Trainer Momma: Weight Lifting Using a Split-Routine

You already know I’m the world’s biggest cheerleader for weight lifting (insert herkie here). Part of the reason I became a personal trainer and then eventually started Trainer Momma was to encourage and teach women how to safely and effectively lift weights.

I believe in it.
I teach it.
I do it.

I advocate it.

I believe my last dying breath will be, “Don’t...forget....to....lift....weights.” OK, OK -- that’s a bit far. But really, I can’t emphasize this fact enough:

WE ALL NEED TO BE LIFTING WEIGHTS.

Period.

Female. Male. Old. Young.

Some people, many people actually, will admit that they just don't know how. Not all of us took a weight lifting class in high school. In fact most of us did not even know where that room was located. We tried hard to stay out of rooms where big, adolescent males cut the sleeves off their t-shirts, listened to people screaming at the top of their lungs (they called it "music"), sweated profusely, and became very stinky. I still avoid these rooms.

And, to add another good excuse to the pile, we don’t all have 2 hours each and every day to get our cardio in and our weights in as well. I fall into that category. I have a gaggle of kids at home waiting to be fed, a house to clean, laundry to fold, a job to get to, and just life to live.

So, one way to get the weight lifting in is to break it up into bite-sized pieces. This is called a “split-routine”.

A split-routine is jumping up as high as you can and landing in the splits like a Danny Zuko move from Grease...

OUCH. TOTALLY KIDDING.

A split-routine is simply working different muscles groups on different days.

Here are those general muscle groups starting from the top:

shoulders

biceps

triceps

chest

back

abs

legs (includes glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves)

Let’s say you have put yourself on a 3-day a week lifting schedule. Here’s one way you could split it up:

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Chest, triceps, abs	Legs, shoulders	Back, biceps, abs

Or if you have put yourself on a 2-day a week lifting schedule, take a deep breathe, focus and get to work! Here’s one example of how to split it up:

Day 1	Day 2
Chest, shoulders, triceps, abs	Back, biceps, legs, abs

** Important! The above schedules are just examples -- not the only way to split up a routine. After doing this for one week, the next week -- MIX IT ALL UP. Pairing different muscle groups together each week does a body very good. Don’t let your body get complacent or too used to what you are going to throw at it.

I like using split-routines because it is an automatic schedule. There's no greater waste of time at the gym or at home than to start working out and not really know what you are going to do that day. No mother or woman has time for that. We are on a schedule, people! Take out the guess work, split up the muscle groups, and get in, out, and done.

My favorite aspect about using a split-routine is that it enables you to dig deep into the specific muscle groups. You take the time to work that bicep, for example, and do several sets. Then you get to work it a different way. And even yet in another way. It allows you to attack the bicep from all angles, giving it a thorough, challenging workout.

What do you get in the end? One beautiful bicep! Or hopefully, two beautiful biceps :)

A common question is:

Is the split-routine better than other ways of working out?

You know me, I’m very hesitant to say, “only do this one thing” when it comes to methods. Change is the best method. I will say, however, that by using a split-routine several months out of the year, you will get very good results. As for me, personally, I probably use a split-routine in my lifting about 9 months out of the year.

So, get busy doing your splits -- I mean your split-routine.