I’m new to these forums, but have been reading the articles for a while. Was looking for some advice, so thought i’d post here.
I have finally bought an olympic barbell, a bench, an ez-bar and pair of dumbbells. Now i’m looking for a decent Push/Pull mass workout.
Some weeks I can only workout twice a week (work and family come first ofc), but I will try and aim for four times a week (mon, tues, thurs, fri). I’m 30, and i’ve been training on and off for many years, but haven’t for the past year or so.
How does this workout look? Will it build mass and strength nicely? anything i’m missing? I plan on using the same weight across all sets, and increase by 2.5kg every time i hit the upper rep range on all sets.
I trained like this years back and I found it was a bit too much. Push/Pull legs is better in my opinion for the simple reason you aren’t rushing through trying to get everything done thus you can focus more on the actual lifts without being stuck in the gym for 2 hours.
Having said that it can still work but maybe 3 work sets instead of 4 and maybe change the rep ranges. Instead of using the same weight on both sessions why not have a heavy and light session for big compound lifts. Ex. Bench press 3-5 reps Monday and 5-8 reps Thursday.
Actually for strength gains you should be ramping anyway.
Also 4 sets of 5-8 reps on deadlifts at same weight seems counterproductive to me. Why not work up to a top set of 5 reps one week then work up to top set of 3 reps the next week. You only need to do conventional deadlifts once per week. On your other pull day do Romanian Deadlifts of reps around 8-10 and 5-7.
As far as putting on more mass goes well that comes with eating more food.
Read through this site and you will get an idea on macro ratios and calorie intake.
Was originally going to go for a Push-Pull-Legs splitt, but opted against it because some weeks I will only be able to get two workouts in, so wanted a 2-day splitt that covers whole body. Heavy and light sessions sound like a good idea, and will probably allow me to recover better. Thanks for the advice.
Have been looking at PHUL and PHAT (taking out the machine exercises - as i’m working out at home). They’ve not really cought my attention and may be too advance for me. Wanting something simpler.
A1) Snatch grip rack pull (I assume you have a squat rack, Start at knees work your way down to floor over the course of 6-8 weeks) 4 sets of 6 reps
A2) Barbell Floor Press 4x8
B1) Squat 3x10
B2) Inverted Row 3x8 (Load them if you need to)
C1) Reverse Crunch 3x8
C2) Face Pulls 3x10
D1) Biceps 1 Arm Curls 3x10/side
D2) Plank 3x30 seconds
Day 2
A1) Front Squat 4x6
A2) Overhead Press 3x6
B1) Bent Over Rows 3x8
B2) Push Up variation (get on rings if you have to, load them up, bands, raise feet, whatever to increase the difficulty if to easy for you) 3x10
C1) Reverse Lunge 3x10/side
C2) 1 Arm DB Row 3x12/side
D1) Pallof Press/ Side Bridge 3x30 seconds/side
D2) Reverse Crunch 3x8
3 Days/Week
Day 1
A1) Snatch grip rack pull (I assume you have a squat rack, Start at knees work your way down to floor over the course of 6-8 weeks) 4 sets of 6 reps
A2) Barbell Floor Press 4x8
B1) Squat 3x10
B2) Inverted Row 3x8 (Load them if you need to)
C1) Reverse Crunch 3x8
C2) Face Pulls 3x10
D1) Side Bride 3x30 seconds/side
D2) Cuff Work (pick something you need to address)
A1) Pull Up 3x8
A2) 1 Arm DB Incline Press 3x8/side
B1) RDL 3x10
B2) Lunges 3x15/side
C1) Plank 3x30 seconds
C2) Farmer Walks 3x cover as much distance in 60 seconds
D1) Biceps Curls 3x10
D2) Triceps Pushdowns 3x12
Day 3
A1) Front Squat 4x6
A2) Overhead Press 3x6
B1) Bent Over Rows 3x8
B2) Push Up variation (get on rings if you have to, load them up, bands, raise feet, whatever to increase the difficulty if to easy for you) 3x10
C1) Reverse Lunge 3x10/side
C2) 1 Arm DB Row 3x12/side
D1) Side Bridge 3x30s/side
D2) Reverse Crunch 3/8
And for the weeks you have a 4th day do some running/jogging/sprinting
60 seconds hard and 60 seconds easy for 20 minutes
After lots of thinking, instead of putting something together decided to with one of the following:
Wendlers Boring But Big Challenge (5 3 1)
Old School Push/Pull/Legs Split (5x5)
I know BBB has great feedback and works, just wondering if any one else has heard of the other one, can’t find any info about it T-Nation; but i think as i’m not an advanced lifter that 5x5 is probably better. I’ve done SL and SS in the past, good decent strength results but didn’t like squatting three times a week and mass gained wasn’t great.