I have a little secret method that I use, I've split my body in half, I worked the left side last night, and I'm working the right tonight.
i really believe that most of those thousands of successful people cut their teeth on a whole body template, the introduction of steroids enabled them to do more, and the "split" was born.
for the bodybiulder, diet is key, but only after they had built their perceived ideal, using very brutal and rugged whole body type exercise programs.
more often than not they where not too bright in the ways of properly doing an exercise and resorted to reducing their intensity OF WORK as a means to continue, the split was/is a means to an end.
the practice of splitting up a workout, to sculpt a body is also a myth IMO.
the things that determine the difference between good and excellent are; muscle belly and tendon length and ultimately bone structure and no amount of exercise can change those short of surgery