The Evolution of Bodybuilding Training Splits

To understand where we are today, and why the “perfect split” still doesn’t exist, you have to look back at where bodybuilding has come from.

1920s - 1960s: The Olympic Lifting Era

Before “bodybuilding splits” were even a phrase, the early gym goers trained like weightlifters.

Clean & press. Snatch. Heavy Deadlifts. Full-body training. Three days per week. Strength, power, athleticism.

Bodies were built on big movements, not isolation. The priority was performance.

Takeaway: Training was tough. Heavy compound lifts. Skill / technique were imperative.

1970s - 1980s: The Golden Era & the Rise of Volume

Then came the explosion of Arnold, Zane, Franco.

Training split into body parts, and the idea of hitting a muscle with 20–30 sets became the norm.

Chest Day. Back Day. Shoulders Day. Arms… always arms.

Everyone lived in the gym. Pure love of training and insane work capacity. Volume was goat.

Takeaway: this era taught us work ethic, but also that volume must match lifestyle. Most people can’t train like Venice Beach at 2pm on a Tuesday.

1990s - 2010s: Intensity, HIT, and the Mass Monsters

Dorian, Ronnie style worship.

Low volume.High intensity.All-out, do-or-die top set.

Training was less about how long you could stay in the gym, and more about whether you could survive the set. Progression, load, failure and beyond-failure techniques dominated.

This period forced people to ask:Do you train hard, or do you just train long?

Takeaway: intensity became the currency for growth.

P.S girls still weren’t really strength training

2015 - Today: The Age of Information… and Confusion

We now live in a strange paradox.

We have more knowledge than ever:

• biomechanics

• fatigue management

• SFR, RIR, RP, frequency studies

• exercise sequencing

• machine selection

• long vs short bias training

• push–pull–legs, upper/lower, full body, bro splits

It’s not that modern splits are bad, they aren’t. PPL, upper/lower, and customised rotations are smart, efficient and work well.

But the problem is this...

Training splits have evolved. People haven’t.

We have more people strength training than at any time in history; parents, shift workers, students, business owners, beginners, stressed professionals, 40+ dads, recreational athletes…

Different bodies. Different goals. Different stress loads. Different recovery rates.

A modern-day split needs to reflect a modern-day life.

So What’s the “Best” Split Today?

The truth is incredibly simple:

The best split is the one you will execute with ruthless intensity.

Whether that’s:

• push / pull / legs

• upper / lower

• a rotating body-part split

• or a hybrid three- or four-day plan…

The split is not the magic.

The execution is.

At Fitness Fraternity, we teach one core philosophy:

Whatever your split, do not neglect intensity.

• Train to failure. Real failure, not “one more rep left if my life depended on it.”

• Manipulate every variable. Load, tempo, stretch, squeeze, rest time, order, range, stability.

• Make the set count, not the session.

• Apply the minimum effective dose… brutally well.

Modern training isn’t about chasing the perfect programme.

It’s about taking whatever programme you follow and training with a level of intent that most people never experience.

Final Word

We’ve seen bodybuilding evolve through almost a century of change.

From Olympic lifters to Golden Era icons. From the Mass Monsters to today’s hyper-informed gym culture.

What hasn’t changed, and will never change, is this:

Failure drives growth.

Intensity drives growth.

The split is just the container. Your effort is the result.

Train smart. Train hard. Train like it matters.