What's up guys, Scott from muscularstrength.com here.
So does it seem like lately everyone's ditching their bro splits and push pull
leg workouts and jumping on the full body train, myself included, but why?
Because it's a trending search term for videos on YouTube or because there's
actually a lot of truth behind multiple growth periods and that forcing your
body to adapt to a much more demanding high-frequency workload can help you
build more muscle. Well,
if you're still not convinced in this video I'm going to share with you guys
five reasons why switching might be the best decision you make for your gains.
And at the end of the video I'm going to talk about my own experience as well.
So reason number one, like we just said, multiple growth periods.
Now this is probably the most important concept you guys need to understand and
we've talked about it before. In short,
two people doing the same amount of total working sets will have very different
results based on when they do those sets. In this 2019 study,
18 men were split into two groups and before the study began they tested their
one rep max for the bench press, back squat and machine
close grip seated row after testing one group train with bro splits and the
other train with full body five days a week. At the end of the eight weeks,
there were no real measurable differences in strength gains between the two
groups,
but they did note that the full body training group may have experienced a
potentially superior hypertrophic effect. To put it simply,
instead of having to annihilate your chest with four sets of five different
exercises,
you can actually create more growth with just four sets of one exercise across
five days.
The goal here being more about stimulating the chest and keep stimulating it all
while pushing your muscles to adapt to a more intense training frequency
protein synthesis only lasts for 24 to 48 hours. Guys,
that's your growth window,
so no matter how many hours you spend in the gym on chest day,
after two days your chest is recovered and done growing. Also, as we know,
compound movements like the bench press allow us to overload with more weight
when compared to isolation type movements like the Pec deck or dumbbell flies
and we usually move from compounds to isolation exercises in a bro split because
as we become fatigued,
in order to keep the workout moving and somewhat effective,
we need to switch the exercises that don't require as much energy output,
but with full body there's absolutely no reason why you can't bench every
workout. You might be a little sore,
but after a warm up set or two your overall strength will still allow you to
overload your chest way more than you ever could with the Pec deck or dumbbell
fly.
The main takeaway here guys is understanding that you're still training with the
same amount of overall volume, but with full body training,
the frequency of your training increases from one day a week to up to five days
a week with more work and recovery intervals within that same amount of training
volume. Which brings me to the reason number two, recovery. As a beginner,
you can only handle so much before your body is too sore to move and as you get
older, the chances are your overall recovery isn't what it used to be anymore.
Not everyone can handle back to back workouts even though they aren't working
the same muscle groups.
But with full body you'll get at least one day off between each full body
workout, allowing not only your muscles to recover,
but your central nervous system as well.
Too often we get over excited to train and make gains that we forget about the
number one thing we actually need to grow and that's rest and recovery.
Take me, for example, in my younger years,
if I missed a day at the gym while bro split training,
I'd freak out and it was for a few different reasons. Number one,
because mentally I felt like I was being lazy first of all,
and it never really crossed my mind that resting was letting my body recover and
grow. I know I was very stubborn in my youth and number two,
if I missed a day,
that meant my entire schedule for the week got pushed forward.
So if Tuesday was arm day and I missed Tuesday and Wednesday was leg day,
what do you do? Skip leg day, right?
Especially if you already have plans for the weekend and can't make up for that.
lost day, and I'm sure many of you guys can relate,
but with full body training you don't have this problem guys.
You can train three days a week or even up to five days a week and still have
time to recover and grow and if you miss a workout,
all you have to do is move your schedule forward a day. Unlike bro splits,
this doesn't affect your week because all of your workouts are full body. Also,
there's no schedule that's written in blood that you absolutely have to follow
when full body training. If you're feeling too sore to train today,
you can just take it as another rest day or maybe even an active rest day where
you train with some cardio and focus a bit more on stretching or mobility work.
Always remember that when you're resting,
you're letting your muscles adapt and recover and those are two very good things
for muscle growth. Even on an active rest day,
you're still technically recovering and for a lot of you an active rest day.
Maybe just what you need to kick up the cardio or more importantly your abs
training cause I know a lot of you skip abs at the end of your workouts,
you know who you are, Ricky. Reason number three, quality versus quantity.
Now this is something that I think is going to convince a lot of you to try full
body training as it's actually a huge source of motivation for me as well.
When you arrive at the gym on chest day for example, or chest and triceps day.
When bro split training,
you already know that you have at least four to five chest exercises you need to
complete and then an additional two to three triceps movements as well.
And if I'm being honest, it's never really used to bother me. I love training,
especially chest and tricep day,
but on days where maybe you're tired or don't have a lot of time or maybe you're
just sick of hitting all the same exercises, you can lose motivation.
It happens. It might not even be a conscious thing,
but sometimes we find ourselves not pushing too hard only to ensure we have
enough energy and make it through all the exercises for each body part.
But with full body you have one to two exercises max per body part,
which for me is actually extremely motivating.
I find myself hitting each exercise harder because I know that when I'm done I'm
going to move to a different body part. It's exciting, right?
If you're into that sort of thing, maybe not all of you get that excited,
but seriously guys, if all you have to do is five quality sets of a bench,
press chances.
are you're going to be more motivated to push as hard as you can on each set because
you don't have to have any gas left in your tank for four more chest movements.
Reason number four it's hard to mess up the basics.
Compound movements like pull ups, squats, deadlifts,
bench press and bent over rows are staples in most workout programs for a reason
and that reason is because they have passed the test of time proving to be
muscle builders.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel and that especially holds true for full
body training because you're only training with one to two exercises max per
body part. You don't need to get overly creative.
Just keep it simple and stick with what works.
Of course though in time you might want to learn more advanced techniques or
different variations of the same movements and that's fine,
but seriously mass the basics first.
You can train with these exercises for years and years and still see muscle and
strength gains but don't mistake simplicity with ineffectiveness.
Being creative isn't always a good thing.
That's why we have insta garbage and just because full body workouts may come
across as simple, it doesn't mean they're for beginners.
You guys are the ones who are in charge of how intense your workouts
how much weight you lift, how long you rest,
and how much time you spend chatting or goofing off on your phone in the gym
will all determine how intense your workouts are.
And this actually brings me to my fifth and final reason for full body training
and that is it's working for me,
but before we jump into my experience with full body training,
if you guys are enjoying the video,
be sure to tap that like button the overlords at YouTube are still hacking my
channel and not sending new video notifications to all of you.
So getting more likes is really the only way to help boost the algorithm.
So don't forget tap that like button and thank you very much for the support.
Also I'm going to talk a bit about how I'm combining nuclear overload training
with my full body training.
And because I'm currently targeting traps with power shrugs,
I want to give away five pairs of easy grips since I started using them.
I've pretty much ditched my traditional wrist straps. And when lifting heavy,
they feel much better on the wrist and you can actually wrap them around the
barbell much faster too. So if you guys want to enter,
all you have to do is two things. Number one, comment below.
If you think the joker was just telling a story because he's crazy or if you
think everything that happened in the movie was real,
because I've finally got to watch it last week and I loved it and I think
everything that happened except for the parts where they showed it wasn't
real. Everything else definitely happened. And number two, super easy.
Like on Instagram and tag a friend as you comment on this post.
And as always, guys,
if you want to pick up anything right now from their site and make sure you use
my code, MS10 for 10% off the entire site. All right,
so if you haven't been keeping up with my weekly workout vlogs,
first of all go watch them. Ricky's doing some amazing editing in there.
I'm actually quite impressed.
I didn't think he was capable of actually doing that good of a job,
but I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you Ricky. That's for making fun of me
in the last video I made the
so I made the switch to full body about five weeks ago and as I was researching
nuclei overload,
I came to the conclusion based on all the studies that I read that I hadn't
reached my natural limit yet,
but I have in fact only reached the limit of what programs like push, pull legs,
upper lower and bro splits could offer me.
I had never done a program where I trained full body four to five days a week
and I believe that increased frequency will produce more gains and since
starting, here's what I have experienced so far. Number one,
I'm a lot more excited for my workouts.
I enjoy having a short checklist for each body part and because of that I find
myself pushing harder on my sets. Number two,
the first two weeks were tough as my body was adjusting to the increased
frequency,
but all I did to overcome my fatigue was listened to my body and it said two
things, feed me more food and give me more rest. So now as a result of this,
I'm eating a lot more,
closer to 3,300 to 3,500 calories compared to the 2,500 I was eating before and
I don't feel all this pressure to go to the gym all the time.
What I mean is I don't have a fear of missing a workout anymore because every
workout is full body. And if I'm tired I rest,
I eat and I just train the following day. Number three,
and I think this is going to interest a lot of you guys.
I get the absolute best pumps I've probably ever had in my life now before it
would take like two to three exercises before that,
like real good pump feeling would settle in.
But now by the second or third set of any exercise I'm doing,
the pump kicks in and it kicks in hard. Number four,
I can experiment with more training techniques now because I'm training full
body four to five days a week. If for example, I feel too sore to lift heavy,
I can switch up my training utilizing the same exercises,
but instead of lifting heavy for eight to 10 reps per set,
I can focus on a drop set or superset.
Like in the last work out vlog we posted on Sunday with techniques like these,
I'm placing more emphasis on metabolic stress versus mechanical tension.
As for my fifth reason,
I feel like I no longer have to choose between cardio or weight training. Guys,
I enjoy doing things like adventure racing and would like to start doing them
again, but in order to be ready,
I need to have days where I go for like a five to six mile run.
In the past I would feel like I was skipping a day if I was bro split training,
but with full body my cardio can be considered an active rest day.
And the sixth and final thing I want to share with you guys and probably the
best thing about full body training is that I'm starting to actually see growth
again. Now guys,
I'm natural so you're not going to see an insane transformation.
But overall if you compare my recent photos and videos to a few months ago,
my muscles look a lot more full and I'm noticing more size in my shoulders and
traps and because I'm currently nuclei overload training with my shoulders and
calves,
I can easily adjust my workouts so I can do my one a hundred power shrugs and
a hundred barbell calf raises in the morning and when I train at night I
just take those exercises out of my program.
It's that simple but you guys don't have to take my word for it.
Try it for yourselves for a few weeks and see how you feel.
I'll drop a link to my full body evolution program down in my pin
comment below and each workout has its own follow along video going over
exercise, form and technique,
and you can even print out the workout calendar in the PDF version of each
workout to bring with you to the gym. Or you can just follow along on my app.
Whatever's easiest for you.
Just don't be one of those people who's frozen in time and unwilling to try
something new. It's not just me seeing the benefits of full body training.
Pretty much everyone who's tried it is raving about it and in time.
I know you guys will too.
Be sure to subscribe if you enjoyed today's video and as always,
more good stuff coming soon. Hey guys,
I'll drop a link to my latest vlog over here on the right if you want to see
some of my more recent workouts.
And for those of you who want to try my program full body evolution,
just click the link down below to download my app Muscular strength.
I'll see you there.