Sounds like you’re doing a Poliquin split. I’m doing virtually the same thing but I don’t do any direct shoulder work other than ext. rotators and I do the leg day after chest and back. I’m doing the Maximal Weights 5*5, and leg day consists of squats/leg curls, then deads/standing calf raises. I was a bit leery of doint squats/deads on the same day, not to mention deads every five days but it’s only for a 3-week cycle. Midway through and it’s working well but I have very good recovery ability plus I’m on a ton of antioxidants/glutamine, etc. Ian King has a 3x/week routine in Get Buffed doing squats/deads on the same day but it’s an upper body emphasis routine.
Bateman…I don’t see a prob doing deads and squats in the same workout. If you want to prioritize upper body, you might consider doing deads before squats for greater loads. Also, like Teddy mentioned, you might consider putting your leg workout between your upper body workouts. I believe Coach Poliquin sited the fact that using his splits, doing upper body routines back-to-back may slow progress, thus the lower body workout between the two.
It’s possible, although more difficult if you use the same perecentage/rep range for each exercise. I follow a westside-type routine and max on one type of lift then do reps on the other often and have no problems but I feel doing moderate reps for each type of lift invites too much lower back fatigue and could lead to injury.
It is not only ok, it will make your legs blow up! I mean almost an inch in 1 month. Here is what I do. (I am natural for now, and I recover quick)
Sumo deads 4 x 10, 8, 8, 6
Squats 4 x 10, 8, 8, 6
Leg press 4 x 10, 8, 8, 6
Leg curls 4 x 8, 8, 8, 12
Leg exten 4 x 8, 8, 8, 12
Then I usually crawl to the bathroom and yak.
Have fun
bateman…I see your reasoning behind the split as is. I think I missed the off day between Days 1 and 3 when I first read the post. Either way would probably work. The smaller muscle groups of the arms recover more quickly than the larger muscle groups of the chest and back, that is why, I believe, Poliquin felt the need for only a single day of recovery. As far as the routine you have posted, I think that’s pretty solid. For me, deads pretty much annhilate my whole body. I find that I can really hit my glutes hard too. I like the fact that you’re going to do deads first in the workout (for back prioritization), as they really hammer my back and traps. The ham:quad ratio looks okay to me. On the leg press you can change foot placement from set to set or workout to workout to direct the overload more to the quads or glutes/hams. Closer foot placement emphasizes the quads, while a wider stance brings the glutes/hams more into play. Leg curls are good to throw in. I personally really like doing stiff-legged deadlifts and good mornings and holding the stretch position for a second or two.
I say no, and the reason is those are two strength movements essential I believe for total strength so I would try to seperate as far as I could my leg day and back.
This is just my opinion I hope I helped.
I’ve starting hitting legs twice a week now and added deads right after my squats. Doesn’t hurt too much but I’m pretty fatigued on the last set of deads. Have to really focus to keep form and not squirt my spine out of my body.
I’ve found that the following split works really well…what do u guys think?
Monday - Chest and BAck
Tuesday - Quads, SHoulders and Calves
Wednesday - Off
THursday - Arms
Friday - Hams, Traps, Calves
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Repeat or rest depending on recovery