Quick Lifting sched question

N

NewGenSTi

0
I have been lifting for around 5 months now, and I have been doing Back/Legs Monday, Shoulders/Tris Wed, and Chest/Bis on fridays, with cardio on tues and thurs and rest on sat/sun, Had great gains up untill now I am dropping reps and weight each week in the Chest Dept. Now recently I changed my diet, but for the better so I know thats not it. but I have increased the intensity of my shoulder/tri workout. Would I possibly be better of with something like this for a sched

Monday:
Chest/Tris
Wed:
Back/Bis
Friday
Shoulder/Leg

I am thinking that because I lift shoulder/tri together on wed that I am not recovered enough for my chest workout which requires tris also on friday only 2 days later

Like flys are fine, but anything where Tris are used I am failing after only a few reps even with lower weight. Even pushups are terrible

Maybe I should skip a shoulder/tri day and see if it is any better for my chest day with the full week of rest between.. Please respond quick as if I am changing this sched I would like to get started now so I can get back into routine quickly.
 
Buddy, you just answered your own question :)

Try this, work chest, shoulders, then triceps one day
Back (upper and lower), biceps, legs and abs day 2
rest day 3

rinse, repeat.

You hit the nail on the head. You gotta keep the supporting muscles fresh for your bigger muscles. Also remember theres a specific order you should work.

total upper body should be chest, lats, shoulders, triceps, biceps in that order
split should be chest, shoulders, tris day one. Lats biceps, legs, abs day 2
 
Right, I kind of figured that. My only problem is I dont have time each day for that kind of workout. thats why I have it split into 3 days at about an hour each day. From what I understand anything over an hour is no good because your body will start going catabolic? so I try to keep it to an hour 3 times a week and work each muscle group only once a week so they have plenty of healing time.

How about
Mon:
Chest, Shoulder, Tri
Tues:
Cardio
Wed:
Back, Bi
Thu:
Cardio
Fri:
Legs, abs

Also is it ok to work to major muscle groups like chest and shoulder together. I was always under the impression you should go major then minor
Seems like after doing chest shoulders would be pretty tough as far as military press and such. and after all that tris would be dead. Although I guess its not the weight that matters as long as you tear the muscle fibers and let them repair there will be growth, right?
and if thats the case even with lowering weight to complete you would still see better growth? correct me if Im wrong
 
that kind of split should work just fine also. Remember this also, chest work only fatigues the anterior head of the deltoid muscle. You still need to fatigue the lateral and posterior heads. Its ok to work chest and shoulders the same day because chest helps pre fatigue the shoulders and tris and the shoulders help pre fatigue the tris, making it easier to fatigue those muscles. You are right, fatigue the muscles with 50 lbs or 30 lbs it doesn't matter as long as they get fatigued :D
 
Alright, Sounds good to me. I am going to change this up a bit and hope it works.. Gotta get in shapre for june! :cool:

Just out of curiousity(I dont want to stray too far off topic), seems like you know quit a bit. any tips on exercises that work for you better than others. I know everyone is different and they may or may not work for me, but It seems like I need some more for back days and possibly abs. I dont do much more than crunches for abs. Would it be too stressful to maybe hold a 10 or 20lb weight when I do crunches. Thanks again
 
When I do reverse crunches, I put a 20 pound dumbbell between my knees. No stress at all.
What do you currently do for your back?
 
I like to include low-cable rows and barbell bent-over rows into my back routine. Chin-ups are great, you're already doing those.
 
I was going to start doing rows, I dont have a cable machine, but I can do bent over barbells. I should have a cable machine by the summer. just dont have the extra cash right now
 
If I might offer a suggestion--

I've noticed you've been doin splits, why not go to a fullbody workout 3 times a week or 2 upper body and 2 lower body days?

Sometimes it's good to just totally revamp the way we train for 4-8 weeks. Perhaps a good strength block would help with your training.
 
I dont want to to fully body wokrout 3 times a week because I only want to lift each muschel group once a week so I have enough healing time and I am not over training. I do try to switch it up every couple of weeks on what exercises I am doing for each body part just to keep the body guessing if thats what your saying
 
If you are using that breakdown because you like lifting that way, that's fine. But if you are lifting that way because you think a muscle group needs a full week to recover, then you might rethink that a bit.

And by the way, a full body workout 3X a week won't lead to overtraining as long as you use smart training. :)
 
I would rather thoroughly work out each muscle group and give them proper rest to recover then partially workout everything and give partial rest. Think about it, if I were to do a full body workout that included well the full body how would I fit all of these exercises into an hour. after an hour your test levels are reduced greatly and you will have lesser positive effect on your muscles than you would negative. if I work chest shoulders and tris in one day it gives me enough time to thoroughly workout each part of the muscle within a time where I am going to get the greatest results. and Giving the muscles a full week to recover ensures that they will be 100% for the next time I work out and that I can see the biggest gains. If I was just trying to maintain muscle I might do a full body workout a few times a week, because I wouldnt be lifting as heavy or as much so it would take less time. I mean this is just my opinion on things from the research I have done for myself, I have read and heard from more places that you should only lift each muscle group once in a week for best results. Not saying your wrong, but I will stick with whats working for me :D
 
NewGenSTi said:
I would rather thoroughly work out each muscle group and give them proper rest to recover then partially workout everything and give partial rest. Think about it, if I were to do a full body workout that included well the full body how would I fit all of these exercises into an hour. after an hour your test levels are reduced greatly and you will have lesser positive effect on your muscles than you would negative. if I work chest shoulders and tris in one day it gives me enough time to thoroughly workout each part of the muscle within a time where I am going to get the greatest results. and Giving the muscles a full week to recover ensures that they will be 100% for the next time I work out and that I can see the biggest gains. If I was just trying to maintain muscle I might do a full body workout a few times a week, because I wouldnt be lifting as heavy or as much so it would take less time. I mean this is just my opinion on things from the research I have done for myself, I have read and heard from more places that you should only lift each muscle group once in a week for best results. Not saying your wrong, but I will stick with whats working for me :D
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying. I lift heavy, too, so I do a 4-day split and work one body part/day.
 
Gensti,

I'm not saying you're wrong by any means, don't take it that way. And hey, if it works for you, then that's the way you should train, of course, that goes for everyone. However, with the recuperation factor there is going to be a systemic fatige build-up from the previous workout even though you worked a different bodypart. So we're never trully recovered even when we split our training into seperate bodyparts. I train very little for size, almost mutually for strength. I never go to failure, that way I recuperrate a bit faster and with proper post workout nutrition...recuperation happens pretty fast actually, but anyway...

I don't always do full body, sometimes I do a 4 day split of 2 upper body and 2 lower body. Besides if a muscle recovers within 72 hours (and sometimes within 24-48 hours), why not work it out again? I suppose I want the strength of a powerlifter or a strongman with the build of an athlete.

I can cover 4-6 exercises in an hour. That might be 6 compound or 4 compound and 2 isolation. I have short rest periods, under 90 seconds. I also use set to rep ratios of 8X3 etc. I also use 90-100% of my 1RM for most of my exercises.
So, I can do using this-
squat 8X3
bench 6X4
chins 6X6
dips 6X6
glute-ham raise 3X8
push press-6X4

Then again, if I do a upper/lower body split I have a max lifting day and speed lifting day. And I always have one day of strongman training with flipping tires, throwing kegs, pulling cars, farmers walks, etc

But then again, I'm not a bodybuilder and I can't afford to put on a high level of non functional hypertrophy, so I don't spend a lot of time on isolation exercises. Sure, some calf work closer to summer and a couple sets of bicep and tricep work through the week, but that's about it.

Here are a couple programs that utilize full body movements.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=6292CBD7060C44E5083EF7FBB89FEFF7.titan?id=508031
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=6292CBD7060C44E5083EF7FBB89FEFF7.titan?id=476508
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=C8E1D9350A4135479F132C62399AABD9.titan?id=485341
http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle...4135479F132C62399AABD9.titan?article=294quat2

And here's a sample program that utilizes an upper/lower body split 4 times a week.
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/9week-training-program.htm

After reading Tudor Bompa, Dave Tate, and guys like that I just had to quit the structural hypertrophy/individual muscle split workout. Then again, we have to examine our goals and figure out how to train. I've found using periodization or block training to be extremely successful for most trainees. If you haven't looked into block training, it's a highly efficient way to stagger your training around your goals...plus, it helps with not doing the same cyle for years on end.

Just some food for thought. :)
 
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It is some food for thought. I kind of like the way the Quattro Dynamo program sounds. but would love to hear results from someone who tried it before starting it. It makes sence. even though it goes against everything I've come to believe. I guess for a 3 week cycle it wouldnt be to bad to give a whirl.
 
I've tried the Quatro Dynamo and my advise is to rest well. I didn't get the rest I needed and towards the end I was feelin a bit beat. In my opinion, it's a fantastic program...give it a shot and let us know what you think of it.
 
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