Many gym-goers spend a great deal of their time in the gym working out diligently. There are many types of strength training programs to choose from. The goal is choosing the best program that fits your needs? Two of the more popular routines in the Jefit program database are 5×5 and split training programs. Previous research has shed light on these types of exercise plans, in particular, split programs. The study looked at the effectiveness of of four day versus 6 day split routines. Let’s take a look at what the study revealed.
Research Study Design
The research study by Ribeiro and colleagues was carried out over a period of 6-week period. Four of the weeks were dedicated to the strength training program and 2-weeks used for measurements and evaluations. All the training sessions were supervised by trained professionals. Body mass was measured using a calibrated electronic scale. Fat-free mass (muscle) and percentage of body fat measurements were carried out using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Subjects were male bodybuilders with an average age of 26 years old.
Muscle Strength
Muscle strength was determined using a 1-RM free-weight chest press exercise. The exercise test was preceded by a warm-up set using 6-10 repetitions with approximately 50 percent of the estimated load used as the first attempt for each test. In terms of exercise technique, the bar was lowered until it touched the chest and pressed upward until locking the elbows at the top of the press. Subjects were instructed to complete two repetitions with the imposed load in each of the three attempts for the exercise. The resistance was increased by 3-10 percent until the final set using one repetition.
Exercise Program Design
The following exercises are in the actual programs used by the bodybuilder test subjects for the 4-day split. For all exercises, the participants performed foursets with the load increasing and number of repetitions simultaneously decreasing for each set (reverse pyramid method). The number of repetitions used in each set was 12/10/8/6 repetition maximum, respectively, with variable resistance, except for the calves (15–20 repetition maximum) and abdomen (150–300 repetition per session).
The resistance was increased for each set by 2–4 kg for upper body exercises and 3–6 kg for lower body exercises. The rest period between sets lasted 1–2 minutes, with a 2–3 minutes rest between each exercise. The four-times-a-week routine took 90–100 minutes per session on average to complete.
4-Day Split Program (Monday & Thursday)
Bench press
Incline dumbbell fly
Cable crossover
Barbell military press
Lateral raise
Lying triceps French press
Triceps pushdown
Standing calf raise
Seated calf raise
Crunch
Cable Crunch
4-Day Split Program (Tuesday & Friday)
V-bar pulldown
Bent over barbell row
Seated cable row
Arm curl
Alternate incline dumbbell curl
Seated palm-up barbell wrist curl
Seated palm-down barbell wrist curl
Squat
Leg extension
Lying leg curl
Oblique crunch
Seated leg tuck
Nutrition
A nutritionist put together a specific diet for each bodybuilder. The subjects diets were composed of 66 kcal/kilogram of body mass. Dietary protein was fixed at 1.8 grams/kilogram. The remaining calories were broken down to ~76 percent of total energy intake from carbohydrates and ~13 percent from fat.
Results
The primary findings of the study was that strength training performed 4 days versus 6 days a week produced equal increases in fat-free mass (muscle) when training volume was equated between groups. Results also showed no significant differences in chest press between the two groups. If you are under time constraints and can’t manage 6 days a week of training, 4 days will also work nicely according to the study. There were several limitations to the study including a small sample size.
Reference
Ribeiro, A. et al. (2015). Effect of Two-Versus Three-Way Split Resistance Training Routines on Body Composition and Muscular Strength in Bodybuilders: A Pilot Study. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 25, 559 -565.
Stay Strong Together
Jefit, named best strength training app by Sports Illustrated, Esquire, GQ, Men’s Health, Greatest, Forbes Health, and many others. We offer a community responsible for 92,000,000 workouts to date! The app, which recently passed 10 million downloads, comes equipped with a customizable workout planner and training log. The app also has ability to track data, offer audio coaching cues, and can share workouts with friends. Visit our members-only Facebook group. Connect with like-minded people, share tips, and advice to help get closer to reaching your fitness goals.
Read the scientific paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research using the Jefit app. Also, a great Jefit app review was recently published by MUO that can be found here.
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