The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

I think for bodybuilding this is HIGHLY debatable and is quite a hot current topic. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer for splits vs push/pull vs upper/lower vs full body.

I understand your point with working bigger muscles, more frequently should produce better results, sounds reasonable.

But I'm not bodybuilding is about that, where the illusion of width is more important and building "smaller" muscles - delts, bi's ect is more important than say a thick wide deadlift back.

I deadlift 220 yet my back is unaesthetic as ****, no width AT ALL. lol.

Original post by alex_tait
Saying upper lower/full body won't work well for most beginners is like saying gravity doesn't exist because they are going against something that has been proven time and time again to work very effectively. In things that are proven there is no room for debate. The difference between this and the gravity statement is that the twins are spreading this lie and are making people believe that it is completely true. This is very harmful because they influence thousands of people who will in turn spread this BS to others. The twins are among the dominant source of info on youtube. I for one think it's futile to make them stop as they will only be replaced by some other idiots such as lowcarbcory etc. People should be able to say want they want unless it becomes harmful to others. Putting a disclaimer at the end saying that it's just your experience or it's just advice doesn't excuse the damage you have done. You claim that people who argue against them are getting butthurt but from reading your posts it seems that you are the one who is butthurt.
They're a bit like chairman mao in that respect. 70% good and 30% bad. Sure there are loads of errors in their videos. What are we debating exactly? That its wrong, and they should educate themselves before poisoning others? Its not that srs I don't think, whilst some advice is inaccurate, and for their "target" audience its probably ok tbh. Mens health is full of bull****, in fact popular fitness nowdays is bull**** in general. It's just the way it is.

Original post by Mdawg
I haven't looked at their supplement reviews so I won't argue that point with you, but I think you're being very selective with the evidence they pick out. Telling people to do splits may be fine, I don't know, but telling them NOT to do full body workouts or deadlifts is not ok. No one is saying do starting strength for maximal hypertrophy, full body workouts do not mean starting strength and you would of course add in curls, dips etc. if your goal was bodybuilding. Alex actually supported his point with some science, you've done nothing to refute that and just said that you're right as a fact, with absolutely nothing backing that.

Even if splits were better for bodybuilding, and they advocate splits, a lot of the more detailed information they give out is patently wrong. Please don't try and argue that it's not as several examples have been brought up already and just watching a few of their videos would give several more. You've basically selected the vaguest piece of information they provide, do splits, and used that as a reason to say that what they do works. It's like if a channel told you to do starting strength for powerlifting, but replaced 3x5 with 1x1 then you're saying what they do works.

I'm still also not sure all the stuff about helping noobs out is relevant to the original point, which was the impact of the Hodge Twins' advice.
Original post by redbuthotter
I think for bodybuilding this is HIGHLY debatable and is quite a hot current topic. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer for splits vs push/pull vs upper/lower vs full body.

I understand your point with working bigger muscles, more frequently should produce better results, sounds reasonable.

But I'm not bodybuilding is about that, where the illusion of width is more important and building "smaller" muscles - delts, bi's ect is more important than say a thick wide deadlift back.

I deadlift 220 yet my back is unaesthetic as ****, no width AT ALL. lol.


In the beginning pretty much every muscle sucks with most people so there is little point in trying to bring up specific muscle groups. In order to be at the stage where you want to bring up certain muscles over others you would need a base physique to work off of. The smaller muscles would get worked more frequently too. Curls, extensions and rear/side raises would be at the end of 2 or 3 of the full body workouts.

Remember SS/SL aren't the only full body routines out there and I'm sure that there are others which are geared more towards bodybuilding.
Reply 903
Original post by alex_tait
In the beginning pretty much every muscle sucks with most people so there is little point in trying to bring up specific muscle groups. In order to be at the stage where you want to bring up certain muscles over others you would need a base physique to work off of. The smaller muscles would get worked more frequently too. Curls, extensions and rear/side raises would be at the end of 2 or 3 of the full body workouts.

Remember SS/SL aren't the only full body routines out there and I'm sure that there are others which are geared more towards bodybuilding.

Now YOU are giving advice that you've just assumed works. "Build a base and then work off it".....
Sure I get it, but I think its a shade of grey rather than black and white as you suggested. I mean squats and DL kind of build muscle you can't see - "base physique"

Like a lot of bros these days get fairly aesthetic without taking those lifts too seriously, its not essential imo. Why would you need to if you're just going for A&F look lol, which lets be honest a lot of their subscriber base will be.

I mean our speciality isn't bodybuilding, its difficult to comment on whats best. I suppose for a beginner its a little more complicated and even they recommend bench pressing and other compounds.

I think deadlifts are controversial because they don't build aesthetic muscle, but general thickness which isn't essential to looking aesthetic. That and many b!tches get injured whilst deadlifting (probably them included) lol

Original post by alex_tait
In the beginning pretty much every muscle sucks with most people so there is little point in trying to bring up specific muscle groups. In order to be at the stage where you want to bring up certain muscles over others you would need a base physique to work off of. The smaller muscles would get worked more frequently too. Curls, extensions and rear/side raises would be at the end of 2 or 3 of the full body workouts.

Remember SS/SL aren't the only full body routines out there and I'm sure that there are others which are geared more towards bodybuilding.
Personally think frequency for beginners is by far the most important. When I squatted 4 times a week my legs blew up, now I'm benching more often my chest is finally growing etc.

But really SS is far from the epitome of frequency in its traditional 3 times a week form. Fair enough with squats you hit legs and lower back 3x a week, but really chest, biceps, lats get hit 1.5x a week which isn't enough for a beginner to add size to those parts.

I know in this thread I'll get slated for it but SS adds a lot of size, but not good size, like it or not but the block isn't a good look.
Original post by CB5
Now YOU are giving advice that you've just assumed works. "Build a base and then work off it".....


This is pretty well documented and many bodybuilders have gone through this stage.
squats and deadlifts are not needed to look good.

I have met so many people / have friends who look damn good but don't squat / deadlift!

they also train splits and think full bodies would lead to overtime, yet they still look good.

edit: its commandant
Original post by redbuthotter
Sure I get it, but I think its a shade of grey rather than black and white as you suggested. I mean squats and DL kind of build muscle you can't see - "base physique"

Like a lot of bros these days get fairly aesthetic without taking those lifts too seriously, its not essential imo. Why would you need to if you're just going for A&F look lol, which lets be honest a lot of their subscriber base will be.

I mean our speciality isn't bodybuilding, its difficult to comment on whats best. I suppose for a beginner its a little more complicated and even they recommend bench pressing and other compounds.

I think deadlifts are controversial because they don't build aesthetic muscle, but general thickness which isn't essential to looking aesthetic. That and many b!tches get injured whilst deadlifting (probably them included) lol


Squats and deadlifts won't have to be performed which is why I mentioned that there are other routines out there that are full body but geared more towards bodybuilding. Whether or not they do squats and deadlifts they would still need to get stronger in whatever exercise they replaced them with. Aesthetics is still something that matters to me which is why I want to cut when I reach 95kg or 100kg bodyweight and adding in some isolation work.
Original post by alex_tait
This is pretty well documented and many bodybuilders have gone through this stage.


Many body builders have also always stuck to a split.
Original post by JasonTerryIsMyHero
Many body builders have also always stuck to a split.


Sure which is why I also brought up other points earlier on about frequency of protein production elevation and strength gains to back up my arguments for upper/lower and full body routines.
chest is killing today, dips hit them really well yesterday :smile:
Anyone know of any mobility work that can be done for the hips/hammies to improve squat/deadlift?
agile 8 is good for hip mobility
Ask monk about hip mobility. He loves that ****.
Original post by redbuthotter
Ask monk about hip mobility. He loves that ****.


Forgot about him lol. There should be a monk mobility thread made.
how is monk such an expert on everything lifting then? everyone always says 'ask monk' lol

what is special about this monk character or does he just know his shiz
Reply 917
Original post by Michael XYZ
What they are saying works. FACT. They advise splits which are very effective and nearly everyone uses them for bodybuilding. Why would you do full body for bodybuilding? That's stupid. Starting Strength sucks for size. I don't care what you think - it just does. Now if you add a lot of curls and dips and other isolation on top then it's not bad but the basics are stupid if your goal is bodybuilding. No one watches the twins because they want to powerlift or olympic lift or do strongman. It's not catered for you. So stop watching their videos if you are getting all butt hurt about it?

Even the strongest guy here - Herr Stamper - says it's stupid and you're better off starting a body-part split or whatever for size gains.

Seem to remember Stamper was saying that SS had too little volume, not that you need a brotastic bodypart split where you hit each part once a week.

The question isn't what works, it's what is optimal. Anything works for noobs.

Suppose you have a 130lb skinny weak kid, he can squat 35kgx5, bench 30 x5, DL 50x5 etc. What is optimal for that kid? Probably a routine with high frequency (needn't be SS, could be an upper/lower etc). A standard 4 day bodypart split probably isn't optimal for that kid, he just won't hit the key lifts often enough.

The problem is you get two extreme camps the SS purists (probably more the kind of people who post on SS.com rather than Rippetoe etc) on one side who say that all you need for good arms is barbells and on the other side you've got the traditional bodypart split, hit bench once a week type guys. What's optimal probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Imagine Mr Miyagi, but better.

He's just very well schooled on re/prehab from having genetically "unideal" joints for lifting, so has had to do a lot of research which other people havn't.

That and he's a massive geek.

Original post by commandant
how is monk such an expert on everything lifting then? everyone always says 'ask monk' lol

what is special about this monk character or does he just know his shiz
Reply 919
Jesus I have just glazed over the last couple of pages. **** off.





Original post by gsandhu
Mine are 25.5 inches across my upper thigh
U Jelly?


Is this who I think this is?

Latest