How to get the Most Out of Your Workout Split

There are many ways to program how you weight train, some people like to hit each muscle super hard once per week usually splitting each workout focussing on one to two muscle groups per workout but hitting each muscle group really hard with multiple exercises.

Then there is the other extreme where you hit every body part each workout but only doing one quick exercise per body part, this can be a bit of a marathon for sure…

I have tried both and both do work but which one is best or perhaps is there something in the middle which will get the absolute most out of each weight training session.

Personally I believe volume at the end of the day is the most important factor. What I mean is if you add up all the sets and all the reps you did for the week and totaled the weight you lifted. Then more is better. This is also assuming you spend the same amount time in the gym each week weight training.

One other factor we need to make sure we consider is recovery time. How much do you really need? Most people would say at least 24 hours but 48 hours is a good rule of thumb especially if you trained a muscle pretty hard with multiple exercises, sets and reps. I would even go so far as to say that in some cases three days may be required for a muscle to fully recover, especially a large muscle group like your legs after a full leg training day with squats, deadlifts and accessory work. But let’s stick with 48 hours in most situations.

So if we use 48 hours as a baseline for muscle recovery then that means you could workout each body part 3 times per week based on a two day split meaning you hit half your body one day and then the other half the next day repeating daily with one day off per week.

If that seems like too much time in the gym for some people with busy schedules then you could do a two day split four days per week and train each body part two times per week. Still good!

The real question is, would it be better to do a two day split and hit each body part two to three times per week or would it be better to do what is commonly called the Bro-Split and train each body part once per week but hit it crazy hard with three to four exercises per weight training session?

There is one more factor we need to consider before going into this further and that is muscle atrophy. Muscle atrophy is when a muscle does not get stimulation and essentially starts to lose size and strength because of lack of use. But how long does it take before noticeable muscle atrophy begins? Most people will say even after a week it can start to happen but I would say two to three weeks is when it really become more noticeable. Does that mean muscle atrophy is not happening on a more micro scale during the week if you are not using a muscle for say three to four days post recovery? I believe it happening on a small micro scale but even if I am wrong and you are not training a muscle for several days post recovery then you are at a bare minimum not utilizing potential training opportunities with that muscle group. So in the example of the Bro-Split hitting a muscle on only once per week, you may be experiencing a micro amount of muscle atrophy since that muscle group is not being stimulated much for at least four to five days at a time between workout session.

Getting back to training volume which again I feel is the measuring stick for workout efficiency which at the end of the day should get you the best results. To me it is pretty obvious that training a muscle with one exercise to failure and then moving on to a new muscle will yield the most weight moved in a workout or weight training session and for the week. Using the example of three exercises per week for a muscle group, If you hit a muscle with multiple exercises in a session then you either have to pace yourself the entire time or go all out on the first exercise with each follow up exercise having less and less strength available, so moving less and less weight. If you where to split the three exercises up into three separate weigth training sessions (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), then you will have full available strength for each exercise session.

The key is to be smart about how you break down your two day split as to not overlap already worked muscles. I find it best to hit Chest, Back and Shoulders with Calves and Core on day one and then I hit Legs and Arms with Core on day two. I also make sure to only do one press exercise on upper body day. For example if I start with a chest press then I would do back between chest and shoulders followed by something like shoulder raises so as not to hit my already weekend triceps doing a shoulder press. And similarly if I started with a shoulder press I would do something like Flies for Chest. The key is to really mix up your workouts and always be doing a different exercise for each muscle group. Here is an example of what I mean… Shoulders Day One - DB Shoulder Press, Shoulders Day two - Raises with DB or Cables, Shoulders Day three - Upright Row or Machine Shoulder Press.

Now what works for me may not work for you and some people just like to workout a certain way because that is what they are use to and at the end of the day being motivated to get into the gym consistently is really the most important factor. Of course you have to do the work when you are at the gym but if you are hitting the gym often and training hard you will see results no matter what workout program you use. You can give my methods a try and see if it works for you or not?

Stop Doing Cardio Right Now!

Everyone knows the best way to burn calories and lose weight is to do lots of cardio right! Well yes you can burn lots of calories and lose weight doing lots of cardio but is it the best way to go about this?

To lose weight you need to be burning more calories than you are eating and put yourself in what is called a calorie deficit. For instance if you are able to burn 500 calories per day more than your body requires than over a week you will lose 1 pound of body weight, and usually most of it will be fat.

Some people have a lot of weight to lose or are needing to get really ow in body fat for an event and so a much higher calorie deficit may be required, as much as 1000 to 2000 per day. To do this requires managing your food very closely along with a high level of activity to burn calories.

Generally speaking cardio is a very effective way to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time as cardio requires some sort of more intensive activity that get your heart rate up fairly high for a sustained period of time. For sure this works to help you get into a more extreme calorie deficit but it cam come at a cost which is the loss of both muscle and fat, not just fat.

In this YouTube video I talk about why too much cardio can have a negative effect in what type of body weight you end up losing. I also offer some suggestions on how you can achieve a more aggressive calorie deficit to lose body weight while keeping your muscle and targeting your fat for the weight loss.

RØDE Vlogger Kit USB-C Edition Full Review

A huge part of making content for a YouTube channel or really most social media platforms is being able to record videos in good quality and not just the actual video but also the audio. The RØDE USB-C Vlogger Kit is an all in one fairly affordable solution that comes with all the tools you need to produce high quality videos no matter what the environment challenges you with.

You get RODE's most popular accessories to help you get the best out of your Smart Phone and in this case my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra uses a USB-C interface and so I went with the RØDE Vlogger Kit USB-C Edition of this kit but you can get it in iPhone compatible version and also Universal version that simply use a mini jack for Smart Phones that support analog inputs.

My RØDE USB-C Vlogger Kit came with the following accessories:

• Three-position tripod for hand-held or static use
• Gimbal tripod head for accurate camera positioning
• All-metal mount with rubberised grips for phone 65mm to 85mm wide
• VideoMic Me-C directional sound pickup to reduce background noise
• WS9 Deluxe Windshield (DeadCat)
• MicroLED light offers over four hours operation on a single charge
• Clip-on diffuser with eight coloured filters

In this video I unbox the RØDE USB-C Vlogger Kit, show you everything that comes inside the box and then test out how it works in a number of shooting environments using my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra so you can decide if the RØDE USB-C Vlogger Kit really improves the video and sound rather than simply using the built in microphone and natural lighting.

When is the Best Time of the Day to Eat for Health and Weight Control?

Here are some of the talking points I go over in this Video about the Best Time of the Day to Eat for Health and Weight Control!

1. Most people will tell you you should eat a good breakfast, lunch and dinner and then not eat after dinner. Is this the best way for everyone to plan their meals for health and weight control?
2. What about intermittent fasting? Tons of people and even doctors swear by it. When you intermittent fast you skip breakfast and sometimes even lunch with a shortened eating window which usually means you can not eat after a certain time in the evening too.
3. What about eating multiple small meals throughout the day as often as 6 times? The theory behind this is often claimed to increase your metabolism for a longer more sustained period of time.

Some Basic Rules I suggest to Follow:

• Eat when you are hungry. Don’t wait till you are starving. Don’t eat because you are bored or stressed, try to be aware of dangerous eating habits versus healthy eating habits.
• Figure out what time of the day you are naturally the most hungry and plan your main meals around those times.
• Shorten your eating window as much as you comfortably can without putting yourself in an eating frenzy state.
• Plan your meals out, you don’t have to meal prep, just have a good idea when you plan to eat and what you plan to eat so you have a game plan to follow and there are less surprises.
• Find good food options you enjoy that you have available to you at all times and plan these foods into each day, eventually you will develop a habit of eating certain healthy foods at certain times and your body will learn to expect this rather than fight you all day long with food cravings.

Fat Distribution As We Age

As we get a bit older our bodies don't always cooperate with us and one area this is common for most is where we start to store our body fat. When we are younger we generally store fat more evenly throughout our bodies but as we get older it seems to get more targeted towards our mid sections but this is not one size fits all as every body is deferent.

In this video I talk about how aging effects body fat and how this is not always bad and how to make the best of it and have more realistic expectations about our body image and life balance.