my goal is to gain weight/size/strength. ive been doing a 3 day body split: Chest/back, Bicepts/tricepts, Shoulders/legs, rest.
i was hoping i could get some advice on expandin this a little, maybe into a 4 day split rather than 3 and what combinations of muscle groups to hit on what days.
I was thinking maybe adding some core muscle workouts like hips and such cause i dont do enough, wasnt sure how to incorporate it. thanks a lot for any advice
Well, you should probably either do a 3 day whole body (search for TBT) or a push/pull (4-days per week) split if you have the time (search for push/pull split).
The way you are doing it now, you’re working your triceps 3 out of every 4 days (chest, triceps, and shoulders)…and your biceps 2 out of the 4 (back, biceps)…not really the best way to be doing things to be completely honest.
You grow when the amount of ‘re-building’ exceeds the amount of ‘breakdown’ created from training. I think you’re headed down a path you don’t want to be going down.
if i were to go all out and follow 1 routine pretty much exactly (TBT), what do u think about this one?
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031
if you know of others/better ones please let me know
thanks
That’s one of the best routines I know of right there. Read the whole thing though, understand exactly what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
After a month or two of that, you can either adapt it somehow, maybe throw in another exercise for chest once per three days, back once per three days, legs the other day, or something, but either way…one of the best IMO.
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Another good one, although I personally find it much more taxing on the body overall and the CNS as well, and may lead to overtraining easier if you are not getting adequate rest and calories is:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1634829
Just something to think about…and either way, stick with whatever it is that you choose for at least 2-3 months before you switch to another routine. Although in the link I gave, I’d actually recommend working out Monday (heavy push), Tuesday (heavy pull), Wed (off), Thursday (light push), Friday (light pull)…then take two days off instead of one, but either way…
The TBT by design is meant to constantly be changing, so there is no way your body is going to “get used” to it. Good luck, and remember, the most important part is sticking to it.
thanks a lot man, i think im gonna go with the link i put up. just one more question, im a little confused on the rest periods with that work out. Does the work out call for work out, rest, rest, workout or only 1 rest day between? or workout, rest, work out, rest, rest?
workout, rest, workout, rest, workout, rest, rest
So like this:
Monday: workout
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: workout
Thursday: rest
Friday: workout
Saturday: rest
Sunday: rest
At least that’s what I remember and the way I’ve been doing things…which makes the program great for coming into Monday (or whichever day you decide is your beginning) nice and fresh…that way if you wanted to, every month or two months or whatever, you could throw in any other type of workout you want for a week as long as you can take Sat and Sun off to rest up for it.
I don’t know exactly how much work you’ve been on lately, but If you’ve been doing a lot, I’d recommend taking a day or two off completely before starting. You definitely don’t want to start a new program while you’re still recovering from possible overtraining or whatever.
The following is totally optional:
I’d say give it a while, see how your body handles, then adapt…that is if you’re really listening to your body, it’ll tell you what it wants to do. For the most part, I’d recommend follow TBT pretty much exactly how it was written.
Over time, you can probably adapt a thing or two. For example, if your calves are lagging, there’s no reason why you can’t do your main exercises, two ‘isolation’ exercises, then throw calves in all 3 days…
Also, something I got in the habbit of doing, if I didn’t deadlift and did pull-ups, I’ll usually throw some shrugs in at the end. On certain days, I’ll give my back an extra pump (normally before the 2 days off) by hitting it from two different angles, for example, pull-ups and also some rows. But if you do that, I’d say don’t do any direct biceps work that day. Sometimes I’ll throw an ‘isolation’ chest exercise in before or after a pressing movement like flyes or low pulley flyes, just for example, to give the chest a little extra pump. Although my chest is a weak point as I tend to be shoulder dominant while pressing, so sometimes pre-fatiguing it with some direct work before heavy benching helps target that area more.
In either event, the program will teach you to listen to your body…doing the heavy and compound lifts will help you build a ton of muscle and open that mind-body connection up that I feel is necessary. I feel like total body training is the way to go…but just remember, it is really easy to over do things if you start throwing too many exercises at your body parts. For the most part, exactly the way it’s written should get you through a few months and should help you pack on quite a few pounds of lean muscle…and put you down the right track.
ahh man I typed a pretty long response, but I think I hit Reset instead of Submit.
Anyway, yeah…
Monday: workout
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: workout
Thursday: rest
Friday: workout
Saturday: rest
Sunday: rest
so workout, rest, workout, rest, workout, rest, rest
Well I decided not to read the other posts and just put in my two bits of advice. for a four day split, I’d do this…
ex) Monday: back/bi
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: chest/tri
Thursday: legs
Friday: rest
Saturday: shoulders
Sunday: rest
therefore, you get more focus on each body part, because on chest you already hit your tris, and back you already hit your bis… blah blah…
the routine has the 6 compound excercises: chest, back, deltoids, quads, lower back/hips and the 5 single joint excercises: bis, tris, deltoids, hamstrings, and calves. it says to chose 4 from the compound and 2 from the sing joint every workout. is there a thought-out method on how to switch these up?
for the compound, should i do 1-4 the first day, 2-5 the 2nd, 3-6 the 3rd, and so on in a cycle while doing the same with the single joint, or are there certain groupings i should keep in mind?
Personally, I always try to incorporate a chest, back, and legs ‘big’ movement into each exercise. This way you’re doing at least 9 sets for the 3 major muscle groups per week.
Don’t be a girl. If you have anytime train 6 days a week. Train hard, splits work well as does tbt. HTID
so outa my 6 excersices a day, keeping legs, chest, and back a constant for the compound excercies and cycling lower back/hips, and deltoids every day as well as with the 4 single joint excercies efficient? or should i stick to a certain six for a week or 2 (not touching certain excercies while hitting specific ones 3 times a week) then switching?
sorry for the constant questions but ive been using my own routine for a while and decided to go all out and follow this particular routine for atleast a month or 2 and just wanna make sure im using it right for my goals (increase size, weight, strength).
thanks for all the info