You benefit most from full-body workouts when you focus on weight training, but it can take a considerable amount of time to work every muscle group in your body. One solution that is commonly used by bodybuilders who want to reduce their time in the gym is the two-day split. This type of workout helps serious lifters experience gains in strength and size while simultaneously increasing the amount of recovery time.
Exercise Selection
You will need to choose what exercises you will perform on which days with a two-day split workout. The easiest way to split your exercises is to perform an upper-body workout on the first day and a lower-body workout on the second. Competitive-athlete trainer Shannon Clark suggests leaving at least one day of rest between your two workouts. An example of this type of split would be to train biceps, triceps, chest and shoulders on Monday, and then train your back, core muscles and legs on Wednesday. Choose six to 10 different exercises for each workout that hit all of your target muscles in a variety of pushing and pulling motions.
Sets and Repetitions
The number of sets and repetitions you perform for each workout can vary depending on your training goals. James Stoppani, author of the "Encyclopedia of Muscle and Strength," notes that some bodybuilders feel the biggest gains are made during a two-day split when you train only one set per exercise with eight to 10 repetitions of your near-maximum lifting capacity. Because you are working out only two days a week and have ample rest between workouts, you want to exhaust your muscles as much as possible in each training session.
Changing the Routine
Working with a two-day split and trying to achieve a full-body workout can quickly lead to a plateau in your size and strength gains. Because you have only two days of working out, your routine may seem resistant to change. However, you can improve your results by simply changing the exercises you perform or the volume you are lifting. This typically needs to take place after four to six weeks of a workout program. If you train only one set per exercise at a high intensity, change your routine to four sets at a moderate resistance level for four weeks to break the monotony.
Benefits
Apart from saving time and having increased flexibility to fit your workouts into your schedule, a two-day full-body split increases the amount of testosterone in your body by engaging many muscles on a regular basis. This will lead to greater strength and size gains in your muscles. Additionally, you decrease the amount of strain you put on your central nervous system and boost your metabolism for fat loss.
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