PPL. Every other day. I learned with my body type that rest and food matter most. I used to try to hit everything twice a week and I wasn’t growing. I started resting more and all my lifts started going up. I train way fucking harder cuz I’m well rested. Which has been giving me way more gains. I’m no mass monster… yet. I think the only thing that matters is intensity, rest, and food. However the fuck that looks for you.

Intensity builds muscle. Do every set and rep with intent. Do the split you enjoy most.

With that said, recovery and nutrition is just as important. I don’t think anything can be considered optimal, because everyone responds differently. I’m a a HIT guy, but my calves only grew hitting them 3-4 times a week. I don’t believe anything is really that black and white. Where there is a study this week, there is another the next contradicting it. The only truth lies in what works for you and you alone.

All good stuff here… lots of variations in answers and to be honest, none of them are wrong.

I’ve always wanted to know if the “trick the muscles “ thing was true… for example) Push day, start with heavy flys instead of the standard bench.

For me all that matters is I show up and put my all into. But I’m just like you I over think shit and want to “optimize” everything. But I’ve fucked with all different splits throughout the years but what I always fall back on is the typical bro split. Idk if it does anything but I like to “trick” my muscles and I’ll do 3 weeks same routine then switch it up and run that 3 weeks and within those 3 weeks some days I’ll go super heavy low rep others lighter weight higher reps but I almost always go until failure. I feel like what really matters is sleep and that’s the part I shit the bed on but hard as fuck when u got kids running around and waking up at 2am

Just to answer your first question, your split only matters if its what you enjoy and will keep you motivated to push each and every workout. Bro split, just destroying one muscle group once per week still checks that box for me.

I wouldnt have such an issue with the science based community if it wasnt being touted by broccoli head retards sportin arms with less girth than my wiener.

Science based nattys are a cancer to the industry. Im glad their king nipptard blocked and got a temporary op on me lmao.

I just recently, ( last 3-4 weeks) changed over to push, pull, legs, and to be honest, I haven’t noticed any gains or losses. I’m gonna ride it out another couple weeks and evaluate the results. I’m an old head so it’s been hard to change up what’s always seemed to work for me, but I’m giving it an old college try.

Man at the end of the day doing what you enjoy and doing it consistently is the best bet. I was heavy weights low rep guy most of my younger years because I enjoyed the fuck out of it. I almost passed out, threw up, and shit my pants the day I hit my all time 1RM on deadlift and it was one of the best moments in my life lmao.

I'd probably still train that way if my joints could handle it, but at 38 they let me know real quick that I can't roll like that anymore. I do a higher frequency with moderate weights and moderate volume these days. But i track my lifts and progressive overload with autistic levels of dedication these days, so even not going all out balls to the wall like I used to my progress is better now than it was back then when I was lifting super heavy but only vaguely tracking my progression. Consistency always wins.

This debate has existed since the first guy picked up a barbell. Is it 6 reps to failure or 12? PPL, bro split, upper/lower, or full body? HIIT or Zone 2? Low carb or high carb?

Hell, remember John Cisna, the science teacher who lost weight eating nothing but McDonald’s to prove calories in vs. calories out?

Everyone wants to optimize the last 5%, but almost nobody has mastered the first 95%: showing up consistently, training with intensity, progressively overloading, recovering well, and eating for their goal.

There aren’t any shortcuts. The best split is the one you’ll execute relentlessly for the next five years.

A shitty split done consistently will yield substantially better results than bouncing around all different kinds of splits trying to find the perfect one. End of the day nothing, absolutely nothing, beats consistency. That goes for your diet, training, recovery methods, and anything else in life. Do what you enjoy but do it consistently

The best and most optimal split is the one you enjoy.

I like hitting thing twice a week but I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually matter. Consistency, recovery and hitting them good is what I think matters most.

I’ve been battling this too. Some of these new training styles are so foreign, they just don’t make sense to me. But then when we were running VCRs at home, DVD players were space technology. Maybe that’s just the way it goes