Go into any gym in the US and what do you see?

A group of people doing some version of a bodybuilding-
inspired body part split routine.

An example of a 3-day split could look like this.

Workout 1: Chest, Triceps and Shoulders

Workout 2: Legs, Calves and Abs

Workout 3: Back, Biceps and Forearms

An example of a 2-day split could look like this.

Workout 1: Chest, Back, Shoulders and Abs

Workout 2: Legs, Biceps, Triceps and Calves

The idea behind body part split training is to blitz a
muscle group and let it recover for 48-72 hours.

This is "blitz, rest, and recover" model is what most
of us have been taught to use to gain strength and add
muscle.

...but is this the best (or only) way to train?

The dominant Eastern European Olympic teams don't
think so.

In fact, most high level athletes don't blitz and rest a
muscle to increase their performance.

High level Olympic Athletes train their movements
daily leading up to a contest.

The "athletic community" follows a different set of rules
than the typical "gym based" resistance training community.

The dominant Soviet Weightlifting teams of the 70's
and 80's found that repetition and workout frequency
was the key to rapid improvements in strength and
performance.

Bodybuilding "breakdown training" was to be avoided.

When muscle breakdown is avoided the muscle can
worked many more times in a given period of time.

In the case of the Soviet and Bulgarian teams...they
figured out a way to train each movement with 2-3X
the frequency of the Western Olympic teams.

The result?

Complete dominance over the US and other nations
training each movement less frequently.

Makes sense, right?

...they got the advantage of practicing a lift 3X
more than their Western counterparts.

If this proven path to strength is right in front of us, why
don't we see more people training in this manner -vs-
using a body part split?

Answer: Most people attempting this are still holding
on to too many "bodybuilding principles"...which
sabotages their ability to dramatically improve strength
levels.

For the best way to train in the gym if you want to
experience the rapid results of the Eastern Bloc
countries can be found here.

Keep training hard,

 

Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com

 

PS: You don't have to train using Olympic style lifts
to benefit from this approach.

It's the proper programming that matters most.

So you can use these same principles to improve
your bench press, squat, shoulder press, etc.

How to Avoid Muscle Breakdown to Dramatically Increase Strength