Hello guys, I’ve been training for some time and stopped the last month or so due to a minor injury (car accident). Anyway I’ve used this time to learn a lot about training and I’m very fascinated to the phislosopy of guys like Dante Trudel and Jordan Peters.
However I have only 3 days a week to train and don’t really like full body-splits (just personal preference, to be honest).
So I was wondering (since I have no competitive goals), if the following split would work If i keep on pushing my bodyweight up.
Train 3 days M/W/F. Have 2 rotations for each exercise, alternate upper and lower. Controlled negatives. You lose an exercise when you can’t progress it for 3 consecuive workouts. 3-5 minutes rest (as needed) between exercises).
The routine would look like:
WEEK 1: Upper 1/ Lower 1/ Upper2 WEEK 2: Lower2/ Upper1/ Lower 1 …………… and so on
UPPER
a) Chest compound: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
b) Upper back (Row): 1x6-10; 1x10-15
c) Shoulder compound: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
d) Vertical Pull: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
e) Tricep Compound: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
LOWER
a) Bicep curl variation: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
b) Calf raises: 20-30 reps rest pause.
c) Hinge variation: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
d) Quad compound: 1x6-10; 1x10-15
e) Leg Curl Variation or unilateral leg compounds:1x6-10; 1x10-15
Yeah, why not. It kinda looks like other programs that have worked for people. And you designed it, so you probably think it will be effective. That alone means it should work pretty well. And if you’re hype to try it, that will make it work better too.
And even if it totally sucks, all is not lost!
You’re fascinated by the low volume, high effort philosophy. Running this will be like an introduction to the method. And if your scheme causes problems or doesn’t produce results, it will help you understand why Dante and Peters organize things like they do.
Personally, I think this looks too low volume coupled with low frequency. I think if you’re hitting the gym 3x a week, you need more work with each session. Your workout kinda reminds me of CT’s “Best Damn Workout”, which was run 6 days a week for those that craved high frequency and needed to keep the volume low.
If you don’t want full body, I’d go with something like Wendler’s 531 Bodybuilding:
Day 1: Shoulders and Biceps
Standing Military Press – 5/3/1
DB Military Press – 4 x12
Side Laterals/Rear Laterals – 4 x12
Barbell Curls – 4 x12
Preacher Curls – 4 x10
Day 2: Back
Deadlift – 5/3/1
Bent Over Rows – 4 x12
Chin ups – 4 x10 (or do Lat Pulldowns)
Good Mornings – 4 x10
Hanging Leg Raises – 4 x12
Day 3: Chest and Triceps
Bench Press – 5/3/1
Weighted Dips – 4 x10
DB Flyes – 4 x12
Triceps Pushdowns – 5 x 20
Push ups – 4 sets to failure (this is fine because it’s JUST PUSH UPS - not a main lift)
Day 4: Legs and Abs
Squat – 5/3/1
Leg Press – 5 x 15
Leg Curls – 5 x 15
Leg Extensions – 4 x12
Ab Wheel – 4 x12
And just run it as a 3x a week program. Meaning Day 4 would really be Day 1 of week 2, etc…
You like it? It’s basically “DC training with straight sets” which has been talked about for some time by DC-er, expecially for not really advanced trainers and people dieting/with poor recovery.
The only main difference is 2 exercise rotations instead of 3… But probably that’s ok, I’m not that advanced, and I believe that I have plenty of room to get stronger.
I think if you have little experience training to failure, as in, the entire purpose of your set is to reach failure, that you should start with rest-pause sets first.
Just one set of each exercise, but a DC rest pause set.
For anyone interested I reached to Jordan Peters and Kuba Cielen themselves (via TaindebyJP forum).
They approve the above routine exactly as written; Jordan Peters reccomends not to add more volume, that 2 rotations is OK, but says Extreme stretches (AKA DC stretches/loaded stretches for who doesn’t know them) might be beneficial.