Life is getting a bit strange and I’m trying to plan my next meso around it- I can workout in the home gym for about an hour a night with a partner about four days a week, with a day at the actual gym on Sundays. I’d like to keep sunday’s as a strong man event day since I’ll have access to the equipment, but an hour a day (with a buddy) makes it tough to get the volume I think I need in. Would this split make sense? Anything I’m missing, or should move around?
Chest day: weighted dips, incline barbell bench, and flat bench.
Back/hamstrings: deadlifts, bent barbell rows, rdls.
Legs/shoulders: squats, leg extensions, OHP, lateral raises.
You can without a doubt get enough training volume done in a 1 hour block. Some strategies I personally like to get through your volume quickly are:
Working out on a timer: My favourite is to simply warm up, and then set a timer for 6-15 minutes. For that time period, get as many quality reps (whatever range you want) and a solid load. I personally like doing 10 minutes of triples or doubles. You can also do things like EDT (circuit or superset pairing) and/or EMOMs
Employ intensification techniques: Especially with upper body, methods like rest-pause, myo reps and drop sets let you accrue pretty significant training volume in a very short amount of time
Using the split and exercise selection you listed (not necessarily what I would select, but still effective), this would create a program that could look like:
Chest Day
Incline bench: Warm-up + triples for 10min
Weighted dips: Work up to 1-2 heavy sets of 5-8, with an immediate AMRAP at bodyweight on your final set
Bench: Work up to a heavy 8-12 + myo-rep 3s
Back/Hamstrings
Deadlift: Heavy doubles or triples for 10 minutes
RDLs: Heavy 8-12 + myo-rep triples
Bent-over rows: 2-3 x 6-10 // I’d probably use chest-support row or pull-up here to let your low back have a rest
Legs/Shoulders
Squats: Sets fo 3-5 reps for 12 minutes
OHP: Heavy triples for 10 minutes
3A. Leg extension: Sets of 8-12 for a 15 minute circuit
3B. Lunge variation: Sets of 5-8 for a 15 minute circuit
I like @j4gga2’s suggestions, so I’m not taking away, but I do full high-volume workouts in about an hour (albeit alone). Do you run out of time frequently?
No arm or rear delt work in here. Could be setting yourself up for weak points. An hour is plenty of time to get a high volume of work in, I’m in the same boat here as @TrainForPain
I agree with all of this, and most of its already things I employ. I can generally get a muscle worked 1-2x a week, so almost every working set is taken to failure and then some. Myoreps, drop sets, run the rack, all the good stuff I can think of
Time has still been an issue between the workout partner and the toddler running around, but I’ve also been cramming in more than three exercises per session. That’s where this was coming from. Trying to narrow down each session to three exercises, because that’s what I’ll have time for, and make sure I’m not missing anything major.
I’ll come back with thoughts on how I’d set this up, which you may feel free to take or leave, but I’ll also tag @T3hPwnisher who has some real expertise here!
Honestly, give the density set idea a go. 12 minute block per exercise, for 3 exercises is only 36 minutes of “work”, but will definitely give a great stimulus
It could be as easy as throwing in some banded pullaparts and facepulls in between pressing sets on your chest day. It adds no extra time and really doesn’t affect recovery IME. In fact, I actually find using active rest that targets upper back, traps, and rear delts will improve my pressing performance for the day. Nothing to lose, everything to gain as far as maintaining healthy stabilizers for long term shoulder health.