When it comes to fat loss, real change is made in the kitchen, not the weight room. You still need to hit the weights, though, and there’s a bit of a debate raging about what kind of workout works best.

Studies repeatedly show strength training to be essential for preserving muscle mass and strength during a fat loss phase. (1)

As it turns out, a new study argues that full-body training routines are slightly more effective at not just sparing muscle during a fat loss phase, but burning fat. We’re going to explain why and give you some suggestions to apply to your own routine.

What the Study Says

The fat loss study we’re looking at spoils the fun in the headline, but that’s okay. Published in June 2024, “Full-body resistance training promotes greater fat mass loss than a split-body routine in well-trained males: A randomized trial” by Carneiro & colleagues found just that. (2)

Purpose: Carneiro et al. set out to “investigate whether full-body is superior to split-body routine in promoting fat mass loss.”

We’ll serve dessert before dinner and list the study’s main findings first:

Findings

Participants who followed full-body training plans lost 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds).

Those who utilized a body-part split gained .3 kilograms of body fat (.6 pounds).

Conclusions: “This study provides evidence that full-body is more effective in reducing whole-body and regional fat mass compared to split-body routine in well-trained males,” wrote Carneiro et al.

Credit: Yuri A / Shutterstock

[Related: Best Fat Burners for Fat Loss]

What They Did

Twenty-three men with training experience were assigned to perform either a full-body or a body-part split routine.

Both groups hit the weights five days a week for two months.

Training volume was equated between workout styles — both groups reached 75 sets per week.

Both groups performed roughly the same exercises; the body-part split group simply clustered the leg exercises, chest exercises, etc., together on a single day instead of performing a couple of sets each day.

Fat Loss: What You Should Do

How do we interpret the findings of this study? Dr. Eric Trexler, who writes for the Monthly Applications in Strength Sport (MASS) Research Review, had this to say:

“The most obvious explanation is that the full-body workouts led to higher quality of effort, particularly during exercises targeting large muscle groups.”

In plain English: The subjects who only had to do a few hard sets of compound exercises may have experienced greater fat loss because they were able to apply more effort and thus burn more calories.

Credit: Dusan Petkovic / Shutterstock

[Related: Best Whey Protein Powders for Maintaining Muscle]

Full-body routines tend to be time-efficient precisely because they incorporate multi-joint movements like rows, presses, and squats, which engage many different muscles simultaneously. If you’re able to keep your intensity high during these mentally exhausting exercises, you’ll probably end up burning more calories and facilitating more fat loss.

One big thing: The study didn’t tightly control nutritional intake among participants. The subjects submitted three-day food logs before, in the middle, and after the eight-week protocol.

The amount of calories you burn during your workout routine is pretty insignificant when it comes to fat loss, especially if you lift weights as your primary form of physical activity. (3)

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References

Sardeli AV, Komatsu TR, Mori MA, Gáspari AF, Chacon-Mikahil MPT. Resistance Training Prevents Muscle Loss Induced by Caloric Restriction in Obese Elderly Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2018 Mar 29;10(4):423. doi: 10.3390/nu10040423. PMID: 29596307; PMCID: PMC5946208.

Carneiro MAS, Nunes PRP, Souza MVC, Assumpção CO, Orsatti FL. Full-body resistance training promotes greater fat mass loss than a split-body routine in well-trained males: A randomized trial. Eur J Sport Sci. 2024 Jun;24(6):846-854. doi: 10.1002/ejsc.12104. Epub 2024 Apr 23. PMID: 38874955; PMCID: PMC11236007.

Chung N, Park MY, Kim J, Park HY, Hwang H, Lee CH, Han JS, So J, Park J, Lim K. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): a component of total daily energy expenditure. J Exerc Nutrition Biochem. 2018 Jun 30;22(2):23-30. doi: 10.20463/jenb.2018.0013. PMID: 30149423; PMCID: PMC6058072.

Featured Image: Master1305 / Shutterstock

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