The Splits: How to Excel at Twister Without Pulling Your Groin

Let's talk about splits. Splits are simply how you break up your workout routine. They can be weekly, monthly, seasonally, or during the time of the year when your favorite TV show is not cranking out new episodes. Whether you're an animal, vegetable, or mineral, at some point you're going to want a little method to your madness. This one's gonna be long. *cracks knuckles*

To start, let's break down the major muscle groups and what I think are the best exercises for each. Almost everything listed here is using free weights or your own body weight. I prefer using free weights to machines whenever possible, as they require more core activation and strengthen your stabilizer muscles. Machines can be a nice way to work on your initial strength and form, or used for a change of pace, but get out there and swing some real weights if you can. If you don't know how to do one of these moves, you can typically find an example of someone demonstrating lifts by searching on Youtube. If you're gonna be on Youtube anyway, check out a Keyboard Cat vid or somebody falling off their bike. Good stuff.

Chest:
-Incline Dumbbell Press
-Flat Bench Press
-Pushups (Standard or wide hand position)
-Decline Dumbbell Press
-Incline Dumbbell Fly
-Butterfly Machine or Pec Deck
-Wide-grip Dips

Back:
-Pull-ups (any hand position, but a wide grip is my favorite)
-Dead Lifts (barbell or dumbbell)
-Dumbbell Rows
-Lat Pulldowns
-Seated Rows
-Pull-overs

Shoulders:
-Military Press and/or Arnolds
-Lateral Fly
-Upright Rows
-Front/Side Fly
-Narrow Grip Push-ups

Traps:
-Barbell Shrugs
-Dumbbell Shrugs

Quads and Hamstrings:
-Squats (Barbell or Dumbbell)
-Lunges (with dumbbells)
-Leg Press
-Leg Extensions
-Leg Curls

Calves:
-Calf Extensions with weights (in varying standing positions)
-Jump Rope

Biceps:
-Preacher Curls
-Barbell Curls
-Dumbbell Curls
-Hammer Curls
-Chin-ups

Triceps:
-Close-grip Barbell Bench Press
-Skull Crushers
-Tricep Extensions
-Dips (with a weight belt even better)
-Tricep kickbacks

Forearms:
-Reverse Curls
-Hammer Curls

Abs: (There are hundreds of moves, but here are a few of my staples)
-Weighted Crunches (with a machine or weight ball)
-In and Outs
-Bicycles
-Leg Raises
-Weighted Leaners

Here's an example of a 4-day split for a woman:

workouts: 4 times a week for 60 minutes
goal: lose weight, tighten up

Day 1: Mixed
30 minutes:
-Chest, Back, Shoulders
20 minutes:
-Intervals on the treadmill
10 minutes:
-Abs

Day 2: Mixed
30 minutes:
-Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Abs
30 minutes:
-Intervals on the Elliptical on a heavy incline

Day 3: Cardio
-55 minutes of your favorite cardio - spin class, running, elliptical, whatever

Day 4: Core
-45 minutes of pilates and/or yoga
-15 minutes of biceps, triceps, forearms, abs

Here's an example of a 4-day split for a guy (with no cardio):

workouts: 4 times a week at 60 minutes
goal: build muscle, lose body fat

Day 1: Chest and Triceps for 50 minutes, 10 minutes of Abs
Day 2: Back and Biceps for 50 minutes, 10 minutes of Abs
Day 3: Quads, Hamstrings, and calves for 60 minutes
Day 4: Shoulders, Traps, Forearms and Abs for 60 minutes

There is no one program that is going to fit everyone. Let's say you can only lift twice a week, you can make one day lower body and abs and the second day everything else. Or you can just lift one day per week and pick one lift for each body part.

How many muscle groups you are working on a day will determine how many exercises and sets you'll do. If you're only doing chest, then you can do 4-7 exercises at 3-4 sets each. If you're doing Chest, Back, Shoulders and Traps, then you'll do 1-2 exercises at 3-4 sets each.

Generally speaking, if you want to build muscle (and mass), shoot for 8-10 reps per set. If you want more definition and tone, shoot for 12-15 reps per set. And pick the right weight; you should be struggling toward the end of each set but able to maintain good form.

At the end of the day, variety is like a Spice Girl. Posh spice, we'll say. If you're running 4 times a week on a treadmill at the same speed, after a short time your body will adapt and you'll stop getting the same benefits.

So the next time you're at a party, you can suggest Twister, or better yet, you can watch the movie Twister. Is that Bill Paxton or Bill Pullman in that? Impossible to tell them apart.