Split Question?

[Jeff Walker]

I go back and forth between doing an Upper, Lower, Repeat split and a Bent Arm, Straight Arm Split, legs, repeat split.  And Im wondering What is the better option to optimize between Rest and Frequency.

 

 I m a firm believer that in order to get better at something you need to do it frequently so I like to do the upper lower but the main issue with that there is too much to fit in.  I only have about 1hr 15min to get the whole workout in, including warmup so its a tight fit with this option.  

 

Then I go to the Bent arm, straight arm, and while I like that I can really focus and take time to work the skills, I wonder if I am getting the frequency I need with having 2 days off till I hit those movements again. 

 

Any Ideas which is the better route?

 

PS - before it comes up, I am doing H1 and F1 but I am mainly using them as a warmup becuase the mobility elements are challenging for me

[ForzaCavaliere]

Why don't you put legs on the same day as either bent or straight arm?  

 

If you are beginner to intermediate I would recommend whole body workouts because that way you can get a lot more frequency of workouts (assuming 1 day rest between workouts). 

 

Admittedly when I first started I did a split, but it was Push/Pull split. 

 

"there is too much to fit in". That's a problem I feel shouldn't be there. Choose a few goals and work towards them religiously, don't worry so much about trying to learn all skills at once. Of course you should still train your whole body, but that training can be condensed as you work towards your goals. That's my opinion anyway. 

[Daniel Burnham]

A bent/straight split is really only useful for advanced practitioners that are working on things like iron cross and the like.  For beginners I would follow the type of split that is basically laid out in F1.  

[Daniel Burnham]

And as far as having too many things to do, I used to have this problem too.  It is difficult at first to identify what things you should work on because you do not have enough experience to know what exercises should be mastered in what order.  Im not going to give a list here, but the best approach is to complete something related to your goal and then build upon that with another exercise.  Not try and do all of them in tandem.  

[Joshua Slocum]

Daniel's advice is sound. However, I would add something on top of it:

 

Poor mobility (relative to your strength) can and will come back to bite you. In the best case, you'll just plateau; in the worst case, you'll get hurt. To get the most out of your training in the long term, you need to fix your mobility issues. You've said several times that you think you're "not a flexible person" and thus the mobility in F1 is outside your reach. Don't shortchange yourself like that. A year ago you were not a person who could do muscle-ups. Now you're doing them for reps, and the only thing that changed was that you put in a consistent, dedicated effort. If you apply that same kind of obsessive determination to improving your mobility, you'll be able to improve your mobility to the point where its commensurate with your strength without much trouble. 

 

A good way to start would be to post a thread in the F1 forum describing the specific issues you're having and asking for advice on improving them. 

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) You've said several times that you think you're "not a flexible person" and thus the mobility in F1 is outside your reach (...)

HA!

I remember that one...

Resistance is futile............ MWAH HA HA Ha Ha ha ha  

[Guest Burtchell345]

Daniel's advice is sound. However, I would add something on top of it:

 

Poor mobility (relative to your strength) can and will come back to bite you. In the best case, you'll just plateau; in the worst case, you'll get hurt. To get the most out of your training in the long term, you need to fix your mobility issues. You've said several times that you think you're "not a flexible person" and thus the mobility in F1 is outside your reach. Don't shortchange yourself like that. A year ago you were not a person who could do muscle-ups. Now you're doing them for reps, and the only thing that changed was that you put in a consistent, dedicated effort. If you apply that same kind of obsessive determination to improving your mobility, you'll be able to improve your mobility to the point where its commensurate with your strength without much trouble. 

 

A good way to start would be to post a thread in the F1 forum describing the specific issues you're having and asking for advice on improving them.

I have to agree with this. I stopped doing some mobility drills to make up for time to add in other exercises, and once I started trying to progress some of my static holds, I started to feel elbows, wrists, and knees starting to hurt and give out.