Looking a solid lean machine bud. Making the lifting look easy there. Big guy
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2.23.19
Woke at 224.4 lbs and a little hungry.
I probably should lift today but I think I’m going to go to lunch instead.
I keep thinking that I need to change my training split. For legs, I’m good with maintenance. In terms of risk/reward and long term health I have no business trying to squat or push my deadlift numbers. I want to push my deadlift numbers, but I don’t really have a need to do it. I’d like to add some size to my shoulders and chest. It seems that the successful bodybuilders around here hit their priorities twice a week or even daily (lateral raises).
That tempts me to switch to something different like an upper push/upper pull/lower body training split that is only five days per week. But I’m currently following the Best Damn style of training and hitting everything three times a week, but at lower volumes.
So, bodybuilder friends and volume junkies, what do you think? Which would be the most efficient way to add some size to my shoulders and chest? Continue with Best Damn’s push/pull split with low volume and high frequency or switch to the following:
Day 1: Chest/Shouders/Tri’s
Day 2: Back/Bi’s
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Chest/Shoulders/Tri’s
Day 5: Back/Bi’s
Leg day would probably be deadlifts, snatches or high pulls (cleans if I’m able), RFESS, and hamstrings. Nothing too crazy in terms of volume. It would really be the same type of session that I’d do if I was hitting legs twice a week.
Also, I might do high pulls on back day. I’d like my traps to grow. I’m pretty sure they never will but I like to try. I feel like I’ve accomplished something when they’re sore.
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You have ADD don’t you… 
Yes.
But I also have the perpetual urge to do more.
My brain:
- “Maybe I should do more work? Another exercise, and another. Crap, forgot about this muscle.”
If I do more work than I’m currently doing then I’ll be getting away from the principles of Best Damn. I see @jackolee doing way more volume and a similar split to what I laid out so I wonder if it’s a better way to get there. I’m not saying my current approach won’t work, but if there’s a better way then I’ll try that. I also really like the idea of only doing legs once a week 
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I’ve tried a good few methods over the years. I was hooked on high intensity low volume for a while, but the game changer for me anyway was high volume slower intensity, plenty of negative reps and holds, more time under tension. I’d pick say shoulders and go into the gym only thinking about destroying shoulders and nothing else. Lots of presses, side raises, front raise, rear delt exercises, and lots of sets. Sometimes I’d be there for up to 2 hours killing shoulders. Then The next day would be legs, next day chest. 2 hours of chest is murder, probably completely unnecessary ha but I grew a lot in them days.
Atm I’m doing a kind of 3 body part per day, but I am considering going back to killing it mode.
Another great thing I did at the time which I copied from rich piana bigger by the day videos was feeder exercises right before bed every night. So for 4 weeks you pick shoulders. You use pussy weight dummbells and do supersets of side and front raises… 3 sets of 100 reps. That’s done every night for 4 weeks then switched to arms for 4 weeks. Superset hammercurls with tricep extensions 100reps 3 sets. My shoulders were popping by the end . Something to look into mate if you fancy trying something different.
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For me it’s two fold. One is I believe for hypertrophy the main goal is to get as much blood to the muscle as possible. Secondly I find my tendons and joints are angry with me when I go heavy unless I only do it on occasion. Also when cutting I find it helpful to treat each weight like a mini cardio session and try to keep my heart rate up the entire time and things like supersets and dropsets help in that regard.
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Thanks for the info. I don’t know if I can commit to doing this before bed because I like to be good and calm so I can crash, but I could do this 60-90 minutes before bed.
Which works better for you - more frequent sessions with less volume or less sessions with more volume? Have you even tried the former?
Best Damn is basically three days a week each of push and pull, but it’s low volume. My push day for upper body is usually one overhead press, a bench or incline type movement, lateral raises, and triceps.
For the reps I’m doing 21’s or 1.5 reps. On a good day I get the weight right and hit failure. On a bad day I don’t reach failure, it still hurts/burns like hell, but I move on after a couple sets. I should probably add weight and go again to finish myself off.
This is waaaaayy less volume than your sessions, and my old sessions.
It probably doesn’t matter, but like I said above, I want to be efficient…and I have training ADD.
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Man I don’t know… I just like to train. I train 7 days a week unless I’m busy or something is hurting. I know it’s not the most scientific approach. So I’d say I do high frequency and high volume.
After my competition I’ve decided to focus on growth and will probably have to dial back both the frequency and volume and up the intensity. I’ll be asking for help from you guys in that regard.
When I started training I did much lower volume and it was good, but I definately didn’t stay as lean.
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I just recently changed my split and am loving it.
Prior split
Chest/tris
Bis/back
Shoulders
Chest/tris
Bis/back
Shoulders
Legs
New split
Chest/shoulders
Back
Arms
Chest/shoulders
Back
Arms
Legs
You might run into premature fatigue issues having shoulders/chest/tris in the same session. That’s a lot of pushing!
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Yeah, it’s like I have to pick which one I want to challenge. I’ve also noticed lately that my triceps are crapping out on me on the 21’s style sets or even the 1.5 rep sets. I’ve never had that happen. It could be the new style of training or perhaps I’ve developed a weakness over the past year. I didn’t do much direct arm work last year.
I’ve never had a dedicated shoulder day. 
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You’re dieting. Everything craps out when you diet!
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@Frank_C to scratch your do more itch maybe Double Stimulation Training fits the bill. Worth reading this at the same time though: Natty Training and Double Stimulation - #9 by Christian_Thibaudeau But maybe you shouldn’t scratch the itch or the ADD and do the opposite: The “One Lift a Day” Program
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quick video explaining feeder workouts by rich
The theory is pumping as much blood as possible into the muscle often for good growth gains
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Is it suitable for the non-enhanced?
Yeah, I’m not sure my urge to do more is a good thing. I tend to keep adding but I never subtract to keep everything in balance.
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Yeah man. He mentions in another video that natural will benefit massively as well if diet is up to scratch
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The human body is amazing, and will adapt to insane amounts of physical stress. But it’ll take time. A long time ago, I came across what Bruce Lee did every day for exercise and it was way more than what us gym rats do in a week. That said though he was exercising many different qualities every day, not just adding on more bodybuilding work. So, while more is sometimes conceivable it might mean that you’ll have to use a different metabolic pathway.
I like Paul Carter’s recommendation to go rear delt, side delt, front delt from this article. Also the general idea of using cables to slow the move down and to focus on the right muscles. Prioritizing rear/side delts definitely helped my shoulders feel better. Maybe it could help your bicep issue.
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I already do all of those! I don’t do them on the same day though, but the order of those will be something to remember if I dedicate a day to shoulders. I also tend to pick snatch grip high pulls or clean pulls over the cable upright row. It looks like I do it differently than him though. His finish position looks more like a lateral raise. Maybe the slight turn of the arm to finish helps it hit the delts more.