Can this be? Only 3 Days?

M

markeaton

0
I was asked by a friend that knows I workout. He asked me if a 3 day workout is as good as say a 4 or 5 day workout - of course assuming all things equal: diet, intensity, rest, etc. He asked if this would work:

Mon: chest, arms
Tues: cardio (20 minutes)
Wed: Legs
Thurs: cardio (20 minutes)
Fri: back, shoulders
Sat: bike ride
Sun: off


Thanks for your input
 
Sure it would work; it just depends on what he's going for. Tell him to do 3 full body workouts a week rather than hitting every muscle group once per week.

If you're goal is to gain muscle mass, try to keep your cardio as separated from your lifting days as possible in order to preserve energy stores.
 
well, what adler said could work. but depending on if your friend is a newbie, his muscles may not repair fully in one day. and legs usually take longer to repair than other muscles. so full body workout, then maybe 2 days rest, for a week or two. or until your friend feels comfortable doing it every other day. but he knows his body better than i do, so he could be able to do it with 1 days rest. but that workout you said, hitting the body parts once a week is good for a newbie. if he still wants to do a split workout after a week or two, then he could do

day1 - chest arms
day2 - legs
day3 - back/shoulders
day1 - chest arms
day2 - legs
day3 - back/shoulders
day7 - rest
repeat

hitting them each twice a week
 
Do you think hitting them twice a week is wise? A friend of mine that lifts and competes (bodybuilder) says to train each bodypart once a week MAX becuase your body need time to recoup. I told Steve (my friend) my routine which is 4 days and hits each bodypart a week HARD and he liked it, but ony wanted to do everything in 2 days..... he has also lifted "off & on"....
 
i never workout the same muscle, or synergist mucles within 3 days of a previous workout.. example..

day1- push
day2 - pull
day3- legs
day4- abs

its a little bit more difficult to keep up with than a mon-sun sched but it makes it easier to avoid over working.. some people can do it after a day rest, not me :/
 
So Mreik- are you saying that:

day1- push (chest, shoulders, tricep)
day2 - pull (back, bicep)
day3- legs
day4- abs

day5-7 off ?

Thanks
 
ur right from day 1-4 day 5 - off. day 6(same as day 1)

and when i say abs i mean core..
 
mreik - 2 questions: 1) You don't think it is best to split up the "pushes" and 2) won't this schdule lead to overtraining?

Thanks
 
well let's say that on monday you do bench, and other chest exercises. then on tuesday you come back and do the shoulder press, and other shoulder exercises. the muscle worked the most in those exercises besides chest & shoulders is triceps! and then after that some people will do an arm day and isolate triceps & biceps, so you're actually working them 3 times in 3 days, which is overtraining.

but the workout posted, is generally the one i follow. it is a little to much lifting for some, but i prefer it. it will give your triceps 3 full days to heal, which is enough time for ALMOST everyone(some people need more). i also ensure i get enough protein & sleep to heal 100% before my next workout.

as for spliting up your push routine.. i switch what i begin with every push workout, going from...
shoulder press, bench press, incline
bench press, incline, shoulder press
incline, shoulder press, bench press
~~i do this to ensure i don't go into my shoulder or incline exercise half strength because i always do flat bench first. And i always work from compound>>isolation.
 
Markeaton, the reason why your friend only trains each muscle group once a week is because of the volume he gives to the muscle group each time he hits it. Overtraining is a individualist thing and each person will respond differently.

Then again, if your friend has a day for shoulders or arms, then he's hitting those muscle groups twice.

The other thing to look at is strongmen, power lifters, olympic lifters, and strength athletes. Those groups hit each muscle group more than once a week and some as many as 12 times a week (those crazy Russians) and for the most part, they are far less overtrained then the average gym goer.

Even if with a bodybuilding routine, you could easily hit each muscle group more than once without overtraining. A very simple example is instead of doing pressing and flying motions for chest, break it up into one day of pressing and 72 hours go back and do flying motions.
 
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