Is a full body workout or a split routine better?

Neither one is better on its own. If you do the same number of hard sets per muscle each week, both build about the same amount of muscle. The right one is whichever fits the number of days you can train, and for most people that means full body.

Pick by how many days you train

• 2 to 3 days: full body. Every muscle gets hit each session, so nothing gets trained only once a week.
• 4 days: upper/lower. Each half of the body twice a week.
• 5 to 6 days: push/pull/legs or a body part split. There's enough room to spread the work out.

The reason is frequency. Hitting a muscle about twice a week seems to work better than once, and a classic "chest day, back day, arm day" split on 3 days gives most muscles only one hit.

Why full body suits most people

It's forgiving. If you miss a day, you haven't skipped an entire muscle group for the week. It's also a good fit for beginners, because practicing squats, presses and rows three times a week is how you get good at them.

The downside is session length. If you try to do 6 sets for every muscle in one workout, it turns into a two hour slog. The fix is to do fewer sets per muscle per session (2 to 4) and let the frequency do the work.

Why a split can be better

Once you train 5 days or more, a split lets you do more focused work per muscle without every session running long. It also suits people who simply like it. Some people enjoy a dedicated leg day and will show up for it, and that counts for more than a small theoretical edge.

A simple sample

Full body, 3 days:

1. Squat or leg press
2. Bench press or push-ups
3. Row or lat pulldown
4. Romanian deadlift
5. Overhead press, then a core exercise

Do those on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and change the order or the variation each day if you like.

If three sessions a week is the hard part, League of Fitness gives you a daily match against someone near your level, and lifting sessions synced from Apple Health count toward it. Having an opponent waiting makes it harder to quietly drop the Friday workout.

My take is that most people jump to a split because it looks serious, and then end up training each muscle once a week. If you aren't sure, start full body and switch when you want more training days.