I’m curious if anyone has experience with a full body routine 4 times weekly. This would be done with one rest day between training days and would roll through the week so no M, W, F and two days off.
I would do one lift per muscle, primarily compound lifts but I would throw in some curls, shrugs and calf work.
This will primarily be done in a 5x5 rep scheme though I’m going for 3x12 with the curls, shrugs and calves and debating body weight chins and dips to failure vs. weighted.
I’ve been doing splits for a couple years but am interested in mixing it up.
I’m curious how frequency (4x per week per muscle) vs. volume (multiple lifts per muscle in a split) will play out.
I’m in my twenties for a couple more months, recover well, eat, athletic background.
I mostly find three day per week routines geared to beginners and would appreciate input from intermediate or even advanced lifters.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
Let me know how that works out. It’d be cool if you kept a log on here. My own experiment hits each muscle group 4x a week.
The only thing that stands out about a 4x full-body routine is that many sources recommend a minimum of 72 hours recovery time per muscle group.
But I’m a beginner.[/quote]
I think 72 hours will be pretty excessive for one lift per muscle group. Usually on a split I’ll hit each group two to three times and have 72 hours between. This will include significantly less volume though.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
The only thing that stands out about a 4x full-body routine is that many sources recommend a minimum of 72 hours recovery time per muscle group.
[/quote]
Lol, I’d die of boredom.
OP - it’s doable.
A: Do 5x5, but ramp up up to the last three sets - eg 100 x5, 150 x5, 200 3x5
B: Will you be doing consecutive days? Alternate compound movements - eg, Front squat + Push press, Deadlift + bench, high bar squat + dips
[quote]LoRez wrote:
The only thing that stands out about a 4x full-body routine is that many sources recommend a minimum of 72 hours recovery time per muscle group.
[/quote]
Lol, I’d die of boredom.
OP - it’s doable.
A: Do 5x5, but ramp up up to the last three sets - eg 100 x5, 150 x5, 200 3x5
B: Will you be doing consecutive days? Alternate compound movements - eg, Front squat + Push press, Deadlift + bench, high bar squat + dips
[/quote]
I’m not a big fan of ramping as a work set, I never feel fully worked even if I do reach failure. I usually warm up as a “ramp” like you outlined above, but when I hit the top, that’s my 5x5 weight. It’s a 5x5 with about 4 progressively heavy warm up sets. That said, this is an experiment in frequency vs. volume and I haven’t done full body routines since high school football years ago so maybe I will try something new.
I won’t be doing consecutive days, one work day and then a rest day, followed by a work day. I am alternating compound lifts.
On my off days, I’m doing some light cardio with a 1.5 mile run.
It felt good. I was a little concerned it wouldn’t be enough as I usually feel pretty spent in muscle groups I train in a split with more volume and I left the gym feeling tired but with a lot of gas in the tank.
This morning I’m sore but pleasantly sore. I think the struggle will be psychological as I rely on frequency vs. volume. I’ve never hit each muscle 4x weekly, 3 tops and usually two.
I am absolutely looking forward to three off days per week though. My run takes a matter of minutes around some neighborhood streets I measured out and extra morning time for the next few months will be fantastic.
Just my own experience, 1.5 weeks after increasing frequency and volume. I have less energy, and I’m sleeping more. I still think it’s just a matter of my body adapting, and will go away within another week or less. I’ve also been needing to eat more. Nothing surprising there.
Mostly I’ve noticed that it takes a lot more food to notice any weight gain.
Based on other reading I did about increased frequency wearing on the joints, I decided to bring up my fish oil intake. Right now I’m taking 1tbsp once a day, which, from an omega 3 standpoint, is equivalent to ~18g of softgels.
I’m not working my joints any harder than a 4 day or 6 day split myself, if anything they are getting a break with a day between sessions. Fish oil is good, I’ve always had good results with glucosamine/chondroiten/msm though I know their efficacy has been challenged.
Soft tissue work and stretching go a long way too.
[quote]RampantBadger wrote:
If you’re prepared to work hard…
Well fuck it, I will just read that. Thanks dude. He does a similar rep range varience through out the year to mine, except I’ve been doing splits. I knew this wasn’t “beginner”. Glad to know a real beast advocates both full body and hitting each muscle 4x wkly.
I did whole body 2 years ago for 7-8 months. Every other day. I had been laid up with injuries and hadn’t lifted for 7 months. It was great to go in with a simple plan and just hammer it out, no bullshit, just lifting. Got strength back quickly, recovery was no problem.
[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I did whole body 2 years ago for 7-8 months. Every other day. I had been laid up with injuries and hadn’t lifted for 7 months. It was great to go in with a simple plan and just hammer it out, no bullshit, just lifting. Got strength back quickly, recovery was no problem. [/quote]
At what point did you decide to change from it and why? Once you regained strength, did you continue to gain at an appreciable pace? And did your size come up as well?
I guess overall if you had to pick frequency or volume, assuming reasonable parameters for each, which would it be?
[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I did whole body 2 years ago for 7-8 months. Every other day. I had been laid up with injuries and hadn’t lifted for 7 months. It was great to go in with a simple plan and just hammer it out, no bullshit, just lifting. Got strength back quickly, recovery was no problem. [/quote]
At what point did you decide to change from it and why? Once you regained strength, did you continue to gain at an appreciable pace? And did your size come up as well?
I guess overall if you had to pick frequency or volume, assuming reasonable parameters for each, which would it be?[/quote]
Once I got my strength back and felt really good and confident I switched back to a split. It also really helped in losing the body fat I gained while side lined. I have read many times the the older school pro wrestlers always did full body, 4x a week. Although at the end Jack LaLanne was laughed at, he was a really strong and had a solid body in his day. He was a proponent of full body and said recovery was always better.
I think it will make you stronger and overall bigger and I thought it was really enjoyable. But I still like a simple lifting program.
I am a volume guy.
Yeah, I’ve read a lot of the golden era guys did full body routines too, it just seems they are relegated to the beginner pile today, industry wide.
I’ve usually done splits myself, hopefully this won’t be a waste of time as I haven’t been sidelined or anything.
I usually switch from a 6x wkly push/pull/leg split in the summer to a 4x wkly push pull on back to back days in the fall.
Just wanted to mix it up this year.
Standard deadlifts 5x5
DB Incline Press 5x5
Chin Ups bw to failure
Dips bw to failure
Leg Curls 3x12
DB Shrugs 3x12
Calf Raises 3x12
Reverse Grip Cable Curls 3x12
Situps, nothing fancy just sit ups on the floor.
Didn’t do the burpee chins from the linked log. I’m going to do weighted chins and dips as a 5x5 I’ve decided and will finish with body weight burpee chins next time around.
Still don’t feel as tired as I normally do in each muscle group but I’m definitely able to put a solid effort in to each lift.
This is not sarcasm for anyone reading who has seen me post in nutrition but I’m going to up my cardio to a three mile run followed by some jump roping.
I already feel the need to increase energy output.
This should let me take advantage of the weight trainings prolonged effect while burning significant calories alone in lieu of back to back training days. I really like to eat in the coming season so there it is.
[quote]CargoCapable wrote:
I’m definitely not as hungry as usual.
This is not sarcasm for anyone reading who has seen me post in nutrition but I’m going to up my cardio to a three mile run followed by some jump roping.
I already feel the need to increase energy output.
This should let me take advantage of the weight trainings prolonged effect while burning significant calories alone in lieu of back to back training days. I really like to eat in the coming season so there it is.[/quote]
I’m still rehabbing from knee surgery, but that’s exactly what I do for cardio
