Full Body Training

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

What do you all think of following a full body training split 3 times a week (i.e. MWF or TTF) utilising a push pull squat approach for each workout?

Due to work commitments and stress as a lawyer, I’m only able to get about 5-6 hours of sleep a night and have been pretty burnt out on a 4 day a week workouts as recommended by Chad, CT etc.

Would it be better to utilise a heavy medium light approach (changing exercises every 2-3 weeks) as follows:

OPTION 1

Monday (Heavy)- 5-7 sets of 3 building up to a 3RM with 2-3 mins rest btw sets

A) Military Press / 2 DB Clean and Press
B) Olympic Style Squats / Overhead Squats
C) Pull Ups
D) Supplemental - Abs, Grip, Finisger etc

Wednesday (Medium) - 5x5 or 6x3 all at the same weight with 1 min rest btw sets

A) Barbell Bench Press / DB Bench Press/ Incline DB or BB bench Press
B) Power Cleans
C) Front Squats
D) Supplemental - Abs, Grip, Finisger etc

Friday (Light/Explosive) - 5x5 or 6x3 at 60-70% of 1 RM all at the same weight - 1 min rest btw sets

A) Snatch Grip Deadlifts
B) One Arm DB Clean and Press
C) Barbell Bent Over Rows

OR

OPTION 2

6x3 with 1 min rest at 75-85% of 1 RM for all 3 days.

Any help given would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

Sorry - Finisger should read as “Finisher”.

3

search for ct’s ‘functional vs structural’ article. it explains this topic nicely.

4

Search for info/threads on joe kenns tier system. silverback and big martin posted some great outlines.

5

Thanks guys!

6

You have some great basic movements there! They are the building blocks of all good programs.

7

I’m doing full-body workouts. They work great! And I’m using bodyweight and Kbells only.

8

What you’ve got down looks good, but I agree that the tier system is a great approach. It’s similar enough to what you’re doing; try getting your hands on Coach Kenn’s book.

Best of luck

9

Thanks to everyone for your replies and advice.

Where can I obtain more information on Coach Kenn and where do I purchase his book?

ZEB / Nate,

Do you follow a similar 3x a week full body split and how are your results as opposed to the traditional 4 day a week programme alternating upper and lower body favoured by the majority of the T-mag article contributors (i.e. Chad W, CT etc)?

10

Hey, just thought i would pitch in my 2 cents.

HST (Hypertrophy specific training) is a fantastic program, which is basically whole body workouts 3 or 4 times per week.

Brian Haycock is the guy who pushes it, if you search for him here, there is an interveiw with him whcih is great.

One of the most successfull programs i have ever done.

Nick.

11

I’ve tried HST but found the initial 15 rep range to be a bit too high.

I’m more comfortable training in the 3-5 rep range with occasional lapses into the 8-10 rep range for strength endurance work.

12

Thy,

Use 6x3, not 5x5, for your explosive training on day 3. Other than that, the program looks fine.

13

Thanks Chad!

14

I think 6x3 three days a week could work well. You could also do lots of singles a week at 70% off your one rep max. Just do 6-7 sets of 1 for each exercise with one minute breaks. Test your max once a month and stay at 70%.

Mike Mahler

15

Thanks Mike,

In between phases of the routine that I outlined above, I’ve been thinking of doing 3 workouts per week with either:

  1. 6-7 singles with 3 exercises per workout as per your suggestion (1 min rest between sets); or

2.15 -17 singles (at 70% of 1 RM) with only ONE exercise per workout

Have you tried the second option or variants of it and how have you found it to work?

I’ve also been toying with the idea of occasionally adding a strength endurance day on Saturdays (similar to John Berardi’s metabolic day concept) when time permits. Any suggestions as to exercises, rep ranges and rest periods?

16

thy,

I agree with a lot that has already been posted.

I had a lot of good results with HST too. Once you get past the 15’s, things start to work together real nicely. I was doing an HST program the first time I ever tried Mag 10, and I gained 10lbs. of lean mass ('bout 3lbs of fat) in about two and a half weeks. After another month, I started to get pretty cut up. It was easy to follow and stay with after I got my initial figures plugged in.

Another suggestion would be to take a different approach and try EDT for Body Comp (http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459309). I think EDT is a great and motivating program. I use it myself and with my clients.

Best regards,

Jack

17

jackzeppelin,

Thanks…I’ll probably give HST another try soon…I read about EDT some time ago but forgot all about it. Thanks for the info and constructive suggestions!