By: Harold Nguyen

SAN JOSE, CALIF- With a major influx of people signing up for a gym membership after the New Years, there will be multiple people that are new to the gym, and are unsure on where to start. That’s why I’m here to inform you about how the “Gym Bro split” is a very bad and nonoptimal split to use when starting the gym.

Although there are some pros in training with the “Bro split” such as being able to focus on one muscle more intensely, as well as spending less time at the gym, there are also many negatives to the split. For example, multiple studies have shown that for maximal muscle growth it’s best if you train a muscle 2-3 times a week, with at least a 48 hour rest period in between sessions. However with the “Bro split” you are only able to train a muscle once a week.

Another reason why the “Bro Split” is not as effective as other workout splits is due to the fact that it only trains an individual muscle every week which is very infrequent. This is bad as consistent training such as training a muscle 2-3 times leads to better motor functions. This is important as those with good motor functions have the ability to lift heavier. This is crucial for muscle gain as muscles grow better under heavier intensity.

According to some students at Silver Creek that have been lifting weights for several years, many of them also agree on my statement about the effectiveness of the “Bro split”.  In an interview with Ashrith Krisham(senior), and Tronny Pham(senior), they both agreed that the “bro split” was ineffective at muscle growth compared to other gym splits such as, “Push pull legs, Arnold split etc.”

In conclusion, I believe the “Gym Bro Split” is not as optimal as other splits such as “Full body, Push Pull Legs,Upperbody Lowerbody, Arnold split, Upper Lower PPL”  and that there are various other training programs that could be used when first starting out at the gym.