rest between sets....out in 45 minutes
Thanks, I'm 55 and just past my first full year going to the gym. Done FB since the start, 3 days a week at the start and now down to 2 days but push hard and find a good balance between recovery and strength. Slow gains but enjoying the journey. Thanks for the video's-
Yea been thinking about the age thing. At 46 with the aging joint and back. I ain’t getting any bigger. Mabey at FB split might be easier on recovery and more fun
Loved this series! Thanks John. Another aspect of full bodies, I’ve found, is the *systemic* recovery. As a 25+ years natty trainer, I find I burn out really quickly on any protocol that requires me to train 4 or more days per week ( including 3 on 1 off, bro-splits etc...) Whole body split means my muscles and nervous system are recovering in tandem. A hard workout (v similar to what you outline in these vids) followed by a day or two of rest and I’m fired up for my next training day. I also found I’d get tired after UB with legs still to go, but this got better after a few weeks as my endurance improved. Thanks for the great content (and t shirts!) look forward to whatever’s next.
Im sure everyone feels the same, its like you made these videos just for us and talking right to each of us. Been lifting for decades now and always watch your videos (and backlog of) Gotta be the nicest fitness guy out there. JM telling someone to toughen up : "If you cant do that *sigh, you just, *shakes head, youre just not *sighs, youre just *pauses, . . .just not tough" My favorite youtube doctor telling you the same "youre a MORON!" All the best JM
If it’s working keep going and if it’s not change it up, that’s as easy as it gets. Train smart, train hard and keep progressing till you die! This principle applies to all aspects of life, plain and simple.
Just discovered the secret to having the ultimate physique.. Being LEFT HANDED! I knew it the holy grail in order to be the best.. I was starting behind all along... Sad times. Going to learn to write left handed and then I will get my pro card. LIGHT work! Ty hahaha
I do a full body workout 3 times a week and have done so for awhile. I generally do 2 exercises of 3 sets per body part. I take the last set of each exercise to failure, sometimes the last 2. Each workout lasts about an hour 20 with 60 seconds rest. Great video series John
I totally agree... as lifetime Natty (for 30 years) I train on a four day a week upper lower split...and I take my last set of every exercise to failure ( with good form)...
I personally do a five day split, which allows me to hit a muscle group (say legs) incredibly hard (high volume, nearly every set to failure) and then still recover. It's very fun.
I lean the same way, I know Nippard keeps pushing it, so to speak, and the muscle protein synthesis backs it up, but for now I can't be bothered getting too into it. I'm somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate right now - I don't need to overthink things is the way I see it. Just make sure I have a routine I feel is good and follow it along with nutrition and developing good habits; going to the gym on a regular basis and getting better and better form on my lifts. Right now going back to the gym after a break doing 3x TB a week with mostly 5x5 compound lifts is an amazing way to do it for me. I can make big strength gains and practice all those compound movements again and get my body working. So just on that would recommend to a beginner - don't be afraid of the big compounds and don't listen to people telling you to work 1 muscle/group once a week/day, that may work for someone but that in my opinion is a inefficient way to start learning form. Do the big compounds and try a TB split 3x a week built around them. Adjust your sets & reps accordingly (I'm doing 5x5 think it's a classic for a reason and a good starting line for a beginner as well) eat right, rest & stretch and don't go to failure on everything and it should work great! That being said when I lose a bit more weight and feel OK about my compounds again and want to focus purely on building muscle, I'll probably switch to push pull legs or upper lower just because I like going 5-6 days a week to the gym and lifting in general.
Really appreciate your input on FB training. At age 52 I have some joint troubles and I’ve changed back to FB every third day. It seems to be working well for me. I do add in a strictly leg workout once every 10 days as they have always be my weak spot. The older I get the more I have to listen to my body. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!
Guys do excercises u love!! This way u will be longing for each workout and actually reach the intensity u need for benefits. I quit doing those 10-15 excercises per workout and sticked to the ones i love (4-5) I just couldnt push myself hard enough on excercises i hated, usually cut workouts short and slacked. Now ive been seeing physical gains aswell as strength gains, every workout feels euphoric. When u see strength gains and set goals u really get some inner drive to go hard :) Now my worst days r rest days caus i cant stop thinking about next workout. Great video and insight john!!
I'm natural, 38 y.o., and still within my first year getting back into the gym. I've tried lots of different splits. I got into pretty good shape a couple of times when I was younger. We always used a bro split. Recently, I really wanted a 3-day, full body split to work for me. I was doing too many exercises, though, because I was spending 3 hours in the gym and totally exhausted. It made going to the gym seem like a real chore, and I was too sore at the end of the week. I could only take it for 2 weeks. I keep going back to Jeff Cavalier's modified bro split. I've made some good gains with it and enjoy going to the gym for that. I'm going to try a 3-day, full body split again this week, focusing on the big, compound movements. When I did my previous full body split, I made noticeable gains in only 2 weeks, but it was brutal.
@Pen Umbra I was doing 4 sets per muscle group. I was just working out way too many individual muscles groups. I don't remember exactly now, but I think it was like 16 exercises or something like that. I was trying to give the same attention to each muscle group I was getting with the bro split, but getting it done in 3 days. LOL This time I'm only doing like 5 or 6 compounds, like you said. I may throw in some bi, tri, and rear delt isolation on certain days or something. I'll have to see how it goes.
Excellent video. I completely agree; experimentation and the abilty to decipher what your body is telling you are paramount. This takes YEARS and probably denotes what an "experienced" lifter really is. Get that money, John!! 💪
Another full body approach I learned from Valentin Tambosi is Full Body Push & Full Body Pulldowns. I definitely agree with you that we should enjoy our training and have fun with it! I may run a full body push and full body pull to experiment and try it for fun just to see what the results are. I’ve definitely learned from the whole shelter in place to be more creative and try new things and I’ve managed to make the most of it with the amount of limited equipment I had while also losing nearly 25 lbs dieting through the quarantine. I took this whole event as an experiment and learning experience.
Full body has gained a lot of publicity because people have started to hate traditional bodybuilding spits. According to many fitness influencers everything else but a full body even upper/lower is a ”bro split” and they babble about the frequency and how you can’t make gains using less of it bla bla. Thank for the people like you people get better advice what actually works and what doesn’t
I've been doing a full body 5 days a week program for 7 weeks now. I've found that if I do 3 to 4 hard sets per body part i can recover by the next day. The key is to change the exercise for the compound lifts depending on the day before. So I'll do 4 sets of a vertical pull on Monday then 4 sets of a horizontal pull on tuesday then back to vertical on wed so on and so forth. The following Monday I'll start the week with a horizontal row so the accumulated volume matches up. I'll do squats and leg curls on Monday 3 sets then deadlifts and leg extensions on Tuesday and so on. All while using a progressive overload scheme going up to 80% using straight sets of 8 reps. After 7 to 8 weeks I may change rep ranges and start and finish with a different intensity than the last cycle. Oh Yeah and compliment your accessory moments just like your compounds and there u go. Pure gold for me, been training natural for around 15 years. I've done every good split there is and I currently enjoy the 5 day the most. Yes everyday is leg day, but I only have to do 6ish total sets instead of 10 quad sets and like 8 ham sets twice a week.
I would agree. To summarise what John is saying, as you move from beginner to intermediate to advanced the splits become more segmented/specific and intense.
I've been working out for 4 years now and i've been strictly doing fullbody mondays, wednesdays, fridays and it's going fine extremely well so far. I play soccer tuesdays and thursdays, so best mix for me but I must admit, getting enough recovery is hard.
I agree with you John! It's all about that intensity. I think this is great for more of a beginner but if you're trying to maximize your gains and time in the gym and just get as big as strong as you can I think doing more of a push pull legs split would be better. Or even a diff body part each day you train each week to fully load and exhaust the muscle fibers in those muscle groups. I'm currently on week 11 of your Team U program and have had amazing gains in size weight and strength
Ive always been told to train how you want to perform. I alternate between full body and a push pull legs. For full body i divide my sets and movements over the week, the push pull legs is usually higher load and more focused. I feel like full body 3-5x week is a more endurance suited workout vs push pull legs or bro split being more of a power suited workout, scaled to time, if that makes sense. Its true about getting to practice form with the 3-5x week training, if im having trouble with form or starting a new movement, i will train muscle memory/mobility and mind muscle connection over force production. The thing is after 35 years of lifting you already know where your muscles are so there isnt as much to be gained.
I've tried full body for 4 weeks and I had a good experience yet I miss two things the pumps and the adrenaline that split work outs have to offer. I think there is a lot of mental and emotional benefit to the way you work out. I don't see many people talk about this benefits but I think they are just as important as the physical gains.
I do full body workouts and teach them. I have done this for over 20 years since I stopped playing football. I think full body 2 times a week is one of the best routines out there. You can go to failure sets and still workout again 2 days later. You don't need to leave anything in the tank but you have to work up to that. Upper/lower is the other routine I say works really well. PPL can get rough if you miss a day. That can throw off leg training to once a week. Unless you don't take that day off from training, when you miss a day.
I geuss it depends on how many days a week u will train, remember regular bro split trains legs 1x a week too! So its not the end of the world if u miss out. Honestly i feel PPL is more forgiving to miss out on a day than bro split. My 2 cents ^^ If u train 2 or 3x a week its prob better to full body
@@appakinggg I feel as long as you hit all your muscles 2 times a week, you should be good to go. Full recovery days are just as important. I like Upper/lower or Full body because you give the body more complete recovery days. 3-5 complete days off a week, depending on which one of these you choose. When you do Bro splits your body is in a constant state of recovery. And you give your body only 1 complete recovery day a week.
@@72Dexter72Manley72 nice insights, i geuss it comes down to experimenting what works best for you :D i just feel i cant rly give my all in full body when im like halfway or 2/3rd into workout, lacking those last muscle group training
@@appakinggg I think people need to toughen up and get it done. Exercise order plays a role in fullbody also. If you start with Deadlifts and Squats most people are doomed. You will definitely be too tired to go hard the rest of the way. I don't always feel the best through my workouts. I get tired or have a little pain sometimes. But I know I need to get that good work done, so I get it done. I know I have 1-2 rest days coming so that helps me. 👍🏽
@@72Dexter72Manley72 oh well that seems to work for you! Goood! For me i cant look forward to full body, rather PPL, anyways nice to hear ur thoughts about it
This masterpiece is surely one of your best videos John! Thanks for all the knowledge you share with us. Train, eat, sleep, listen to your body, repeat ;)
i really enjoyed this series this week john, and i totally 100% agree with all your views on this subject! i love the push pull legs split 3 days on 1 day off (6/8 days training). i love how push pull legs limits the overlap in each muscle group and allows you to go very hard and focus on each muscle group, but not at the expense of frequency like a bro split...
I've been using something similar to this split for about a month and loving it but it takes these workouts and spreads them over 2 days each for 6 workouts a week. Each workout has either chest/lats or quads/hamstrings so the big muscles get spread out and only hit every second day. Works better for me than something like push/pull/legs or upper/lower because it lets me spread elbow and knee flexion around by training glutes/calves with my chest/lats and arms with my quads/hamstring. Not stressing my genetically unsound, prone to tinnitus joints too much in any one workout. All the big muscles get 2 days rest between working sets, have to go to the gym 6 days a week but I like that.
I think you nailed it about 13:00 minutes in. The FB low intensity is s great program for deloading periods, when you are coming back from being sick an other things when you want to recoup while still working out. I think working out every day with the same exrcises is actually dangerous. None of these studies or protein metabolism take connective tissues into account. Tendons take much longer to recover than muscles due to limited blood supply in comparison, if you work out every day I can guarantee after a few months you will be having at the very least tendonitis. Another thing is that you can see how hard it is to program, John is one of the best programmers and you can see how challenged he was in exercise selection, even making a minor mistake early on, starting a workout with incline barbell. My experience with full body workouts is that, you are doing less working sets, so you really need to have an official warmup programmed. My favorite warmup exercises are banded lat pulldowns for lats, band face pulls for upper back, light kettle bell swings for lower back and hips, incline pushups or wall pushoffs for shoulders and elbows, shallow lunges for knees. Jeff Nippard likes to foam roll with his warmup, I think foam roller is for recovery myself, unless you are trying to do pushups on the thing (really, really, hard 9.5 out of 10) I'm not sure how John feels about foam rolling with a warmup. Anyways, point being, if you try a full body program, you need to program a general warmup with it. I find it best to work exercises as a giant set, a complex, a push, rest, then a pull, rest then legs, and then repeat the circuit. That way everything stays warmed up. If you are in a crowded commercial gym, that may not work.
I love what you are saying. You’re hitting the point perfect. Most people will stop when the pain and fatigue kicks in. That’s the difference between a person that is training for result and a person training for some health benefits. Just as you say about recovery, we need to recover and we have to rest at least 48h to recover. Next thing is that a muscle part has different angels that you have to train. For example shoulders. If I would train shoulder I need to do at least 3 different exercises and only those will take at least 30-40 minutes. And that goes for every body part. Just do the math. If a hard trainer would do full body workout that person would need to be at the gym around 4-5 h. That will not be efficient or smart. Full body workout is for beginners and persons that go to the gym to feel a bit better.
I'm a 39yo novice and I find intensity lacking in FB split. It just doesn't get there. As always John your channel is a reference point for me to think of ways I want to go with training. I'd be lost without ya man👍
I've been looking forward to this video all week and it was great one. Been wondering this myself for a while. Training the muscle more frequently for a beginner/novice is going to develop more nuclei and in the long run give them better results when they go back to a more traditional split. An advanced guy is already going to have these nuclei it might be good for a lagging body part to train it daily. I do believe full body workouts with lighter weights are some of the best "cardio" for burning fat you can possibly do. I load up 50% of my max and do sets to failure trying to do every machine in the gym no rest and my body fat melts and keeps my interest up to do this daily. I enjoy this much more than riding a stationary bike, elliptical, etc
Great video, John. TB training is my favorite training system. I even used it when I was competing quite heavily for many years. Bro split never worked for me (as a natural) I always preferred U/L and PPL. I look forward to all your vids. Thanks for all your expert advice and opinions.
Over time you can do waaay more volume at high intensity working out full body. I used to do 3-5 sets to absolute failure 6 days a week with no problem, zero soreness. I don't agree with the x reps left in tank crowd, that is pure bs. However when you start off it is not going to be possible to do what I did, you will have to start off with just a couple sets to failure or else start off doing it twice a week and slowly add in workouts.
As some body who can not get to the gym 5 days a week or more, full body is my only option. I work long days on a fixed rotating monthly roster with decent travel time too. The way I do it is 2 main lift days on my days off work in the gym, one at start of the week and one at end of the week. Full body sessions of 6-8reps at 5x sets. Takes me 90min. In the middle of the week I do a band session in my down time at work as I am allowed to. At sets of 3 of 10 reps for pump. Plus I have a boxing and jiujitsu day during the week as well which often hits my body pretty damn well. For some people 2-3 days is all they can do. I get sick of the argument, make time, you got 24 hours in the day. No, I don't. Some people need to be considerate of others work and life commitments that get in the way. So yeah I would love to see more people sharing info and experience in full body workouts. So I appreciate this. Thank you
Jeff Nippard sets it up that each day you focus on a particular group even though you train everything. So if I focus on legs one day the next 2 days will be lighter on legs. So you’re not tearing down all muscles everyday. It’s not for everyone and I need to finish out this program to really say but do far I’ve been enjoying it. Just my 2 cents.
For me switching from PPL 6 times a week to full body 5 times a week helped me to get through the plateau were i was stuck on. It helped me making progress again. Every body is different and response different. I would suggest just try it out and see if it works for you. It took me some weeks to addept my FB scheme to were i felt good with both recovery and strength.
Thanks John. Great video. I completely agree. 1) I like going to the gym. Going 3 day just won’t cut it 2) Bro split gives my body enough time to recover. 3) it’s better for hypertrophy.
MatiNaturalFitness cause bro splits have way too much time off to hit a muscle again, same as 5x full body split is probably too frequent, this one is too much time off Push pull or upper lower are much better since you hit your muscles 2-3x a week, more gains, more strength
i currently follow 1.chest/back/bi’s 2.Shoulders/legs/triceps got a restday only doing a lil bit of cardio 3. back/chest/bi’s 4.legs/shoulders/triceps and weekend are restdays
Every video is gold. I’ve been on a binge with your videos and I learn something every time. I’m a nurse and work 3-4 days a week for 13 hours so full-body is the only routine I can do in order to get the proper frequency in. Yeah, I’m in the gym for a while lol, but I like it. No, I am not big either 😂
Man I sure wish I had know about you when I started over a year ago. I lost 80 lbs and put on a lot of muscle but, I went way too hard too fast and my tendons and shoulders hurt all the time. I have learned so much from you.
Awesome content as always, thanks for your informational advice. Those years of training experience and battling through injuries. Man! Hats off to you. Keep inspiring us.
Years of learning how to feel the muscles under tension and understanding how to exhaust them takes good one on one coaching, in my opinion its the key to developing a great physique. The avg gym goer never really experiences the level of intensity needed to really get a response from the body thats needed to really grow... That's before we even start talking about the importance of nutrition and sleep. You are still my go to guy on youtube John. Keep that fire lit John! Education only goes so far, it's getting into the gym and really learning how to hurt💪😁👌
My split day 1 chest/back day 2 shoulders/triceps day 3 biceps/calves/abs day 4 chest/back day 5 biceps/legs. Works great for me and making solid strength/size gains. Throw in extra abs, shoulders and triceps if I finish another work out a little early. Had knee pain for months, so legs once a week is all I can get at the moment. Also all 2 hour workouts with an hour on each body part, besides abs and calves.
Your 100% right. To me the full body split is a deload split. You can get a lot of days off between and your never going to hit it hard enough unless your there 3 to 4 hours. I dont care who you are 1 exercise of 4 reps isnt enough. You take 4 sets even 3 times a week that's 12. Not enough. To me the best option for full recovery per week is push, off, pull, off, legs, off, off. You want to grow you grow.
I’ve been doing full body split hybrid,but similar to what Eric helms talks about. It shouldn’t really be called that and we don’t need to put constraints on ourselves. I’ve been doing 4-5 days a week these days push/legs, pull/legs, shoulders arms/legs and sometimes I’ll do a full leg day or a full upper body day at the end of the week depending on what feels more taxed. Each day also consists of a big primary movement or compound lift followed by accessory work. It’s been working for me and I’ve seen lots of strength gains lately.
Great video! One way to look at this is that the M/W/F-FB routine worked for guys like Grimek and Reeves. If you would be satisfied with that level of physique, then this routine might be right for you.
Great insight. I've been waiting all week for this video. I used to full body every other day like this. Helped great in weight loss but didn't do much for muscle growth. "Bro splits" with last sets to failure have been much better for muscle growth (as a natural) for myself.
@@mattdipadua3614 I have lots of tips. I'll try to remember everything. First off, I did the whole body workouts while fasted since I was intermittent fasting to lose weight. IF works great if you stick to it. I was doing an 18/6 fast right away. 18 hrs fasted and 6 hours of an eating window. Your fast will be broken when you are done lifting and you drink a protein shake after your workout. So basically I stopped eating by 6 p.m. The next day, I would wake up around 4:30. I'd go to work. Once the day was done at noon I would lift. About 1 p.m. I would be done and drink the first shake breaking the fast. When you eat your one big meal (if you're IF) make sure it is something like lots of chicken (lean protein) with rice and a side salad. Something high and protein, low in fat with some carbs. Carbs you NEED to lift since you are already fasted. Then, the last thing would be another shake around 530. Some milk in this one to make it digest slower and gives you protein while you sleep. So in summary on the first part, diet is huge. The biggest thing about weight loss is diet. IF works great. There are lots of variations of it too. It is a "diet" that you can use the rest of your life. Losing weight isn't a diet change, it's a lifestyle change. I.e. unless you want to be back to being chubby, you have to change the way you eat forever. Now, onto the actual workouts. First off, I lift in a make shift gym in the warehouse at work. Has lots or equipment and weights, but it is not climate controlled. This sucks, but it is also a great motivator to me. After the first set in the summer time, I would be sweating bullets. Due to the heat. Due to being fat. Due to exercising. It felt great. It was motivating in that if I wasn't pouring sweat, I knew I should go harder. Or longer. So number 1, turn the heat up. Number 2 would have to be back to diet. Taking a pre-workout like c4 or BCAA energy doesn't break a fast since it has no calories. Just some amino acids and caffeine. Enjoy a couple of scoops pre and intra workout. Remember, if you're fasted, your lifts will suffer anyway. Don't make it worse by having no caffeine. Number 3 is lift selection. Like John was getting at in Wednesday's video, do movements that hit more than one muscle. I.e. instead of doing concentration curls for biceps, stand up and tear up and back down curling a curl bar. It will hit more than just biceps, which is kind of what you're looking for since you will have limited energy in the beginning from fasting and at the end from the workout being whole body. Number 4 would be just do it. You have a tough day at work? Doesnt matter. Lift. Lady giving you crap? Dont care. Lift. Only have half an hour? Dont care. Try to make your whole body workout a whole body blaster workout. Do your sets and instead of 3-5 mins between switching exercises, wait one minute. Push yourself. Be true to yourself. Only you truly know and care how many times you put up however much weight. You have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and know you gave it your best today and you'll do the same next time. It's all about commitment. Good luck. If I can do it, you can too.
I have done full body as cardio. where I keep the HR up and that is good for athleticism, but not major muscle gain. I do like throwing in a full body exercise to my regular split routine, just to get the blood pumping.
I like doing upper body and lower body routines right now. Sometimes my workouts are in the morning and sometimes they are in the late afternoon, so I don't always have 24 hours to recover.
Man I just started watching some of your videos today. I'm a beginner lifter and I've got to say thanks for putting your knowledge on this platform. You are an inspiration and I'm subscribing.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
If you would like to see all the full body workouts click on this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLNAUreWTt_ShGVcc6itb43w7JP1bFwqkV
why/how can weightlifters train so often, even multiple times a day?
Really good analysis on that. Its pretty much everything I got from trying it myself years ago but it does work well as a deload phase if your joints hurt and you want a bit of a break without taking time off. 😉
GREAT Video and advice mountaindog. U got a huge NECK Could u pls make a video on how to grow my neck! That's a body part I struggle to grow I have been doing plate bench lifts and is still lacking behind my other body parts. Maybe I'm doing do much reps?? Could you clarify the amount of reps to weight ratio OR ANY help I'd appreciate your that. Keep up the great video look forward to the next. Support amd good luck from South Yorkshire England.
Thoughts on doing abs and cardio on the "off" days in between mwf
I think it maybe ok bc both are already strong and used a lot
I just do tiny bit of abs on full body workout mwf and more on the off days
Cardio sucks either way but it's a lot easier on the in between off day than after mwf squats or deads
Would a full body split be more beneficial for burning fat than other splits?
As someone who's made great progress on full-body workouts for years, I'd like to add some points here. The main consideration is that when you train full body, you have to keep the volume for each muscle group down (in order to fit everything into one session). This doesn't necessarily mean low-intensity, just low volume. Low-volume training allows you to get VERY strong very fast. I like a Dante Trudel, DoggCrapp-type approach where you do one heavy set and then one light one (usually both to failure), and then move on to another exercise. If you do that for chest on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or even just Mon and Fri, with Wed subbing some light shoulder work in its place), your chest will grow. Of course, you have to vary the intensity, so you choose different exercises that make you vary the weight you use, and the rep ranges, but as long as you focus on progressive overload and get gradually stronger, you'll make gains.
The frequency is where the magic lies. And that in combination with low volume allows you train each muscle when it's (more or less) fresh every session. You can go heavier, hit it harder, and get as good a response as you can doing body-part days (arguably even better, for some people).
I agree about hitting the muscle from more angles as you get more experienced. But you can still do that on a FB split. Do flat bench on Monday, some kind of pushup on Wed, and db inclines on Friday. The next week, you can do cable and machine exercises. Then repeat the cycle. The amount of volume you accrue over the whole week should be about what you'd get from a bro split-it may even be greater. Full body training doesn't have to limit your exercise selection. And it doesn't have to make you reel back the intensity. No, I don't think you can take every set of every lift to failure, but you shouldn't do that on ANY split. You might emphasize squats/legs on Monday, chest on Wed, and back on Friday, but you can still train them all hard in each session.
My biggest gripe with the FB approach is that it's hard to get out of the gym in under 90 minutes. It's a long workout, for anyone past the beginner level. If you squat in the mid 300s on up, it will take about 45 minutes just to get thru that portion of the workout... Then you have to go on to presses and rows, etc. John addresses this. The heavier you train, the longer it takes to warm up for your work sets. So I understand why bodybuilders and older guys with injuries like to slowly work into one body part and stick with it for a whole session. If your back/knees bother you, you shouldn't do squats right away. You'll need two or three leg exercises to prep, and then you can't really train FB in a realistic time span.
But FB is GREAT for getting strong. Especially if you're trying to build your numbers on a specific lift. (Do that lift 3x a week, or even more.) It's great for conditioning (burns a lot of calories in one session). It's great for being efficient: if you miss a session, you don't have to wait days or a week to train a particular muscle again-you automatically hit it in your next workout.
So, I'd say FB is a very smart split for beginners and intermediates, and even advanced guys can do well on it too-assuming they're not too beat up, or they choose exercises wisely.
- Sean
great post - thank you!
I agree. This is a great video - but this comment ^ is also highly informative. Obviously the volume per body part within a full body workout needs to be kept in check - no more than 5 or 6 sets per body part, I would think. I like the idea of hitting flat presses for the chest on Monday; inclines on Friday, with perhaps a lighter exercise (decline push-ups, perhaps) sandwiched inbetween on Wednesday, for example... This will allow for the 3x a week protein synthesis while also aiding in more complete recovery. The same thing can be done for the shoulders; overhead presses on Monday, slightly higher volume lateral raises on Friday, with perhaps rear delt rows on Wednesday. A great structure, and still with slightly higher frequency than an upper/lower type of routine...
But, I also think that this is primarily for beginners and intermediates; once you've become much more experienced, your level of conditioning will have gone up - necessitating the need for higher volume per body part per workout (I would think)... This is when 2x a week (upper/lower, for example) or even 1x a week body part split training routines can come into play.
But at the end of the day, just do whatever works for YOU... Some people swear exclusively by full body routines; these are just some of my thoughts on the subject.
Good post! I've been training for 10 years now and the best ways for me have always been FB and a 2 split program. The FB I use for losing fat, the 2 split (usually pull/push) is for size.
@@RaveyDavey It will admittedly be a rather long workout; 1.5 - 2hrs in length. Some people do it... But I personally prefer more of a half body routine.
Thanks, this was a great read and very informative.
I am going to miss this man. My heart goes out to his family especially his boys. I have two boys too and I can't imagine leaving them. May God keep the family and bring a sense of peace overtime to recover from this loss. 🙏🙏🙏
Your heart goes out? Interesting choice of words.
@@MrJamesdryable its a figure of speech. Nothing meant regarding John’s heart problem that he passed away from.
I am sorry to hear that.
I didn't know that! So sad.
It would be interesting to see you and Jeff Nippard talk together about your experiences with full body.
Waiting for it buddy. Hope they will .
all these fitness channels conflict a lot
@@pretty_flaco that's always been in the fitness industry....someone is trying to sell the newest fad. But it always goes full circle-the old school train hard, eat clean and shock your body still holds true today
Duane still waiting on it
Oh man I soooooooooooo agree 🙌
John is on a whole other level compared to other RUclipsr's in terms of experience and honesty. So easy to get pulled off track by other RUclipsr's but listening to John is the jackpot
thank you!
true💯💯
100% 🤙🏻
The “enjoying of the split” is the most important to me. If I feel like crap in a FB split and get frustrated not being able to feel the muscle, I won’t progress. Great video John!
“Your just not tough “ lol well said brotha
reality
Love when he says "Alright, hi everybody"
Always thought that he was saying 'Higher Body' in reference to his program High Evolution lol.
13:31 Great point , this I feel also applies to certain exercises too. If you hate a certain exercise/movement, don't do it! Lol
If I listened to every article I've read that's titled "6 MUST DO MOVEMENTS ", I'd be doing 100 exercises per session!
Made a list once of must dos.
Came out to 74hrs a day. This did not include bathing or teeth brushing lol
I've done full body for about 1.5 years and recently changed to a push/pull/legs split and PPL has brought really good gains quick.
10:40 Very smart points here, John. Somebody had to say it. The whole video is gold.
Some of my favorites after 15yrs
Push pull legs upper lower
Canterior/posterior split= chest/bi/front delt. back/tri /rear delt. Legs/lateral delt
You just never know. Just 1.5 years after this we lost a great resource and guy. Still giving great advice.
This man is such a humble and reasonable teacher. Legend.
Tremendous respect not just for keeping an open mind and trying something contrary to your instincts, but also for being willing at the end to speak against a popular trend that many of your own friends have hopped on. It's hard to resist even gentle peer pressure like that, so it's great to see you do that here, and in such a respectful and illuminating way. This could've easily been one of those shallow "I did this for a week, it's great you should do it" type videos we see on many other channels, but you didn't do that. The viewers appreciate it.
I'm always going to be 100% real
To me, the most important thing in this video is telling people that they have to experiment and find out what works for them. I'm almost 67. I can't go balls out the way I did when I was in my '20s. I'll hurt myself. Right now, I find full body with medium intensity is working well for me. My fight today is not to get bigger muscles. It's to keep what I have, and it works. With half the things I do, and yes, I am careful about my form, it's not go to failure, it's go as far as I can without injury. So that works for me. I don't do the same exercise for a body part every day. There are plenty of variations and I use them. Some things go to failure. Some don't. Find what works for you! John, thanks again for what you do. I can't tell you how valuable your videos have been for me over the years.
Rightly so my good chap. Rightly so.
John, guess what? I am doing a very ''weird'' split but it works EXTREMELY WELL!
Day 1: Push
Day 2: Legs (quads + calves)
Day 3: off
Day 4: Pull (rows, rear delts and pullups)
Day 5: Push (extra arm work)
Day 6: Lowerbody (hamstring focus)
Day 7: Pull (upperback and traps, no rows)
That's actually a great split, it balances recovery perfectly
That just a ppl
Absolutely amazing content. Always delivered honest practical advice and is a sad loss to the bodybuilding community. Kudos to the team for continuing on his legacy and delivering amazing informative content. RIP John.
All this training splits are good but the main difference between someone who make progress and who don`t in the end is all about how much power of will, passion and love for the training you have.
I remember when I started as a beginer and even then I trained the last sets to failure.
I love the push pull legs split only that I do pull, push legs because i can press more safer when i work my back the day before I do my push training.
The only thing that bothers me with this split is how to incorporate 1 pressing movement for the shoulders after pressing for the pecs, sometimes I am scared that maybe is too much for the shoulder health to press that much.
BTW: Great video!
Full body split is perfect for people who don't wanna spend 6-7 days a week at the gym.
But instead you gotta spend 6-7 hours in the gym just to get a decent pump.
@@IAmVenix if that were the case you're not training hard enough
@@IAmVenix 2023 and memedaddy on yt thinks that muscle growth is correlated with the amount of pump you get. Wake up buddy
@@IAmVenix Pump has nothing to do with hypertrophy...
Also, if you can't get a pump in a full body workout then you're just not training hard
@@sterlingcampbell2116I think you two need to stop listening to skinny or "scientists" that are failed athletes and don't actually coach anyone remotely relevant.
You are experienced, knowledgeable, logical, calm, humble, positive and empathetic. You are telling us why you think what you think so you are falsifiable even. Listening to you is such a good thing for me. Thank you for existing.
4:30
You need to work on your mind to marker connection
Underrated 😂
Too much power dude nearly went through the whiteboard
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
That is how I train. I do my full body. That works great for me. Day on day off. If I'm still recovering I take the second day of aswell, however I make sure I get into the gym on the 3rd day. I also do high reps to low reps in the same gym session. That works good for me. However if I have still not recovered fully I will drop the weight down and do 4 sets of high or low depending on how my body feels. I don't have a program like, this is my heavy day or light day. I listen to my body. If I feel good it's a full work out to high reps to low reps. I don't like to get stuck in the programs where they say you can only work on power or muscle endurance only on that day. Find what works for you. We all have to be open minded to try other stuff. Good information John
@@JoluVideo That is good bud. If it works for you good. Just remember you are putting the body through a lot of stress. You don't have to go everyday. However if it is working for you good. I'm not a big beliver in letting my body adapt to my workout. Everyday we have different energy levels, that is why I don't go the the gym with a plan saying this is my heavy day, because if you feel like crap that puts most people of from working out cause that was meant to be heavy day. Have a good weekend bud
@Jordan M Thanks, Jordan. For pointing that out. I read it that he was training every day. Just read it again. Have a good night Bud
Exactly. It's not rocket science. If I need a second recovery day, I take it. Growth happens outside the gym. Don't wait too long to listen to your body.
@@blackgoblin1004 That is correct it is not rocket science. However it is hard for people when there is so much miss leading information out there. Have a great night
@@ianfraser2009 athleanx, mountain man, alpha destiny and Scott Herman are the main trainers I go to. Even if I don't always agree with them, they're so knowledgeable! So even when I first started (Oct 2017), I at least had a good base. Everything else you have to figure out through experience. You as well!
Absolute gold dust John, straight forward honest common sense. I'm a 50 year old beginner and have developed so much respect for you, please keep it up.
thank you!
Common sense! Years of experience will teach you this. 100 % Agree. Listening to Jhon words carefully and I totally agree with his methods and thinking. Great teacher.
I do full body every week day , I'm at the stage in life where I dont want to get bigger I want to keep my muscles and drop fat , I've been training 40 years or there about, its working for me and I'm really enjoying it , and that my friend is the MAIN THING
Thank you for sharing your experience John. I do full body Monday and Thursday, Arms to failure on a Saturday. I keep changing the exercises and sets n reps. Keep going big man. You don't realise how supportive your channel is buddy
God bless buddy
If I can get over the pond I'll come and have a session. We will show the youngsters lol. 👍
This is one of the most informative videos ive ever seen in 34 years of training. RIP John.
I’m so glad I found you. Not only am I learning new things but a lot of stuff I knew but might have started to forget, you are right there reminding me
This is an honest and unbiased view.
"Good but not enough for real hypertrophy". 👍
I did full body workouts everyday (just body weight) for 3 months. It worked wonder for me. Now when I'm at the gym (5d/w) and lifting more weight, you realize how important recovery is.
Good job with the videos as always John!
35 years for me too, just like you John, but gotta admit Man....I'm Bro-Split for life! lol I just love how it feels to be able to go in 5-6 days a week and hit 1-2 body parts hard and fast with little rest between sets....out in 45 minutes
I have been training full body,Mon,Wed,Fri ,and cardio Tuesday ,Thursday ,just so I can hit every muscle 3x a week ,great video as always .
(Natural) lost 16st in weight,currently 6ft 220 best shape ever ,are comments welcome .
@BidenEpstein2020 thanx 👍
Thanks, I'm 55 and just past my first full year going to the gym. Done FB since the start, 3 days a week at the start and now down to 2 days but push hard and find a good balance between recovery and strength. Slow gains but enjoying the journey. Thanks for the video's-
Yea been thinking about the age thing. At 46 with the aging joint and back. I ain’t getting any bigger. Mabey at FB split might be easier on recovery and more fun
Mark hamill got jacked and now he's giving out fitness advice!
Dude, how can I unsee that now????
NEVER HEARD OF HER
😆😂😆😂😆😂
😆 kinda
Hahaha! True!
Loved this series! Thanks John.
Another aspect of full bodies, I’ve found, is the *systemic* recovery. As a 25+ years natty trainer, I find I burn out really quickly on any protocol that requires me to train 4 or more days per week ( including 3 on 1 off, bro-splits etc...) Whole body split means my muscles and nervous system are recovering in tandem. A hard workout (v similar to what you outline in these vids) followed by a day or two of rest and I’m fired up for my next training day.
I also found I’d get tired after UB with legs still to go, but this got better after a few weeks as my endurance improved.
Thanks for the great content (and t shirts!) look forward to whatever’s next.
Im sure everyone feels the same, its like you made these videos just for us and talking right to each of us. Been lifting for decades now and always watch your videos (and backlog of)
Gotta be the nicest fitness guy out there.
JM telling someone to toughen up : "If you cant do that *sigh, you just, *shakes head, youre just not *sighs, youre just *pauses, . . .just not tough"
My favorite youtube doctor telling you the same "youre a MORON!"
All the best JM
If it’s working keep going and if it’s not change it up, that’s as easy as it gets. Train smart, train hard and keep progressing till you die! This principle applies to all aspects of life, plain and simple.
Love the breakdown. Can’t argue with years of experience.
Just discovered the secret to having the ultimate physique.. Being LEFT HANDED!
I knew it the holy grail in order to be the best.. I was starting behind all along... Sad times.
Going to learn to write left handed and then I will get my pro card. LIGHT work!
Ty hahaha
BOOOOM!
Tony with a Y YNOT not worth it mate. I’m a southpaw aswell and it sucks
Tony with a I INOT... definitely the way to go. Lefties are smart too.
I'm left handed. Makes no difference 😂
Enjoyment and adherence are the most powerful drivers for muscle growth ;) Thanks for sharing, John!
I do a full body workout 3 times a week and have done so for awhile. I generally do 2 exercises of 3 sets per body part. I take the last set of each exercise to failure, sometimes the last 2. Each workout lasts about an hour 20 with 60 seconds rest. Great video series John
John......for me your word is "GOLD". So much to think about and change. Thank you!!!!
I totally agree... as lifetime Natty (for 30 years) I train on a four day a week upper lower split...and I take my last set of every exercise to failure ( with good form)...
I personally do a five day split, which allows me to hit a muscle group (say legs) incredibly hard (high volume, nearly every set to failure) and then still recover. It's very fun.
I lean the same way, I know Nippard keeps pushing it, so to speak, and the muscle protein synthesis backs it up, but for now I can't be bothered getting too into it. I'm somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate right now - I don't need to overthink things is the way I see it. Just make sure I have a routine I feel is good and follow it along with nutrition and developing good habits; going to the gym on a regular basis and getting better and better form on my lifts.
Right now going back to the gym after a break doing 3x TB a week with mostly 5x5 compound lifts is an amazing way to do it for me. I can make big strength gains and practice all those compound movements again and get my body working. So just on that would recommend to a beginner - don't be afraid of the big compounds and don't listen to people telling you to work 1 muscle/group once a week/day, that may work for someone but that in my opinion is a inefficient way to start learning form. Do the big compounds and try a TB split 3x a week built around them. Adjust your sets & reps accordingly (I'm doing 5x5 think it's a classic for a reason and a good starting line for a beginner as well) eat right, rest & stretch and don't go to failure on everything and it should work great!
That being said when I lose a bit more weight and feel OK about my compounds again and want to focus purely on building muscle, I'll probably switch to push pull legs or upper lower just because I like going 5-6 days a week to the gym and lifting in general.
Really appreciate your input on FB training. At age 52 I have some joint troubles and I’ve changed back to FB every third day. It seems to be working well for me. I do add in a strictly leg workout once every 10 days as they have always be my weak spot. The older I get the more I have to listen to my body. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!
welcome!
Guys do excercises u love!! This way u will be longing for each workout and actually reach the intensity u need for benefits. I quit doing those 10-15 excercises per workout and sticked to the ones i love (4-5)
I just couldnt push myself hard enough on excercises i hated, usually cut workouts short and slacked.
Now ive been seeing physical gains aswell as strength gains, every workout feels euphoric. When u see strength gains and set goals u really get some inner drive to go hard :) Now my worst days r rest days caus i cant stop thinking about next workout. Great video and insight john!!
I'm natural, 38 y.o., and still within my first year getting back into the gym. I've tried lots of different splits. I got into pretty good shape a couple of times when I was younger. We always used a bro split. Recently, I really wanted a 3-day, full body split to work for me. I was doing too many exercises, though, because I was spending 3 hours in the gym and totally exhausted. It made going to the gym seem like a real chore, and I was too sore at the end of the week. I could only take it for 2 weeks. I keep going back to Jeff Cavalier's modified bro split. I've made some good gains with it and enjoy going to the gym for that. I'm going to try a 3-day, full body split again this week, focusing on the big, compound movements. When I did my previous full body split, I made noticeable gains in only 2 weeks, but it was brutal.
@Pen Umbra I was doing 4 sets per muscle group. I was just working out way too many individual muscles groups. I don't remember exactly now, but I think it was like 16 exercises or something like that. I was trying to give the same attention to each muscle group I was getting with the bro split, but getting it done in 3 days. LOL This time I'm only doing like 5 or 6 compounds, like you said. I may throw in some bi, tri, and rear delt isolation on certain days or something. I'll have to see how it goes.
@@MasterKurisu Then you were doing it absolutely wrong. Why did you chuck it instead of recognizing the problem and fixing it?
Excellent video. I completely agree; experimentation and the abilty to decipher what your body is telling you are paramount. This takes YEARS and probably denotes what an "experienced" lifter really is. Get that money, John!! 💪
Another full body approach I learned from Valentin Tambosi is Full Body Push & Full Body Pulldowns. I definitely agree with you that we should enjoy our training and have fun with it! I may run a full body push and full body pull to experiment and try it for fun just to see what the results are. I’ve definitely learned from the whole shelter in place to be more creative and try new things and I’ve managed to make the most of it with the amount of limited equipment I had while also losing nearly 25 lbs dieting through the quarantine. I took this whole event as an experiment and learning experience.
Full body has gained a lot of publicity because people have started to hate traditional bodybuilding spits. According to many fitness influencers everything else but a full body even upper/lower is a ”bro split” and they babble about the frequency and how you can’t make gains using less of it bla bla. Thank for the people like you people get better advice what actually works and what doesn’t
I've been doing a full body 5 days a week program for 7 weeks now. I've found that if I do 3 to 4 hard sets per body part i can recover by the next day. The key is to change the exercise for the compound lifts depending on the day before. So I'll do 4 sets of a vertical pull on Monday then 4 sets of a horizontal pull on tuesday then back to vertical on wed so on and so forth. The following Monday I'll start the week with a horizontal row so the accumulated volume matches up. I'll do squats and leg curls on Monday 3 sets then deadlifts and leg extensions on Tuesday and so on. All while using a progressive overload scheme going up to 80% using straight sets of 8 reps. After 7 to 8 weeks I may change rep ranges and start and finish with a different intensity than the last cycle. Oh Yeah and compliment your accessory moments just like your compounds and there u go. Pure gold for me, been training natural for around 15 years. I've done every good split there is and I currently enjoy the 5 day the most. Yes everyday is leg day, but I only have to do 6ish total sets instead of 10 quad sets and like 8 ham sets twice a week.
I would agree. To summarise what John is saying, as you move from beginner to intermediate to advanced the splits become more segmented/specific and intense.
I've been working out for 4 years now and i've been strictly doing fullbody mondays, wednesdays, fridays and it's going fine extremely well so far. I play soccer tuesdays and thursdays, so best mix for me but I must admit, getting enough recovery is hard.
I agree with you John! It's all about that intensity. I think this is great for more of a beginner but if you're trying to maximize your gains and time in the gym and just get as big as strong as you can I think doing more of a push pull legs split would be better. Or even a diff body part each day you train each week to fully load and exhaust the muscle fibers in those muscle groups. I'm currently on week 11 of your Team U program and have had amazing gains in size weight and strength
Ive always been told to train how you want to perform. I alternate between full body and a push pull legs. For full body i divide my sets and movements over the week, the push pull legs is usually higher load and more focused. I feel like full body 3-5x week is a more endurance suited workout vs push pull legs or bro split being more of a power suited workout, scaled to time, if that makes sense. Its true about getting to practice form with the 3-5x week training, if im having trouble with form or starting a new movement, i will train muscle memory/mobility and mind muscle connection over force production. The thing is after 35 years of lifting you already know where your muscles are so there isnt as much to be gained.
I have watched so many fitness youtubers and have decided you are my favorite. I just started you CD 2 program and all I can say is HELL TO THE YEAH
it's a grinder!
I've tried full body for 4 weeks and I had a good experience yet I miss two things the pumps and the adrenaline that split work outs have to offer. I think there is a lot of mental and emotional benefit to the way you work out. I don't see many people talk about this benefits but I think they are just as important as the physical gains.
Good point John, recovery is key and I personally work out every other day too
Just Some Guy without a Mustache you are everywhere!😂
he is, both of you are! I love it!
I do full body workouts and teach them. I have done this for over 20 years since I stopped playing football.
I think full body 2 times a week is one of the best routines out there. You can go to failure sets and still workout again 2 days later. You don't need to leave anything in the tank but you have to work up to that.
Upper/lower is the other routine I say works really well.
PPL can get rough if you miss a day. That can throw off leg training to once a week. Unless you don't take that day off from training, when you miss a day.
I geuss it depends on how many days a week u will train, remember regular bro split trains legs 1x a week too! So its not the end of the world if u miss out. Honestly i feel PPL is more forgiving to miss out on a day than bro split. My 2 cents ^^
If u train 2 or 3x a week its prob better to full body
@@appakinggg I feel as long as you hit all your muscles 2 times a week, you should be good to go. Full recovery days are just as important.
I like Upper/lower or Full body because you give the body more complete recovery days. 3-5 complete days off a week, depending on which one of these you choose.
When you do Bro splits your body is in a constant state of recovery. And you give your body only 1 complete recovery day a week.
@@72Dexter72Manley72 nice insights, i geuss it comes down to experimenting what works best for you :D i just feel i cant rly give my all in full body when im like halfway or 2/3rd into workout, lacking those last muscle group training
@@appakinggg I think people need to toughen up and get it done. Exercise order plays a role in fullbody also. If you start with Deadlifts and Squats most people are doomed. You will definitely be too tired to go hard the rest of the way.
I don't always feel the best through my workouts. I get tired or have a little pain sometimes. But I know I need to get that good work done, so I get it done.
I know I have 1-2 rest days coming so that helps me. 👍🏽
@@72Dexter72Manley72 oh well that seems to work for you! Goood! For me i cant look forward to full body, rather PPL, anyways nice to hear ur thoughts about it
This masterpiece is surely one of your best videos John! Thanks for all the knowledge you share with us.
Train, eat, sleep, listen to your body, repeat ;)
i really enjoyed this series this week john, and i totally 100% agree with all your views on this subject! i love the push pull legs split 3 days on 1 day off (6/8 days training). i love how push pull legs limits the overlap in each muscle group and allows you to go very hard and focus on each muscle group, but not at the expense of frequency like a bro split...
I've been using something similar to this split for about a month and loving it but it takes these workouts and spreads them over 2 days each for 6 workouts a week. Each workout has either chest/lats or quads/hamstrings so the big muscles get spread out and only hit every second day. Works better for me than something like push/pull/legs or upper/lower because it lets me spread elbow and knee flexion around by training glutes/calves with my chest/lats and arms with my quads/hamstring. Not stressing my genetically unsound, prone to tinnitus joints too much in any one workout. All the big muscles get 2 days rest between working sets, have to go to the gym 6 days a week but I like that.
I think you nailed it about 13:00 minutes in. The FB low intensity is s great program for deloading periods, when you are coming back from being sick an other things when you want to recoup while still working out. I think working out every day with the same exrcises is actually dangerous. None of these studies or protein metabolism take connective tissues into account. Tendons take much longer to recover than muscles due to limited blood supply in comparison, if you work out every day I can guarantee after a few months you will be having at the very least tendonitis. Another thing is that you can see how hard it is to program, John is one of the best programmers and you can see how challenged he was in exercise selection, even making a minor mistake early on, starting a workout with incline barbell. My experience with full body workouts is that, you are doing less working sets, so you really need to have an official warmup programmed. My favorite warmup exercises are banded lat pulldowns for lats, band face pulls for upper back, light kettle bell swings for lower back and hips, incline pushups or wall pushoffs for shoulders and elbows, shallow lunges for knees. Jeff Nippard likes to foam roll with his warmup, I think foam roller is for recovery myself, unless you are trying to do pushups on the thing (really, really, hard 9.5 out of 10) I'm not sure how John feels about foam rolling with a warmup. Anyways, point being, if you try a full body program, you need to program a general warmup with it. I find it best to work exercises as a giant set, a complex, a push, rest, then a pull, rest then legs, and then repeat the circuit. That way everything stays warmed up. If you are in a crowded commercial gym, that may not work.
thank you!
I think FB splits definitely is a good way to train for beginners. During my PT days I always started novice clients that way for 4-8 weeks.
I love what you are saying. You’re hitting the point perfect. Most people will stop when the pain and fatigue kicks in. That’s the difference between a person that is training for result and a person training for some health benefits. Just as you say about recovery, we need to recover and we have to rest at least 48h to recover. Next thing is that a muscle part has different angels that you have to train. For example shoulders. If I would train shoulder I need to do at least 3 different exercises and only those will take at least 30-40 minutes. And that goes for every body part. Just do the math. If a hard trainer would do full body workout that person would need to be at the gym around 4-5 h. That will not be efficient or smart. Full body workout is for beginners and persons that go to the gym to feel a bit better.
:)
I'm a 39yo novice and I find intensity lacking in FB split. It just doesn't get there.
As always John your channel is a reference point for me to think of ways I want to go with training. I'd be lost without ya man👍
I've been looking forward to this video all week and it was great one. Been wondering this myself for a while. Training the muscle more frequently for a beginner/novice is going to develop more nuclei and in the long run give them better results when they go back to a more traditional split. An advanced guy is already going to have these nuclei it might be good for a lagging body part to train it daily. I do believe full body workouts with lighter weights are some of the best "cardio" for burning fat you can possibly do. I load up 50% of my max and do sets to failure trying to do every machine in the gym no rest and my body fat melts and keeps my interest up to do this daily. I enjoy this much more than riding a stationary bike, elliptical, etc
Great video, John. TB training is my favorite training system. I even used it when I was competing quite heavily for many years. Bro split never worked for me (as a natural) I always preferred U/L and PPL. I look forward to all your vids. Thanks for all your expert advice and opinions.
Monday & Thursday upper body
Tuesday & Friday lower body
Nice !!
Over time you can do waaay more volume at high intensity working out full body. I used to do 3-5 sets to absolute failure 6 days a week with no problem, zero soreness. I don't agree with the x reps left in tank crowd, that is pure bs. However when you start off it is not going to be possible to do what I did, you will have to start off with just a couple sets to failure or else start off doing it twice a week and slowly add in workouts.
As some body who can not get to the gym 5 days a week or more, full body is my only option. I work long days on a fixed rotating monthly roster with decent travel time too.
The way I do it is 2 main lift days on my days off work in the gym, one at start of the week and one at end of the week. Full body sessions of 6-8reps at 5x sets. Takes me 90min.
In the middle of the week I do a band session in my down time at work as I am allowed to. At sets of 3 of 10 reps for pump.
Plus I have a boxing and jiujitsu day during the week as well which often hits my body pretty damn well. For some people 2-3 days is all they can do. I get sick of the argument, make time, you got 24 hours in the day. No, I don't. Some people need to be considerate of others work and life commitments that get in the way.
So yeah I would love to see more people sharing info and experience in full body workouts. So I appreciate this. Thank you
Jeff Nippard sets it up that each day you focus on a particular group even though you train everything. So if I focus on legs one day the next 2 days will be lighter on legs. So you’re not tearing down all muscles everyday. It’s not for everyone and I need to finish out this program to really say but do far I’ve been enjoying it. Just my 2 cents.
This is gospel 4 me !! As you said this cant be read in a book. It comes from years of experience ! Thank u so mch ! God bless You !
Love this guy and his content. He'll be deeply missed. Lots of wisdom shared.
JOHN, I Appreciate your Openness. Very refreshing. 👍🏽 💪🏾
For me switching from PPL 6 times a week to full body 5 times a week helped me to get through the plateau were i was stuck on. It helped me making progress again. Every body is different and response different. I would suggest just try it out and see if it works for you. It took me some weeks to addept my FB scheme to were i felt good with both recovery and strength.
I am so sorry! I loved this guy. I learned so much.
Thanks John. Great video. I completely agree.
1) I like going to the gym. Going 3 day just won’t cut it
2) Bro split gives my body enough time to recover.
3) it’s better for hypertrophy.
1) bro split is a waste of time and gains
2) you're completely wrong about hypertrophy
@@martingrdan5475 please explain why ?
MatiNaturalFitness cause bro splits have way too much time off to hit a muscle again, same as 5x full body split is probably too frequent, this one is too much time off
Push pull or upper lower are much better since you hit your muscles 2-3x a week, more gains, more strength
@@martingrdan5475 agree. I do PPL too
i currently follow 1.chest/back/bi’s 2.Shoulders/legs/triceps got a restday only doing a lil bit of cardio 3. back/chest/bi’s 4.legs/shoulders/triceps and weekend are restdays
Every video is gold. I’ve been on a binge with your videos and I learn something every time. I’m a nurse and work 3-4 days a week for 13 hours so full-body is the only routine I can do in order to get the proper frequency in. Yeah, I’m in the gym for a while lol, but I like it. No, I am not big either 😂
Thank you!
"YOURE JUST NOT TOUGH"
Best way to put it John 💪
Man I sure wish I had know about you when I started over a year ago. I lost 80 lbs and put on a lot of muscle but, I went way too hard too fast and my tendons and shoulders hurt all the time. I have learned so much from you.
You trained full body for one week in order to show us the method and thats so cool!! Great vídeo.
Awesome content as always, thanks for your informational advice.
Those years of training experience and battling through injuries.
Man! Hats off to you.
Keep inspiring us.
Years of learning how to feel the muscles under tension and understanding how to exhaust them takes good one on one coaching, in my opinion its the key to developing a great physique. The avg gym goer never really experiences the level of intensity needed to really get a response from the body thats needed to really grow... That's before we even start talking about the importance of nutrition and sleep. You are still my go to guy on youtube John. Keep that fire lit John! Education only goes so far, it's getting into the gym and really learning how to hurt💪😁👌
So much good info . I do a split body upper lower body. Works for me and you are so right tought it out man
My split day 1 chest/back day 2 shoulders/triceps day 3 biceps/calves/abs day 4 chest/back day 5 biceps/legs. Works great for me and making solid strength/size gains. Throw in extra abs, shoulders and triceps if I finish another work out a little early. Had knee pain for months, so legs once a week is all I can get at the moment. Also all 2 hour workouts with an hour on each body part, besides abs and calves.
I love your common sense and honesty.
Your 100% right. To me the full body split is a deload split. You can get a lot of days off between and your never going to hit it hard enough unless your there 3 to 4 hours. I dont care who you are 1 exercise of 4 reps isnt enough. You take 4 sets even 3 times a week that's 12. Not enough. To me the best option for full recovery per week is push, off, pull, off, legs, off, off. You want to grow you grow.
I’ve been doing full body split hybrid,but similar to what Eric helms talks about. It shouldn’t really be called that and we don’t need to put constraints on ourselves.
I’ve been doing 4-5 days a week these days push/legs, pull/legs, shoulders arms/legs and sometimes I’ll do a full leg day or a full upper body day at the end of the week depending on what feels more taxed.
Each day also consists of a big primary movement or compound lift followed by accessory work. It’s been working for me and I’ve seen lots of strength gains lately.
Thank you for backing up Greg
I like to do squats and deadlifts on the same day. It’s one of my favorite days of the week for my split.
Well said. Whatever works for the individual or they find most enjoyable. I personally love upper/lower splits.
Great video! One way to look at this is that the M/W/F-FB routine worked for guys like Grimek and Reeves. If you would be satisfied with that level of physique, then this routine might be right for you.
Great insight. I've been waiting all week for this video. I used to full body every other day like this. Helped great in weight loss but didn't do much for muscle growth. "Bro splits" with last sets to failure have been much better for muscle growth (as a natural) for myself.
How did you have it set up I’m looking to use it to lose weight or fat any tips
@@mattdipadua3614 I have lots of tips. I'll try to remember everything.
First off, I did the whole body workouts while fasted since I was intermittent fasting to lose weight. IF works great if you stick to it. I was doing an 18/6 fast right away. 18 hrs fasted and 6 hours of an eating window. Your fast will be broken when you are done lifting and you drink a protein shake after your workout. So basically I stopped eating by 6 p.m. The next day, I would wake up around 4:30. I'd go to work. Once the day was done at noon I would lift. About 1 p.m. I would be done and drink the first shake breaking the fast. When you eat your one big meal (if you're IF) make sure it is something like lots of chicken (lean protein) with rice and a side salad. Something high and protein, low in fat with some carbs. Carbs you NEED to lift since you are already fasted. Then, the last thing would be another shake around 530. Some milk in this one to make it digest slower and gives you protein while you sleep. So in summary on the first part, diet is huge. The biggest thing about weight loss is diet. IF works great. There are lots of variations of it too. It is a "diet" that you can use the rest of your life. Losing weight isn't a diet change, it's a lifestyle change. I.e. unless you want to be back to being chubby, you have to change the way you eat forever. Now, onto the actual workouts.
First off, I lift in a make shift gym in the warehouse at work. Has lots or equipment and weights, but it is not climate controlled. This sucks, but it is also a great motivator to me. After the first set in the summer time, I would be sweating bullets. Due to the heat. Due to being fat. Due to exercising. It felt great. It was motivating in that if I wasn't pouring sweat, I knew I should go harder. Or longer. So number 1, turn the heat up. Number 2 would have to be back to diet. Taking a pre-workout like c4 or BCAA energy doesn't break a fast since it has no calories. Just some amino acids and caffeine. Enjoy a couple of scoops pre and intra workout. Remember, if you're fasted, your lifts will suffer anyway. Don't make it worse by having no caffeine. Number 3 is lift selection. Like John was getting at in Wednesday's video, do movements that hit more than one muscle. I.e. instead of doing concentration curls for biceps, stand up and tear up and back down curling a curl bar. It will hit more than just biceps, which is kind of what you're looking for since you will have limited energy in the beginning from fasting and at the end from the workout being whole body. Number 4 would be just do it. You have a tough day at work? Doesnt matter. Lift. Lady giving you crap? Dont care. Lift. Only have half an hour? Dont care. Try to make your whole body workout a whole body blaster workout. Do your sets and instead of 3-5 mins between switching exercises, wait one minute. Push yourself. Be true to yourself. Only you truly know and care how many times you put up however much weight. You have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and know you gave it your best today and you'll do the same next time. It's all about commitment. Good luck. If I can do it, you can too.
I have done full body as cardio. where I keep the HR up and that is good for athleticism, but not major muscle gain. I do like throwing in a full body exercise to my regular split routine, just to get the blood pumping.
I like doing upper body and lower body routines right now. Sometimes my workouts are in the morning and sometimes they are in the late afternoon, so I don't always have 24 hours to recover.
Man I just started watching some of your videos today. I'm a beginner lifter and I've got to say thanks for putting your knowledge on this platform. You are an inspiration and I'm subscribing.
Welcome aboard!