2 Day Split or 1 A Day?

B

benelson101

0
The 1 muscle group a day split sounds appealing, mainly as i spend too long in the gym as i am.

Ive just started an upper/lower split, doing each twice a week. Im looking for muscle definition and fat burning. I do 3 HIIT runs and 2-3 early morning fasted runs per week.

But is working a muscle once a week enough? i used to do a split routine but twice a week, so i ended up spending over 2 hours a night in the gym, 2.5-3 hours with showers, travel and changing. i never felt like i was getting anywhere.

ive developed a decent shape and dont want too be too much bigger but need to strenghten and 'tone' muscle (horrible word, but you know what im aiming for!). is 1 day per week pure size?

ive been using eXrX to structure a upper/lower split but am happy to change if it means more results in less time.

thanks
ben
 
how long have you been training?

it pretty much takes a veteran lifter, more specifically, a body builder, to achieve a level of training where one muscle group a day makes sense, and has a benefit. because they've trained so hard for so long, they have to do crazy stuff to damage the muscle tissue enough to prompt the body to rebuild it bigger.

Do keep in mind that bodybuilders aren't exactly amazing athletes, particularly the heavyweights. its hard to be agile, move fast, or run a long period of time (marathon) when you've got 250lbs of muscle on your frame. And lifting for size doesn't mean you're incredibly strong.

2 hours is way to long to workout with weights. if you can't get it done in 60 mins, you're either doing too much, or you're screwing around and wasting time.

If you want to increase strength, harden the muscle, without adding significant bulk, then lower your rep range. try a 5x5 routine, and stick to a push/pull/lower or upper/lower scheme.

my current routine, i train each muscle group twice in an 8 day period. I have two upper routines and two lower routines. The cover all the muscles both times, but with different exercises to achieve better results by exerting different stresses.

more important than anything, for toning, is your diet. Toning is accomplished by removing body fat, so your muscles can show through with more definition...that 'chiseled' look.
 
great answer, thanks very much

ill be sticking with the upper/body workout, 2x2 workouts a week and ill start on the 5x5 reps for my upper body.

On the other 3 days im going to start swimming properly and will keep up the cardio. that way i can burn the bum fat and eat more!

i do need to reduce the workout time, it may be im doing too much, ill have a think and make another 'can you help me.... post later'

again, thanks

ben
 
if you are working out for 2 hours, why not just take half that routine on alternating days? move it down to an hour each and give some rotation to it?
 
Two hours!!!

Criminy!

I spend maybe an 1-1 1/4 hours, four times a week. No way am I losing two hours of my day to the gym.

Body-part splits are dead. If you know the movement patterns, you have at most 9-10 exercises, and one or two you can eliminate depending on your goals. So a total of eight exercises, split across four days and you hit 95% of what you need.

Here's mine:

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Using this form, I've gone from 135lbs to 200lbs on my DLs since I started Sept 9, 2005.

I hope to break 260 by my first anniversary.
 
Last edited:
Use a push/pull/lower or something similar, works good. Dont get discouraged and worried ither, just keep at it. Exrx is a great site that I use alot. This is what I was thinking of doing in the next couple weeks (similar to malklore)
D1:push
D2:pull
D3:Rest
D4:push
D5:pull
D6&7: Rest
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top