Your Strongest Body

Flexible Training Splits To Match Your Lifestyle

• Betsy Foster • Season 1 • Episode 67

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What if you could transform your fitness routine to fit perfectly into your busy life? I unravel the secrets of creating training splits that cater to real-life demands and goals. In this episode, I discuss the best ways to organize your workouts, whether you're building strength, getting leaner, or aiming for body recomposition. 

Discover how to optimize your fitness regimen, even if the gym can't be the center of your universe. We break down why traditional body part splits might not be the best fit for everyone and propose alternatives like push-pull and upper-lower splits tailored to specific goals and time constraints. Whether you can commit to just two training days or have a bit more flexibility, I've got advice to help you stay consistent and achieve your goals.  This episode is your comprehensive guide to discovering your strongest body without sacrificing the other joys and responsibilities in your life.

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Speaker 1:

You are listening to your Strongest Body. Hi, I'm Betsy Foster, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and certified nutrition coach. I've worked as a personal trainer for over a decade, helping people build strength, speed, muscles, as well as a deep appreciation for their bodies and confidence that helps them live their life to the fullest. Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness, nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body. Hi, this is your Strongest Body and I'm Betsy. That's me resisting saying hello, hello, welcome back to another episode of your Strongest Body, though I have to say it doesn't feel all that natural to me. So my guess is I'm going to go back to my signature opening phrase, because it sort of rolls off the tongue and I like a smooth entrance. As always, thanks for listening. Today we're talking about training splits. I just did a post on Instagram about training splits and I was like you know what? I think I have a little bit more to say and this medium, the podcast seems to be some of the best, to me at least, the best way to kind of communicate that. So that is what I'm going to do today, but I don't think I have any updates.

Speaker 1:

I think I mentioned on the last episode that we're in the last week of Built Bodies and it's just incredibly, you know, I'm a little awestruck. I'm awestruck by these women who have committed to adopting new habits, to taking on things that they haven't done before, to really committing, haven't done before, to really committing to themselves, and they've done it in a lot of different ways, and they've done it in real life ways too. The part of my program and the part of my coaching in general that I feel like is really important is this idea of we are real human beings and our fitness and nutrition goals have to fit our real lives and our real passions and our real joys and our real hurdles and obstacles, versus trying to change who we are and our lives to fit it the other way around. And so the program is inclusive of four workouts per week, it has nutrition guidance, we have weekly coaching calls. There's a lot of structure to it that if you are able to employ all of that structure, all the better, because you're going to see epic results. And it also through sort of how I've designed it as well as kind of how I am coaching these women through how to shift their mindset about getting these things done how to proactively plan for possible hiccups, how to adapt in certain situations, how to celebrate wins even if the plan executed is not the perfect quote unquote perfect or ideal one for them or what they had in mind. We are creating adaptable approaches to health and fitness so that we can see real change and sustainable change.

Speaker 1:

Listen, anybody can do things for drastic results for six to eight weeks. Maybe they can do it for 12 weeks, you can do it for four weeks, you can do the 30-day I'm not going to name a challenge, but you can do a 30-day kind of challenge where you go far to one end, really restrict, far to one end, really restrict, really create sort of rigid rules, and you can see pretty startling results. The question is will you maintain those? And then the other question is what has it set up for you in terms of expectations of health and fitness in your life generally? This is also so much about how we psychologically approach these things, how we think about this long term.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to do an episode about weight cycling, I think, but I just think there's so much to be said about the sort of yo-yo approach of going really hard for a little bit and not being able to sustain it, and how, the next time you approach that really hard thing, you're coming to it with some clouded judgment or you're already a little depleted and you can only do that so long before you're beaten down by this idea of health and fitness. And are you really feeling any better? Are you really feeling any better if your whole approach is always go hard? Any better? If your whole approach is always go hard, make it miserable, see results, not be able to maintain those behaviors, lose those results, possibly yo-yo back more extremely than you did before. It wears you down. It really wears you down.

Speaker 1:

And so, going back to this program, it is incredible to see what these women have accomplished in their real lives and how they will take this on as they go beyond these 12 weeks. And I'm continuing programming for some of them and I'm excited to provide that for them. But they have gathered so many skills right now that they are going to be able to take on and a new mindset and a new approach, and I'm pumped for what they're going to do. So I'm just celebrating the end of this 12-week program Very, very excited. As always, I'm going to drop the waitlist in the show notes, because I will do this again in September. If you're at all interested and you want the info, it'll be in the show notes. Like I had mentioned, I think, on the last episode, I am going on family vacation next week, which I'm very excited about, but that means I'm just going to release the episodes for next week on different days. If the days these episodes come out matter to you. They're going to come out on Sunday and Friday next week.

Speaker 1:

All right, so let's talk about this training split. When I'm talking about training splits, I am just referring to how we determine which exercises you are going to do in a given workout over a week, two weeks. Sometimes a training split is not just a week. Sometimes a training split is over three days or five days or two weeks. However you sort of break up your workouts workouts.

Speaker 1:

It came to my mind because I've seen so much and it might be the sort of corner of the internet I'm in. Sometimes that's what happens when you fall into a certain section of an algorithm. I sometimes wonder is what I'm seeing on my Instagram or my TikTok the same as other people are seeing? I'm not sure, but what I'm seeing are a lot of women Maybe they're in their 20s, I'm not sure, some in their 30s, even some in their 40s, I would imagine who are talking about their very bodybuilding style training split that they use, which is more of a body part training split. What do I mean by that? I mean that usually what it is is like back and byes on one day, and glutes and hamstrings on another day, and quads on another day, and chest and shoulders on another day, and so this kind of a split usually it's going to run like there are going to be five of those or something, depending how you split it up. Because, especially if you split back as a whole day, which is sometimes what people do what you're going to get is a lot of days of training. And similarly, some people do push-pull legs and I like that in certain instances. But let me explain why.

Speaker 1:

I think that some of these training splits are great if you have tons and tons of days in the gym, but they're not all that useful if you are a person whose life cannot revolve around the gym, who is always bargaining their time to be able to get into the gym, who can't guarantee a certain number of training sessions, who still wants to see results, feel fitter, stronger and then maybe even have physique change. There are better splits for those people I mentioned in my post. I was like for women over 30 who have a job or kids or kids in a job. The gym you don't get to go that frequently. I get to go all the time. It's part of my job. I always say I also like part of running my own business, has been able to sort of create my schedule that works for me, and my schedule includes five to six days in the gym. That is not what everybody can do or wants to do, so what I do might not reflect what other people do, but I'll explain a little bit what I do as we go through.

Speaker 1:

The body part split is like a little bit appealing because you can kind of group certain exercises together and I think it's why it translates really well on Instagram, because you can tell somebody just go, do all the back exercises, just go do all the chest exercises. And I guarantee you if an influencer or coach and there are many reasons why someone would pick this kind of program and why it can be really effective I see a lot of younger people in the gym doing it I'm going to say teenagers and college age kids who I imagine, have physique goals. I don't know everybody's exact goals, but it's really good for them because if they go every day you can see major results. If you have a young training age and you're just starting to accumulate training hours, this is a great time to build that. It's not that it isn't appropriate or if you're a competitive bodybuilder, it is 100% the thing you want to do.

Speaker 1:

Most women I work with do not want to be competitive bodybuilders, but they do want to see physique change. They want to feel stronger, they want to have more energy and they want their bodies to change a little bit. I'm going to not suggest the body part split because you don't have all that time, so you can't go in and do all those. And then let's say you do say you're going to do it and you miss, like something happens and you miss a workout. You're either pushing them back and you're having to do that body part the next time, or you're skipping that body part entirely If you miss enough workouts, or you have to spread this out. Let's say you're doing body part and you can only go three times a week. You're probably not getting through the whole body until two weeks, you are not doing enough volume for a given body part to actually see the change that you want to see if you are training those body parts that infrequently. We really need to have the kind of stimulus where we are doing it consistently.

Speaker 1:

And I was going to say and I kind of got sidetracked one of the reasons why people like this style and why people can advertise it, people try it and then they kind of love it at first is because you get a lot of acute soreness and acute fatigue. If you are going into the gym and you are doing four to five exercises, maybe four to six exercises or four to eight exercises of the exact same muscle group, by the end of that workout you are going to feel like you got worked. For a lot of people there is a ton of appeal to that and I'm with you. I like to finish my workout and know that I worked hard and feel like I did something. The problem is is if you're not doing that body part, even if you exhausted that body part let's say you did chest you did chest and you crushed it and you can barely squeeze your chest together, which is not always the. You know soreness is not always our best indicator, but let's say that's how you feel at the end. But you don't get a chance to do chest again for two weeks. It doesn't matter that you did that much in there and you are better off doing a few chest exercises over a two-week period, probably more consistently, to have greater results. More consistently to have greater results, and that's just. You know, it really depends on the person and what they need and what they like.

Speaker 1:

But the best training splits take into consideration your specific training goal, meaning, are you trying to get stronger? Are you trying to get leaner? Are you trying to trying to get stronger? Are you trying to get leaner? Are you trying to have body recomposition? Are you trying to build muscle? Are you trying to get bigger? You take into consideration that goal.

Speaker 1:

It also has to take into consideration the realities of your life. You got to look at your available training time how confident, so like what I usually say to people too is you take, how much time you think you can work out and then subtract 20% off of that, because I guarantee you in your life 20%, maybe even 25%. You're not gonna be able to get that done, I know, for, like in my life, we're always on the days that I don't work out during my workday. You know, I have a lot of success because I get to work out during my workday, but on the weekends, if I want to get a workout in, it is like we really got to work to figure out our schedule to get that in, because we're trying to get my husband's workout in, we're trying to get our grocery shopping in, we're trying to get our kids where they need to go. We're also just trying to spend quality time with each other. So prioritizing the gym doesn't always feel like it is the number one priority.

Speaker 1:

Now imagine you have a and you probably don't even have to imagine it you do have a job that's outside of the gym and you are trying to fit in your workouts 25% of the time. Something is going to happen in the week where you can't get that done, so I like to preemptively plan for that. I like to say here's what I think I can do Take 25% off of that, then create the training split and the training program based on that. For a lot of my clients who believe they can get two workouts in a week, but they want to try to get three. I always call their third week out in their program a bonus workout, so that mentally we come to it of like I got to get these two in. That is my commitment and this is my bonus workout if I'm able to fit it in. That's just like an approach that helps us sort of build around the realities of what actual real life is. And then when creating their program because they let me know that they think they can definitely get two but they might be able to get three I put the most important things in the first two days and let the bonus workout cover the other things. That would be great if they do do it, but not essential if we don't get it done. See, that is building around the reality of life. I hope that doesn't bother the sound in here, but I'm not going to take it out because you know what. That's me just talking. If we build it that way ahead of time, if we anticipate and create a program that is really built for the realities of your life, you're going to see infinitely better results.

Speaker 1:

I know it's backwards. I know it's backwards because you think, like I got to do five days a week. I got to do five days a week. I got to do four days a week and you can only get two in. So then you do four one week and then you get two in the next week and you didn't cover all the exercises. And then you're getting frustrated that you didn't get it in and then you take a whole week off because you just we are just trying to get it in most of the time. So you're going to think about your ideal training. You know how much time can I dedicate to training? Then just knock off 25% and say like that's bonus time if I get it in. This is what I'm truly committing to. So then you think about what this training split is For people who I train and this is just my training philosophy. Other people do different things. So you know you find a coach that works best for you. But I'm going to explain how I do it and you might like it and you might be able to apply it to how you work out.

Speaker 1:

I recommend full body workouts if you only have two days a week to work out For muscle building, for real physique change. I don't think that always works the best. I think that for physique change we do better to isolate more to like one section of the body or one style of movement, or two sections of the body or two styles of movement, because when we do full body we tend to get more central nervous system fatigue, so we get our body is more fatigued generally, meaning that when we want to push on these certain muscle groups to actually create increased muscle size and increased muscle strength, I have less available battery to do so, whereas if I can split it up and focus on a certain area, I have less central nervous fatigue, less neuromuscular fatigue generally, and then I'm able to get more results out of my workout because I can hit those sections of my body with heavier weight or better tempo or anything like that. But for people who can only get two workouts in a week and you just want to generally feel stronger, generally feel fitter, and maybe you will, depending on where you are in your journey you'll see some physique change just by result of doing more movement. In general, I suggest the full body because that's great. You're doing a little bit of everything, you're moving your body more. You're going to get stronger by progressively overloading. You're going to do it and you're going to probably see by progressively overloading You're going to do it and you're going to probably see physique change. It's just not the same kind of targeted kind of thing. I also for some.

Speaker 1:

If you're leaning toward guaranteeing that you can do two per week but you are a little bit more inclined for physique style training, I would probably ask you to do a push-pull split. So what does that mean? We're going to do all the exercises that are pushing exercises one day and all the exercises that are pulling exercises one day. When we think about lower body, typically what we think in push-pull is that our push exercise is anything that's more squat-based and that's simply because we're pushing against the ground. Pulling is any kind of hinge because we tend to grip and we tend to pull things from the floor. That's the lower body element. And then I bet you can understand, the pushing element is going to be our push-ups bench press and overhead press and our pull is going to be pull-ups those specific groups more acutely. But you still only do two days a week. So that's going to be a little bit more along the lines of like for physique change and strength, not just general health. But you could do that split for general health and be totally great with it If you have more than two days per week. I like an upper-lower split and here's why, like I said, we're trying to minimize for physique change.

Speaker 1:

I'm talking about physique change here and strength. But strength can be different as well, and in a lot of cases when we're doing hypertrophy. So that means I put hypertrophy as in the physique change category because we're building muscle. When you are building muscle, you tend to get stronger. But if you want to get strong as the primary goal, maybe you would do something a little bit different. Get strong as the primary goal, maybe you would do something a little bit different.

Speaker 1:

If that is your goal the hypertrophy, the physique change, and you've got more than two days, I do the upper-lower split because of that central nervous fatigue when I do push-pull. I'm still getting some of that because I'm doing upper and lower and I'm just like varying the style of movement a little bit more. Plus, I'm getting less of that targeted area thing. What I like about upper and lower is that I can focus on one area, but, as you notice, I'm not saying body parts, because what I like to do is I like to have an upper day that is mostly pull with a little bit of push. I like to have an upper day that's mostly push with a little bit of pull. Same thing on the lower. I do a lower mostly squat or a lower mostly hinge. They have the other kinds of exercises in there so that if in a reality situation you don't get to the other workout, you still got a little in Plus. It gives us a little bit of agonist work, meaning opposite acting muscle, and it also just gives us a little bit of variety and rest for those main working muscles.

Speaker 1:

So, like I had said before, in that bodybuilding split if you're doing all back by the time you get to that fourth or fifth exercise you're like gassed. If I give you an upper split that has mostly pull, you're getting a lot of back. But I'm sticking in some pushing exercises to give your back a little bit more time to rest and I'm working some of those accessory exercises. I'm working on muscles that you might act as sort of tertiary movers in those exercises and that's what I like about it. I really like that. I can get a little bit. I get more of that isolated bodybuilding style, but you get a well-rounded workout. You get a little bit of a lot of upper body. Same thing on those lower days. You're going to have a lower day that's mostly glute and hammy, but I'm not leaving your quads out of it, they're going to work a little bit too. It's great for getting in the kind of volume you need in order to be able to reach those physique goals while still taking into consideration a realistic training amount of time and the components of a really good workout. So I love that. That's what the Built Bodies program is is two uppers and two lowers, and it's just delightful Because even if you only get three in a week, you have hit everything If for some reason something comes up. But it's super well designed for those four days and I absolutely love it For my own personal training, since I work out five days a week.

Speaker 1:

I love the upper-lower split. I have divided mine up into three lowers and two uppers A little bit because I need more lower body stimulus. It's just like a little slower to grow. It takes me a little longer to get through, so I don't get as many exercises in. From a recovery standpoint, I like have to recover a little bit more before I go back. So if I split that up over three days, I think I'm getting up more total volume, lower body, but not a ton more. And then I feel you know I have no tested evidence to this fact, but from anecdotally I have a predisposition to putting on upper body muscle a little bit faster. I've been able to maintain it pretty well with just two days per week.

Speaker 1:

The kind of training I do, just like I said, the way I divide those exercises, and it works really well for me. So I do a three, two and that's because I know I have five days, and then I do some cardio on the sixth day. So that's how I split it up. But when you're working with a coach so Built Bodies has these everybody gets the same program. But I've designed with this main goal and we're all working to that same goal.

Speaker 1:

When I work with someone individually, I am listening to the very specific details of their life and their specific goals, and sometimes we're doing something that has a little bit of this and a little bit of that to fit their specific needs, and so my program is kind of like an example of that. If I went to myself which I do I go to myself. I say this is what I can do, these are my goals, this is the time I have. And then I created a program for myself and then I'm regularly checking in to see if this is still working for me, and then I'm shifting the program when it's no longer working. And that's how we do it. That's how I do it at least.

Speaker 1:

All right, I've talked a lot about that and sometimes you should see how wild my hands are going. Sometimes you kind of need a visual aid for describing this. But let me just say long story short, you've got to pick a training split or you've got to pick a program that fits your goals and your real life. And a lot of times what we see on fitness internet it's catered to 20-year-olds who have a lot of time for the gym or bodybuilders who that's what they do professionally. So I would consider shifting your program to better accommodate your real life and preemptively prepare for the fact that it's not going to go perfectly all the time. Okay, all right, as always, I am very grateful for you listening and I'd love to talk, love to hear from you. You can email me, betsy, at BeFosterStrongcom. That's the letter, befosterstrongcom. Or you can send me an Instagram DM at Foster underscore strength. As always, I am so grateful that you're here and until next time, go build your strongest body and I'll talk to you later. Bye.