As you can guess, whole body training means that the whole body is exercised, with all muscles stimulated at the same time. But with separate training, specific muscle groups from different areas of the body are toned.
Pros and cons of overall body training
Pros:
- Whole body training is a great way to exercise effectively for beginners in the gym because it increases protein synthesis, allowing them to achieve faster results.
- Balanced body
You will be able to build a well-balanced body by working on all muscle groups, which will not shock your body. Many physiologists view the body as a single muscle because all muscle groups are interconnected.
- Helps you recover faster between workouts.
It often happens that many of us feel severe pain after a workout, which comes as a direct result of a poorly distributed workout that has affected the affected part. Workouts that involve the whole body distribute the exercise evenly and give more time to recover between workouts.
- Helps to lose fat
There is more than one way to elicit a positive metabolic response from your body to stimulate fat loss. The combination of strength training, cardio and a healthy diet works best. Whole body workouts are very helpful for fat loss because you train at a higher level of intensity than split workouts. This helps burn extra calories and fat. But it’s important to give yourself a full day of recovery between workouts to avoid overload, which can lead to an unwanted catabolic effect on your muscles.
- Creates good muscle symmetry
Exercises that affect the whole body will help you develop your muscles symmetrically and improve your muscle function. This, in turn, will make you feel very good and encourage you to continue working on yourself.
Cons:
- If you exercise your whole body often, you will work out too much. Workouts divided into muscle groups include more “isolated” exercises that do not put too much strain on the muscular system. While whole body workouts work with multiple muscle groups, which requires a longer recovery time.
- Full body training is best suited for professional athletes.
- If you have weaker parts of the body that you want to focus on, you will not be able to tone them alone. In general, muscles need more stimulation focused in one place to fully strengthen.
Pros and cons of training divided into muscle groups
Pros:
- Allows complete recovery of any part of your body.
- It can dramatically increase the volume of any part of your body.
- Less equipment is needed as you do not train the whole body.
- You will be less exhausted, as only a small part of your body trains during the various sessions.
- With these exercises you build greater muscular endurance. When your muscles are tired and you do the exercises in question, you work them to their full potential.
- If you have weaknesses, training into specific muscle groups helps you focus entirely on building that area in your body.
Cons:
- Not all parts of the body need to be trained regularly.
- You may become impatient because you have to wait longer before you see any results, and in the end they will not be very big because the process is slow.
- Some parts of your body recover faster than others, giving you the feeling that you are taking a step forward and a step back.
- You will sometimes prefer one part of your body to another, forcing you to focus on it for a longer time, leaving others.
Workout divided into muscle groups, or workouts for the whole body?
In one study, researchers divided people into two groups. One group did divided exercises from two to three muscle groups three times a week, and the other trained the whole body three times a week, but included all muscle groups during each session. The result between the two groups was similar. At the end of the 8-week study, the researchers looked at changes in muscle size, with little result between the two groups. However, there was a small difference in the size of the muscles in the biceps and triceps of the trainees. The muscle-specific training group developed slightly more mass in these muscles, although the difference was almost invisible compared to the other.
Based on this study, whether you train your whole body during a session or divide your exercises, you are unlikely to significantly affect your strength or appearance. It is important to have a total amount of training and to do the exercises that suit you best. For example, if your exercises are distributed to specific muscles, this allows you to gain more volume than with any other type of training.
Doing health workouts
It is well known that exercise is good for our health. They strengthen the immune system, improve mood and help us sleep better.
The determining factor in whether or not you should avoid exercise is pain. If you have a disease such as discopathy, the exercises you should avoid are all that cause you pain or discomfort. In this case, you should not think “no pain, no effect.” Continuing to exercise for back pain can worsen your condition and lead to long-term dysfunction.
Exercises such as lifting dumbbells put your body in an awkward position, which can cause overexertion and tension in the lower back.
Additionally, stop exercising if:
- Start feeling weak and exhausted
- If you are dizzy
- If you have unexplained weight gain or bloating
- You feel pressure or pain in your chest, neck, arms, jaw or shoulder
- It is too difficult to recover after your workout
- If you feel unusually tired throughout the day
- You suffer from constant pain in the joints and muscles
- You have trouble sleeping at night
- If you have a high temperature.
If you experience any of these symptoms, do not start or stop training immediately and rest so that your body has a chance to fully recover.
Additionally, your doctor may suggest the most appropriate exercises for you and your situation. You will probably have more training opportunities than you think.
What is the best option for training?
Which workout approach is best for you depends on the amount of time you can spend on your workouts and your fitness goals. If you have limited days of the week dedicated to exercise, whole body exercises may be the best option for you. Whole body training is better for fat loss due to the greater number of muscle groups affected during one session. Once you have achieved your fat loss goals and would like to increase your muscle mass, you can divide your workouts into specific muscle groups.
If you split your workouts and focus only on a specific muscle group during a workout, work the big muscles first. When working with the upper body, focus first on the chest and back muscles, not the shoulders, biceps or triceps.
If your goals are more aesthetic than athletic, whole body exercises may not be the best option. The larger your training volume, the more recovery time you will need. If you focus on the same muscles every two days, you hinder growth. By focusing on a muscle group once a week, you can safely give yourself seven days to recover so that you can focus on specific areas more intensely.
You can also change your routine for a change. Do full body workouts for about a week, then switch to another type of workout for a few weeks to focus on specific muscle groups and correct muscle imbalances.
Do you need to have a professional coach?
Many of us believe that having a fitness trainer is just a luxury, not a necessity. Keep reading and judge for yourself if this is the case.
Every experienced trainer will guide you through a healthy eating program that is right for you, which must be combined with fitness and physical activity in order to achieve lasting results. If there is a word to describe the scope of the program you should follow, it is “comprehensive”. A qualified professional trainer will not only motivate you, but will also be there to keep an eye on you, so that you do not try to escape responsibility, do less than the exercises you need or miss a session altogether.
With the help of a personal fitness trainer you will move towards your goal with much less frustration along the way. The professional will take care of your program, your equipment, your nutrition and will always work with you. The trainer will ensure that your eating program is safe and healthy and meets your needs and your situation.
Whole body workouts have benefits, but the same goes for workouts divided into muscle groups. Keep in mind your goals and the time you have when choosing your workout structure. Don’t be afraid to change your approach, both to achieve results faster and to add variety.