Can some explain these two schools of thought?

[Kirby]

What are the goal differences/advantages of doing a program that you do the same exercise everytime vs. those that have a week rest between different muscle groups?

For example, Starting Strength, you do squats every work out. But others you do legs one day, back another, etc. The next week you repeat.

I know asking "Which one is best?" is stupid, but what is benefit or reasoning of doing one or the other?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
What are the goal differences/advantages of doing a program that you do the same exercise everytime vs. those that have a week rest between different muscle groups?

For example, Starting Strength, you do squats every work out. But others you do legs one day, back another, etc. The next week you repeat.

I know asking "Which one is best?" is stupid, but what is benefit or reasoning of doing one or the other?

The logic behind the one-week rest has a great potential to be flawed. People say that your body needs about a week to repair the muscles. However, this logic is often based on how long you can stay sore when you lift really heavy. However, for some exercises, ie deadlifts, your body DOES need anywhere from 5-8 days to repair itself since it induces such a great stress on the body.

However, the SS logic is that based on adaptability. Your body, when it begins to handle these stress loads frequently, adapts quite well. If you feed your body well, it grows a great deal, reduces almost all soreness, and you get stronger as a result. The acceleration of progress is greatly increased since you can raise the weight every time you lift. Also, the only exercise you do every time is squats. Squats are the essence of muscle growth. It creates such a response that your body will react strongly with hormones and other mechanisms, which will allow the rest of your body to grow in a more beneficial manner.

 

[Kirby]

Does that apply to auxillary exerices as well, like curls and leg extensions? So twice a week would be better than once a week since it doesn't strain the body as much?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Does that apply to auxillary exerices as well, like curls and leg extensions? So twice a week would be better than once a week since it doesn't strain the body as much?

This is one of the problems with trying to do a bodybuilding, isolation-revolving routine multiple times a week. There's just not enough time. The routine that utilizes some of the same movements during the week is solely (or dominantly) composed of compound movement. That means squats would hit you well enough that you wouldn't have to touch leg extensions and that pullups (chinups to hit the biceps harder) would do the same. Therefore, if you're gonna do a SS-like routine, quit the isolations and up the weight on the compound movements.