Lee Labrada Discusses Benefits of Full Body Workouts vs Split Routines for Muscle Growth After 40

Bodybuilding veteran Lee Labrada has become a trusted voice in fitness since stepping away from the marquee stage. In his latest effort, Labrada compared the muscle-building benefits of full-body workouts and split routines for those over 40. 

“We are going to take a look at both full-body workouts and split routine workouts to find out which one is right for you.”

Wielding decades of experience competing at prestigious contests like the Mr. Olympia, Lee Labrada is a celebrated figure among IFBB Pros. He tested himself against legends of the Open class like eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney and the inaugural Arnold Classic winner Rich Gaspari. 

Lee Labrada has made longevity and lifelong health top priorities since his days of competing at the highest level. With that in mind, he offered fans his analysis of a full-body workout versus a split routine, where the lifter typically focuses on one body part per training session. 

Lee Labrada Shares Over 40 Full Body Workouts and Split Routines for ‘Lifelong Better Health and a Leaner Body’ 

According to Labrada, full body workouts are ideal for beginners. 

“Should you do full-body workouts or split routine workouts? Well, the answer to this is going to depend primarily on how much experience you have.

A full body workout is one in which you train the entire body in one workout. Generally speaking, beginners can benefit greatly from a full body workout and one of the best ways to do a full body workout is to perform a circuit.” 

He recommends picking an exercise for each body part and performing them in succession, also known as a circuit. 

“Simply pick one exercise for each body part. For example, you would pick one exercise for your back muscles, one exercise for your shoulders, one exercise for your chest, and so forth. Once you’ve selected your exercises, start the circuit by performing the first exercise then rest long enough to catch your breath before performing the next exercise, and so forth until you’ve done all of the exercises you’ve selected.” 

“Once you’ve worked out several times, you can cycle through the circuit twice, then you can work your way up to three times through the circuit. I like using exercise machines for circuit training and full body workouts. If you’re going to use free weights, choose compound movements such as bench press for the chest, squats for the legs, deadlifts for the back, bent-over rows for the lats, which target major muscle groups.” 

For optimal results, Labrada suggests completing a full-body workout three times a week. 

“I recommend you perform your full body workout three times a week, say on Monday,  Wednesday, and Friday for example. Now, that brings us to the next question, when is a good time to change to a split routine?” 

A split routine involves dividing up the workouts to target specific muscle groups. He believes those who are considering switching to a split routine should make the decision based on how they recover from full-body workouts. 

“A split routine as the name implies involves splitting up your workouts so that you train different muscle groups on different days. My recommendation is that you make the decision based on how well you are recovering from your full body workouts.” 

“Splitting the routine allows you to do more work for each muscle group and add more exercises for each body part which in turn allows you to work your muscles from more angles but it also builds in more rest so that your muscles can get bigger and stronger.” 

As for specific recommendations, Labrada advocates for a simple three-day push-pull-legs split. 

“If you want to try this I recommend you start with a simple, three-day push-pull split. So, what’s a push-pull split routine? It means that you train your pushing muscles on one day and you train your pulling muscles on another day.” 

During a push-pull-legs split, Labrada underlined that you are training the pushing muscles on one day, pulling muscles on another, and finishing it off with a day exclusively for leg training. 

“For example, on Monday, you train chest, shoulders, and triceps, which are your pushing muscles. You rest on Tuesday, then on Wednesday you train all your pulling muscles, say your back and your biceps. Then, you rest on Thursday. On Friday, you train your quadriceps, your thighs, your hamstrings, your calves, and your abs.” 

In addition to detailing different types of training methods, Lee Labrada constantly offers fitness wisdom to people of all ages. Of late, the bodybuilding veteran gave out three game-changing tips for those over 50 aiming to increase muscle mass. Simply put, Labrada says visiting your doctor, changing your eating habits, and checking hormone levels can all positively impact health. 

Having reached incredible heights as a bodybuilder, Lee Labrada doesn’t miss an opportunity to spread the wisdom he’s collected over the years. Feel free to try his training split for muscle growth after 40! 

“If you’ve watched this far you’re probably thinking that you want to try this. Just do it. The time is now. Don’t put it off another day. Start that program and you will be on your journey to lifelong better health and a leaner body.” 

RELATED: Lee Labrada Shares How You Can Maximize Gains With Duration and Frequency While Avoiding Overtraining

Watch the full video from the Labrada Nutrition YouTube channel below: 

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