Q: Do traditional body-part splits work for fat loss in the weight room, or have we come further from those five-times-a-week sessions?
A: No one will argue that the best way to increase lean muscle mass in the weight room is through traditional body-part split training. Increasing your muscle mass will also increase your metabolic demand. This means that you will place a higher caloric need on your body to maintain your current body weight. So, if someone increases his or her muscle mass, and at the same time maintains the same caloric intake, a small loss of stored body fat can be experienced, but this is merely a side effect of this training protocol. If you’re looking to use the weight room for fat loss, circuits consisting of various combinations of weight-training and body-weight exercises can produce fat loss in a much more direct way than traditional body part split training, but, unless you’re happy just maintaining your current level of muscle mass, those circuits won’t help you increase your size to the level needed to do well on the bodybuilding stage.
Because optimal fat loss and increasing muscle mass use different physiological processes, they require different training protocols to achieve maximum results. For physique competitors, it’s best to utilize dedicated cardio sessions for fat loss and dedicated traditional weight training for increasing muscle mass. In the event that you have to combine a cardio session and weight-training workout in the same visit to the gym, always complete your weight training first and then finish with your cardio workout. This will ensure you use the preferred fuel sources (ATP-PC and glycogen) for the weight-training portion and the preferred fuel source (stored body fat) for the cardio work, thus maximizing your results for both goals.
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