Varying Your Workout to Target Upper and Lower-Body

[MrzDiva]

TweetIf your primary workout goal is to improve the well-being of both your upper and lower body experts suggest that using a split routine workout will help your achieve your goals. A split workout routine refers to working out different areas of the body on different days of the week. This would mean that on a Monday, for instance, your focus would be on performing exercises that workout your biceps and other upper body areas; on Tuesday you would focus on lower body related exercises such as squats and lunges. There are many physical and health benefits to training this way, it allows your body time to recover from the previous days workout and doesn’t strain the muscles any more by working them out twice in a row.

In a common split workout plan on day one you would work out your arms and upper body. This includes performing exercises that work the biceps, triceps, chest, upper and lower pecs, shoulders and your upper and middle back. On day two you would focus on lower body exercises that work out the quads, hamstrings, calves, gluteus maximus and abdominals. On day three you would repeat the workout from day one and on day four you would repeat day two’s workout.

There are many reasons to use a split workout routine. One is that by working out different body areas each day you are limiting the amount of stress placed on your body. By alternating the muscle groups being worked out, you are less likely to experience an injury due to stress. Another reason is that using split routines can free up some workout time if you happen to be training for a specific sport, it also allows for you to substitute different workout methods such as replacing running with alternative leg exercises that will produce the same results. The third reason many people prefer split routines is that it is more time conserving. You will be able to fit more workouts into the week if you only participate in a thirty minute split workout. Split routines also allow for you to focus on one specific area of muscles than a typical workout would allow.

Split workouts offer you the ability to be flexible in your workouts while still achieving the results you desire. It is also great if you are becoming bored with your current workout plan, split training may offer you enough different workouts that you will remain interested in working out. Split workouts are a great way to get the workout you desire in a shorter amount of time. You will not be losing any of the benefits of working out, but will gain a new outlook on working out.

[whitetail]

Tweetgood post! its amazing how many good reads are on this board. I was just at home trying to figure out the best way to train for these endurance runs and marathons i am signing up for and not have to give up my weights. I was thinking a simple 2 day routine to free up more days during the week for more intense running type workouts.
I tried a 4 day split runniing to and from the gym on top of 2 long run only workouts and i was fried after week one.
thanks for posting

[MrzDiva]

TweetOh wow thats awsome Whitetail. Good luck on the marathons. Let us know what happens

[BABY1]

TweetGreat read!