Conflicted :Recovery on 3On/1Off

Training
1

Hello T-Nation.Wanted to see what you guys thought between the two 3on/1off programs.

I find,like others, that as I get stronger, it seems to get more and more difficult to recover on time.

On my current 3on/1off protocol,I do the following:

DAY1: Chest/Tricep/Bicep; 3 chest,2 tricep,2 bicep movements (3 sets each)
DAY2: Leg/Calf/Abs; 3 leg,2 calf,2 ab movements(3 sets each)
DAY3: Delt/Back/Forearm 3 back,2 delt,2 forearm movements(3 sets each)
DAY4: OFF[And all Sunday’s are off too]
REPEAT

Pretty much every single bodypart listed above seems to recover properly. But it’s starting to get “hit-and-miss” on chest day. I think the reason is my Lats seem so punished from 2 days before(stabilizers); also with the small amount of Deltoid work 2 days before MAY be hindering my pressing abilities. However, this problem hasn’t really occurred in the past, and I know many people running this split with great success.

My thoughts were to increase my recovery time for chest day, without compromising changing from the 3on/1off plan that I have loved and gotten great results from. I could simply rearrange the days a little:

DAY1: Chest/Back/Delt; 3 chest,3 back,1 side delt (3 sets each)
DAY2: Tricep/Bicep/Forearm; 2 tricep,2 bicep,1 forearm (3 sets each)
DAY3: Leg/Calf/Ab; 3 leg,2 calf,2 ab (3 sets each)
DAY4: OFF[And all Sunday’s are off too]
REPEAT

I understand that in the above 3on/1off that I hit tricep/bicep the day after Chest,Back…but I figure I would still have MORE recovery time (72-96 hours for arm recovery,96-120 hours for pressing recovery) before I train Chest again. So in the end, it’s still more recovery than Shoulder Pressing ressing only 48-72 hours before hitting Chest.

What are everybody’s thoughts? Does anybody have experience with this?

2

You could try having a deload period every 6-8 weeks or something. This may help.

3

Yeah, I actually already deload once every 7 weeks where I only do 1 working set instead of 3 per exercise.

I’m looking more for opinions on a week-to-week basis though.

As in ,from a “recovery” perspective, would be smarter to do Chest/Back/Delts , Arms , Legs/Calves, Off …Chest/Back,Delts/Arms,Legs/Calves,off or stick with what I’ve been doing(Chest/Arms,Legs/Calves,Delts/Back,off)?

4

Why not push/pull/legs?

chest/delts/tris
back/bis
legs
off

Problem solved. Fatigued delts or back won’t interfere with chest now.

5

I have contemplated push/pull/legs, but my Squat seems to always go down the drain from back fatigue, so now I will have introduced a different problem unless I only use machines, which I don’t know if I would be fond of doing(although, it would alleviate the pushing day issue).

It would be ideal if I can Squat without having a fatigued back.

6

[quote]NurseE wrote:
I have contemplated push/pull/legs, but my Squat seems to always go down the drain from back fatigue, so now I will have introduced a different problem unless I only use machines, which I don’t know if I would be fond of doing(although, it would alleviate the pushing day issue).

It would be ideal if I can Squat without having a fatigued back.
[/quote]

Put squats at the end of your leg session so they’re fatigued and you don’t have to use as much weight. Then progress in weight from there.

7

[quote]NurseE wrote:
I have contemplated push/pull/legs, but my Squat seems to always go down the drain from back fatigue, so now I will have introduced a different problem unless I only use machines, which I don’t know if I would be fond of doing(although, it would alleviate the pushing day issue).

It would be ideal if I can Squat without having a fatigued back.
[/quote]

chest/delts/tris
legs
back/bis
off

8

Hey NurseE
What’s your eating habits/supplementation like? Are you getting enough nutrients? Maybe you could explore this part your training.

9

Real basic… Whey Protein 2x a day(upon waking,after training).

I mean I take Calcium/Magenesium,Fish Oil,Probiotics,a Multi-Vitamin,and Vitamin C too…but that’s for my overall health - I would be doing that regardless if I trained or not.

As far as eating habits, I weigh in the 190’s and eat ~200grams of protein. I have carbs before & after training.

I don’t obsess much about my diet, I just eat good portions and make sure I do the basics + get enough protein.

I have been thinking of dropping my volume in hopes to increase recovery. As my training career increases in time, I have consistently been dropping the volume lower and lower, and then the gains seem to keep coming once I do that.

I will be testing having much lower volume,and higher intensity.
For example, this might be what leg day , and back/delt day would look like:

1x6-8 Squat , 1x15-20 Squat
1 set Hamstring Curl (REST PAUSED 25 reps)
1 set Standing Calf (REST PAUSED 25 reps)
1x12-15 Seated Calf

1 set Shoulder Press (REST PAUSED 15 reps)
Side Laterals 1x15-20
Lat Pulldown (REST PAUSED 15 REPS)
TBAR Row 1x12-15
Rear Lateral 1x15-20

10

Try a serving of protein before, and 2 servings during your workouts (one towards the end of your workout). Sine doing this, my recovery has improved and am able to keep, and at times increase, my volume.

11

please do not feed the troll.

12

Any pain on chest day?