Should I schedule my weekly lifts by body parts or by movements (push/pull)?
For General Athletes, I usually structure my workouts to include a full body lifting three days a week. I make sure to include a single leg squat, hamstring movement, adductor movement, an upper body vertical push, an upper body vertical pull, a horizontal push, and a horizontal pull. Additionally, some core work is included. If you are working out more than three times per week, then you can split it up into lower body one day, upper body the other day, etc. Transcript: "I'm really big on movement training, I think for General athletes. And even the athletes that I work with. I work with as high as NBA D-League. All the way up to the WNBA, all the way down, D1, D2, D3, Collegiate High, School Youth. And I pretty much do a three days a week lifting and its movement, so it's full body. So, it's Single Leg. I get, make sure that I get a squat in of some sort, usually, a single leg, squat. A hamstring movement, Igloo movement, a adductor movement. So, like side lunges for example, or I like a Copenhagen plank. Those are those Target the adductors. I make sure I get an upper body vertical, push, an upper body vertical pool, a horizontal push, and a horizontal pool, and then some core work in all play. And so, I make sure at the end of the week that I have all of that, and I've taken care of everything, and that's kind of how you can structure your workouts if you're working out. Like more than three times per week and it's like five to six times per week and it's all lifting. You can definitely go that split where it's like lower body one day, then upper body the other lower body, upper body lower body, Etc. That's definitely fine for like general fitness, but for the most part, three days a week, three to four days a week, a full body lifting is going to be"
Bryan Doo
Strength & Conditioning Coach
It depends on your goals, schedule and availability when deciding whether to schedule your weekly lifts by body part or movement push/pull.
Matthew Pendola
Olympic Champion Strength Coach / RunFORM podcast
When scheduling your weekly lifts, it is best to focus on movements rather than body parts. This way, you can ensure that you are touching all necessary muscles more frequently, which will lead to better results. Additionally, a push-pull session may be beneficial in order to help with the end goal of running faster and gaining relative strength. Finally, one could do some body part exercises at the end of the workout as a reward for their hard work.
Erin Carson
World Champion Strength Coach
Strength training has a lot of research done around it, and depending on your desired outcome, there are different strategies to consider. When it comes to separating body parts, it allows you to train more often and potentially grow that muscle. However, for runners and triathletes, it is best to look at movements push-pull legs and incorporate it into their other training.
Danny Kennedy
The Fitness & Lifestyle Podcast
I prefer to program movements rather than body parts, as it allows for better training quality and frequency. This should lead to better results over a longer period of time, while also allowing for quicker recovery.
Jess Racz
WNBA Performance Coach
For General Athletes, I usually structure my workouts to include a full body lifting three days a week. I make sure to include a single leg squat, hamstring movement, adductor movement, an upper body vertical push, an upper body vertical pull, a horizontal push, and a horizontal pull. Additionally, some core work is included. If you are working out more than three times per week, then you can split it up into lower body one day, upper body the other day, etc.
Paul Talty
Head of Physical Preparation, Swim Ireland
It depends on what your training goals are and which sport you are training for. For some sports, like football, upper body push-pull sessions might be more appropriate due to the amount of games played in a week. However, for general fitness, whole body workouts may be more beneficial.