Workout Split for Athletes: Stop Training Like a Meathead

If you wanna be a high level athlete or have any sort of functionality to your strength, you have to ditch the gym bro split. I can guarantee Michael Phelps does not go to the gym and “hit chest”. Conor McGregor does not have an “arm day.” Athletes, at least good ones, require sport specific movements to develop functional strength; strength that will translate to performance. This is not to say that the gym bro split does not have its place. If you are a competitive bodybuilder or powerlifter, your training regimen will look vastly different than a jiu jitsu competitor or rugby player. If you want to develop full body functional strength and be able to operate at peak levels of performance, stick around for the rest of the article where we look at the ideal training split of an athlete.

In my late middle school and early high school days, I, like everyone else, just wanted to get jacked. So I followed the bro split. A typical week looked like this:

Monday: Chest and Triceps

Tuesday: Back and Biceps

Wednesday: Shoulders

Thursday: Legs

I would mix in some core at the end of my workouts and maybe even a cardio day here and there. I was in great shape, or at least I thought so. It was not until I started doing some research on high level athletes and immersing myself in sports like MMA, jiu jitsu, swimming, running, and cycling that I realized I was not optimizing my training routine. None of the UFC fighters I watched on TV had bulging biceps and none of the Ironman finishers had shoulder striations. Why is this? This is because elite level athletes do not subscribe to the typical gym protocol of “me go gym, me lift weights.” Athletes require different muscles to be more developed - muscles that the typical gym bro split simply will not achieve. Below are pictures of two individuals. On the left is Rich Froning Jr., who is regarded as one of the best Crossfit athletes on the planet. On the right is Chris Bumstead, who is widely viewed as one of the best Classic Physique bodybuilders of all time. Both of these men are at an elite level and sit atop of their respective sport, but notice the difference in their physiques. Both men have great looking physiques, but the difference lies in the functionality of their physiques. Now to be clear, I do not want to discredit Chris here. There are people who can only dream of achieving a physique like his and the name Chris Bumstead will remain in the history books until the end of time. However, the picture below is a good example of what is referred to as “go” muscles vs “show” muscles. There is nothing inherently wrong with bodybuilding or training solely for aesthetic purposes, but if you are an athlete in a sport like football, lacrosse, crossfit, rugby, jiu jitsu, or MMA looking to improve in-game performance; your training schedule should reflect that. 

Let’s get into why you clicked on the article. If you want to optimize your sport performance while still maintaining a strong looking yet functional physique, you will need to adopt a different training method. If you want to look, feel, and operate like an elite athlete, stray away from isolating specific muscle groups and instead focus on compound movements that work multiple muscle groups at the same time. Isolating a specific muscle group would be doing something like a preacher curl. The preacher curl is a great exercise if you want to work the short head of your bicep, but unless you are a bodybuilder, it will not translate well to your sport and serves little purpose in terms of functionality. Replace the preacher curl with something like a rope climb or a chin up. Both the preacher curl and the rope climb will help you build muscle, but only one actively engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously. On top of replacing isolation movements with compound movements, I also changed up my split and directed it towards performance. I wanted to maintain muscle mass and still look good, while also having the ability to have my strength serve a purpose. Below is a mock training split and some examples of the movements I would include for my workout on that day. 

Monday: Upper Body Strength Day 

The underlying theme for my upper body strength day is low volume, high intensity; meaning most movements are max effort and fall within the 2-8 rep range. These days usually start with some sort of pressing movement like the bench press. Following heavy bench press, my accessory movements usually consist of one movement per muscle group. Although I am technically “isolating” a body part, most of my accessory movements still engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously. After benching, I would move to something like a weighted pull up. The target area here is the back, but my forearms and biceps are activated as well. I would then move into a shoulder exercise like the IYT raise. This works all three heads of the shoulder. After that, I would move into tricep work. This is usually something like a weighted dip, which targets the triceps, but also engages the chest and shoulders. Finally is the biceps; bicep training on my upper body strength days usually includes weighted or band resisted chin ups. A typical upper body strength day for me would look something like the following:

• Bench press 6x3

• Weighted pull ups 4x5

• IYT raise 4x6-8

• Weighted dips 4x6-8

• Weighted chin ups 4x5

Tuesday: Lower Body Strength Day

Similar to my upper body strength day, my lower body strength day consists of low volume and high intensity work, meaning most exercises are within the 2-8 rep range. I start my lower body strength days with heavy low rep squats or deadlifts. My accessory movements for this day mainly focus on the posterior chain (back side of the body: glutes, hamstrings, lumbar, etc.) An example lower body strength day would be:

• Box squats 6x3

• Banded dumbbell RDL 4x6-8

• Single leg bulgarian split squats 4x6-8

• Hip abduction machine 2x6-8

• Hip adduction machine 2x6-8

Wednesday: Cardio

I like to switch up my cardio weekly to keep it less bland. The important thing with cardio is to tailor it to your specific goals and allow it to translate into your sport. For me, at the time of this writing I am not training for a specific event or match, so some weeks cardio consist of sprints, other weeks it will be swimming, the next week will be biking. If you are a baseball player, distance running for 6 miles probably won’t do you much good. Instead, try sprint intervals or some sort of HIIT circuit. If you are not competing in a specific sport and are just looking to get in athlete level shape, I recommend switching up your cardio weekly. Do some moderate intensity steady state cardio (MISS), high intensity interval training (HIIT), or distance work. Another thing I like doing with my cardio is adding a degree of functionality. Below are some examples of different cardio exercises that I do spanning across the aforementioned variations:

• Assault bike interval sprints: 10 seconds max effort, 20 seconds 40% effort, repeat 6-10x

• Row machine: Moderate pace for 15:00 (18-22) strokes per minute

• Cycle: Find a comfortable distance/pace for you (5-10 miles)

• Sandbag bearhug carry into overhead wall ball slam: Walk 25 yards with a heavy sandbag (75-150 lbs) immediately followed by 10 overhead ball slams. Rest for 2 minutes and repeat 5-6x

Thursday: Upper Body Dynamic Day

My upper body dynamic days focus on speed work and developing strength in areas that are often neglected through traditional training regimens. Training your fast twitch muscle fibers and developing explosive strength and power is an integral part of being a good athlete; and that is what these next two days are about. This day usually starts with a pressing movement using band resistance. The resistance from the band provides a different feel than just gravity alone and helps develop explosivity, a necessary trait for all athletes. For my accessory movements for this day, I try to hit neglected muscle groups that are often forgotten when following a traditional workout routine. I also put an emphasis on developing strength in areas that will help me in sport such as the back and triceps. A typical upper body dynamic day would look like the following: 

• Band resisted incline dumbbell bench press 4x6-8

• Barbell dead row 4x6-8

• Battle rope tricep extensions 4x15-25

• Weighted or band resisted chin ups 4x6-8

• Heavy farmer carry 4x25 yards

Friday: Lower Body Dynamic Day

On lower body dynamic days, I try to focus on lower body speed, power, and explosiveness. On this day, I include movements that allow me to develop strength in unique positions to work underdeveloped and overlooked muscles like the hip flexors and inner/outer thigh area. I usually start these days off with a speed deadlift or squat. My accessory movements usually include some form of jumps or isometric exercise. An example of a lower body dynamic day would include:

• Banded speed deadlift 6x3

• Barbell quarter squat jumps 4x5

• Reverse hyper machine 4x12-20

• Banded hamstring curls 3x50

• Kettlebell hip flexor raise 4x6-10

• Calf raises on leg press 4x12-15

While the typical gym bro split may be an effective method of building muscle and even gaining some strength, it is not an ideal path that I would recommend to athletes looking to increase their in-game performance on the field, court, mat, etc. In order to get to the next level, athletes need to tailor their training programs to optimizing performance; which includes developing strength from neglected positions and underworked muscle groups. Isometric strength as well as explosive strength play a huge role in the strength of an athlete, and these two things are often forgotten about in a typical workout routine. If you are an athlete looking to level up your game, try the above workout routine for a week and feel the power of functional strength.