Should bodyweight training be splittet or not?

[lisiflex]

I just have a really quick question I am really interested in.

I know that GymnasticsBodies and many other Bodyweight Programs say that you should train about 3-4 times a week, so basically every second day.

Anyways, a friend of mine is an acrobatic gymnast (those people who are kind of stacking themselves on top of each other and the last girl on top is doing press handstands or planches), she trains 6 times a week, 3-4 hours at a time.

She told me that they usually warm-up, stretch and then do their normal training like pair work or tumbling The last hour is spent on conditioning.

They always start with planches, then they go over to handstand presses in all variations. The last 30 minutes they do basic strength training. One day they are doing Pulling Strength plus Leg strength and the other day Pushing Strength plus Core and Back.
They do pretty basic gymnastics stuff like 90° Leg Lifts, normal Leg Lifts, Rope Climb, Pull-Ups, Dips, Push-Ups, Reverse leg Lifts, Squats and Squat Jumps etc. They do 3 sets of each exercise.

So basically this is their schedule:

MO: Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses, Pulling and Leg Strength

TUE: Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses, Pushing and Core/Back

WED:Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses, Pulling and Leg Strength

THU: Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses, Pushing and Core/Back

FRI: Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses, Pulling and Leg Strength

SAT: Warm-Up, Stretch, Training, Planches and Presses,  Pushing and Core/Back

SUN: off

When I asked her she told me they are doing that because even if they only really need presses and planches in their routines, it is important to be strong overall to avoid injuries.
And they are splitting it because doing everything on the same they would maybe make them feel more tired the following day. Also, it doesn*t take as long in one training session and they are getting used to maximum strength training everyday.

What do you think about that? Is it beneficial or not? Is it better to do it like that or just train 3 days but do everything then? And why? 

Edited January 10, 2015 by lisiflex

[Ivan Pavlovic]

Doing planches 6 times a week is insane. Also i think that 1 day off is to little to recover as you should.

[Léo Aïtoulha]

- Individual recovery varies
- It may be possible to increase the number of workouts over time. This is a long term process
- Training planche and presses 6 times a week for a beginner is the exact same thing as cutting off the branch you're sitting on

[Blairbob]

 What she does is something she has built up to over time, unlike you.

 I'm not going to comment on her program because we don't know too many of the specifics. It's moot to do so anyways.

[lisiflex]

 What she does is something she has built up to over time, unlike you.

 I'm not going to comment on her program because we don't know too many of the specifics. It's moot to do so anyways.

I know, I don't want to do anything like that. I was just interested in general! If you are a gymnast and train about 3 hours a day, would it be good or beneficial to split it up like my friend does or is it better to do all in one day but then just 3-4 times a week?

Is there a difference for the muscles?

I am just interested in general how this is handled in gymnastics!

[Julian Aldag]

What you have to understand is 3 hours a day doesn't mean 3 hours of STRENGTH training a day.

I'm sure those 3 hours are a mixture of technical skills, strength, flexibility, routines etc.

 

It basically comes down to what you need to get done,  your work capacity, and personal recovery ability. 

 

If you're just starting out, you might split strength and flexibility training. But more importantly, get in, do you strength work

and get out.  When you've built up a bigger capacity, you'll have more flexibility in your training approach.

[Blairbob]

Well, Acro is a bit different from what I call typical gymnastics AKA Artistic Gymnastics revolving around the 6 men's apparatus and 4 women's apparatus. I've only seen Acro gymnasts train a few times and that was nearly 10 years ago or so.

 

Pretty much the only "gymnasts" who do split workouts are home-schooled or high-level/elite track gymnasts who do split session training. Most gymnasts up to L10 will only do one session per day of 2-4.5 hours if they are attending a regular school. It's a scheduling thing since more than likely their parents are driving them or they are carpooling with other parents or even taking local transportation or walking from home to school to the gym.

I think most collegiate gymnasts stick to one session per day because of their class load and schedules though some collegiate programs will have mandatory hours in the S&C gym and I have known collegiate gymnasts to stretch or do light training on their own outside of their team training. Maybe some of the more competitive collegiate teams do split sessions but I seriously doubt it given student's schedules such as they are.

However, a growing number of fitness enthusiast/gymnasts do use split sessions but that generally means they are either very dedicated or have unique life situations where they can train multiple times per day. People who are trainers can more easily do this than those with full time jobs since they are already in the gym or perhaps they a park or gym or training at home is easy for them.

Split session training generally means you just split your workload rather than doing the same stuff over and over. Well, at least in Aristic gymnastics. There might be Handstand and press work in both sessions but it's unlikely you'll repeat again on events. You might hit 2 or 3 events in one session and 2/3 more in the other.


On the other hand, from what I gather of Handbalancers is that they will frequently due many sessions of handstands a day. My friend currently attends a circus school and it seems fairly common for him to go to the school once a day and do 2 other short sessions of hand balancing during the day. He's only working part time at the moment and for the most part just handbalancing though occasionally he works chinese pole a bit and he's talked about working tumbling or aerial straps occasionally. He's also doing sessions where he just stretches as well, especially because he is lacking in flexibility and doesn't have all his splits and needs work on his bridge though his HS flexibility is fine enough.

Split sessions are also feasible if you don't really have one block of time for 3-4 hours but can manage two blocks of 90 minutes or 2 hours in your schedule.

Handstands themselves are easier to recover from than strength training or apparatus work (though they may use blocks, canes, or benches).

 

Splitting strength training into A/B days is more of a matter of time management than anything else but also allows for some rest for the muscles. It's also a break of monotony. Really they are still doing 3 sessions per pulling, pushing, core, and lower body. It's easier on scheduling and fatigue to just hit two modalities than all 4 in the same session.

 

I would think you recover easier doing 3 full body sessions per week than 6 sessions split apart but it's probably more of a scheduling thing within their daily training. This way you can cover 2 modalities in 30 (or 45/60/etc) minutes rather than trying to squeeze in all 4 within that time frame.

 

Split session training so I'm told is more tasking on the body's ability to recover. It must be carefully managed and even then it ain't easy. Then again, at the time I was doing split sessions of weight training and gymnasts rather than gymnastics+gymnastics.

[lisiflex]

Well, Acro is a bit different from what I call typical gymnastics AKA Artistic Gymnastics revolving around the 6 men's apparatus and 4 women's apparatus. I've only seen Acro gymnasts train a few times and that was nearly 10 years ago or so.

 

Pretty much the only "gymnasts" who do split workouts are home-schooled or high-level/elite track gymnasts who do split session training. Most gymnasts up to L10 will only do one session per day of 2-4.5 hours if they are attending a regular school. It's a scheduling thing since more than likely their parents are driving them or they are carpooling with other parents or even taking local transportation or walking from home to school to the gym.

I think most collegiate gymnasts stick to one session per day because of their class load and schedules though some collegiate programs will have mandatory hours in the S&C gym and I have known collegiate gymnasts to stretch or do light training on their own outside of their team training. Maybe some of the more competitive collegiate teams do split sessions but I seriously doubt it given student's schedules such as they are.

However, a growing number of fitness enthusiast/gymnasts do use split sessions but that generally means they are either very dedicated or have unique life situations where they can train multiple times per day. People who are trainers can more easily do this than those with full time jobs since they are already in the gym or perhaps they a park or gym or training at home is easy for them.

Split session training generally means you just split your workload rather than doing the same stuff over and over. Well, at least in Aristic gymnastics. There might be Handstand and press work in both sessions but it's unlikely you'll repeat again on events. You might hit 2 or 3 events in one session and 2/3 more in the other.

On the other hand, from what I gather of Handbalancers is that they will frequently due many sessions of handstands a day. My friend currently attends a circus school and it seems fairly common for him to go to the school once a day and do 2 other short sessions of hand balancing during the day. He's only working part time at the moment and for the most part just handbalancing though occasionally he works chinese pole a bit and he's talked about working tumbling or aerial straps occasionally. He's also doing sessions where he just stretches as well, especially because he is lacking in flexibility and doesn't have all his splits and needs work on his bridge though his HS flexibility is fine enough.

Split sessions are also feasible if you don't really have one block of time for 3-4 hours but can manage two blocks of 90 minutes or 2 hours in your schedule.

Handstands themselves are easier to recover from than strength training or apparatus work (though they may use blocks, canes, or benches).

 

Splitting strength training into A/B days is more of a matter of time management than anything else but also allows for some rest for the muscles. It's also a break of monotony. Really they are still doing 3 sessions per pulling, pushing, core, and lower body. It's easier on scheduling and fatigue to just hit two modalities than all 4 in the same session.

 

I would think you recover easier doing 3 full body sessions per week than 6 sessions split apart but it's probably more of a scheduling thing within their daily training. This way you can cover 2 modalities in 30 (or 45/60/etc) minutes rather than trying to squeeze in all 4 within that time frame.

 

Split session training so I'm told is more tasking on the body's ability to recover. It must be carefully managed and even then it ain't easy. Then again, at the time I was doing split sessions of weight training and gymnasts rather than gymnastics+gymnastics.

Thank you! This is exactly what I wanted to know and also the reason they told me. It is just easier to do 2-3 muscle groups per day (pulling, pushing, core, back, legs) plus handstands than squeezing in all 5 in one day.

And as you now explained, it doesn't really matter if you do it all in one day or split it up, now my question is answered