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Itu2019s difficult to specifically pinpoint when the term u201cbrou201d started to make its rounds in the fitness community. Regardless, the term is here to stayu2026and itu2019s not nice. You see, the term u201cbrou201d is often used as a pejorative to describe something that is based on u201cmachoismu201d, u201cjockish behavioru201d, or u201cparty typesu201d. Things like u201cbro-scienceu201d or u201cbro lifeu201d. What weu2019re talking about today are the infamous u201cbro splitsu201d.
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It’s difficult to specifically pinpoint when the term “bro” started to make its rounds in the fitness community. Regardless, the term is here to stay…and it’s not nice. You see, the term “bro” is often used as a pejorative to describe something that is based on “machoism”, “jockish behavior”, or “party types”. Things like “bro-science” or “bro life”. What we’re talking about today are the infamous “bro splits”.
In a nutshell, a bro split is just a way of designing a workout program where you concentrate on a specific muscle group per day. Sounds simple; but are bro splits any good? Are they Bad? Can anyone do a bro split or just bros?
If you have these questions (or more), read on because this article will answer everything you ever wanted to know about this infamous body split. And if you decide to take a bro-split journey, we have the best possible bro split workout routine to follow (backed by science).
WHAT IS A “BRO” SPLIT? As mentioned above, a bro split is simply a training split where a trainee would concentrate on training one or two muscle groups a day. Since you only train a couple of muscles each day, bro splits plans on you training 5 or 6 days per week to hit every muscle every week. Still, the goal of every bro split that has ever been written is muscle hypertrophy, without a doubt.
The bro split is one of the oldest and most widely used splits to ever exist. Even today, if you were to walk into a random gym and take a brief survey of what type of plan people were following, a good majority would likely say, “I’m doing a bro split, bro .” And there’s a good reason why.
As said, the bro split has been around since the golden age of bodybuilding, and it’s the one thing people know if they know anything about the gym. Its popularity is so deep in modern culture that most people just assume that this is the way you’re supposed to train in the gym. For example, the MTV hit “Jersey Shore” had a bunch of bros doing bro splits at the gym. Admittedly, they had pretty good physiques, so someone watching TV sees this and assumes this is what you do.
COMMON TRAINING METHODS USED WITH BRO SPLITS Other than training one muscle group per day, another main component of bro splits is their heavy use of specialty sets. For example, it’s not uncommon to see a guy with a set of 5 dumbbells lying at his feet as he gets ready to work through a killer drop set. Here are some of the common training methods used.
Drops Sets: As mentioned above, bros love doing drop sets. A drop set consists of lifting a certain amount of weight until nearing fatigue. You will then stop quickly and lower the weight somehow; strip weight from a barbell, change the pin on a machine or grab a smaller weight.
Supersets: Supersets are when you perform two similar exercises back to back. However, they are different enough to hit the muscle slightly differently. An example would be doing a barbell curl and then rope hammer curls. The idea is to get as much work done in minimal time while changing the pattern to mitigate fatigue.
Forced Reps: Doing forced reps requires a partner. Then, the partner mentioned above will help you do some reps as you near failure. This is basically like doing drop sets but using someone else to relieve the load.
Heavy Eccentric: Heavy eccentrics are performed by using a near maximal, maximal, or even supramaximal load. However, the exercise will only consist of the eccentric portion. In reality, the science is pretty solid here with this training style. For one, we are able to generate more force during the eccentric portion of a lift than a concentric.
Training To Failure: The intent for the majority of the specialty sets is to bring the muscles close to failure. Research is a bit mixed on how effective these methods really are. For example, one study shows that training to failure is effective but only when comparing high loads to low loads. However, other studies have shown that there is no advantage. So what to do?
