Muscle Gain Forum

Intermediate-ish now and deciding between full body 3x and an upper/lower 4x. Both look good on paper. For those who've run both for a real block, which built more muscle and why?

They're closer than the internet pretends. Equated for weekly volume they grow you about the same. The real question is which fits your schedule and recovery so you stay consistent.

Full body 3x was better for my strength on the big lifts - hitting squat and pull-style movements 3x a week did wonders for technique and the numbers. Upper/lower was better when I wanted more arm and detail work.

That's a useful distinction, strength vs detail.

Right. If you care most about the big lifts going up, full body's frequency is great. If you want to add isolation volume for aesthetics, upper/lower gives you the room.

Upper/lower 4x won for me purely because 3 full body sessions left me gassed by the last exercise. Splitting it meant every muscle got hit when I was fresh, not fried at the end of a long session.

As a relative newbie I found full body 3x easier to stay consistent with - only 3 days to plan around. Consistency beat the 'optimal' 4-day plan I kept skipping.

That's the honest answer for most people. The best split is the one you'll run for 6 months without missing. Both build muscle; adherence builds the physique.

Makes sense. I'll start full body 3x for consistency and move to upper/lower when I want more volume. Thanks all.

Solid plan. Run it hard for a few months, progress the loads, and you can't go wrong either way.