Blog · 2 min · figures checked on 9 November 2026
Full body or split: which set-up should you choose to build muscle?
By Nicolas Papon, founder of Live For Fit ·
At equal volume, both give the same result. Choose the set-up you will stick to most easily in your week.
What the research says
A meta-analysis by Ramos-Campo et al. (2024, 14 studies, 392 people) finds no difference in strength or muscle between full body and split at equal volume. The authors note that there are still few studies on muscle.
A 12-week trial by Pedersen et al. (2022), same exercises and same volume: +1.9% muscle mass with full body, +1.7% with a split.
What Live For Fit does
At Live For Fit: The app groups your sessions so that they are simple to follow, without claiming that this choice builds more muscle.
At Live For Fit: It takes your available time and your other sport into account, so each muscle has time to recover.
- How many times a week should you train a muscle? ›
- How many sets per muscle per week to build muscle? ›
We publish Live For Fit. This information does not replace medical advice.