Considering switching to a push/pull split, which variation do you guys think is best
day 1 - push(squats on these days)
day 2 - pull(DL’s on these days)
off
day 4 - push
day 5 - pull
off
off
day 1 - push
day 2 - pull
day 3 - legs
off
day 5 - push
day 6 - pull
day 7 - legs
I would really like to do the push/pull/legs split, but is that too much stress?
and if i do just a traditional push/pull can i just do 2 days on 1 day off or do i need a 2 day rest period? thanks for your advice
[quote]ss396 wrote:
Considering switching to a push/pull split, which variation do you guys think is best
I would really like to do the push/pull/legs split, but is that too much stress?[/quote]
if you’re set on one of these i would do push/pull/legs
stress/rest will depend on volume and intensity. if you feel crappy dont work out. if you feel good lifting every day for a week, go for it.
why dont you want to do a traditional BB split?
Day 1 - Push/Pull/Legs
Day 2 - Off
Day 3 - Pull/Push/Legs
Day 4 - Off
Day 5 - Legs/Pull/Push
Day 6 - Off
Day 7 - Off
[quote]Samir wrote:
Day 1 - Push/Pull/Legs
Day 2 - Off
Day 3 - Pull/Push/Legs
Day 4 - Off
Day 5 - Legs/Pull/Push
Day 6 - Off
Day 7 - Off [/quote]
i cant tell if you are serious or joking?
Might want to try something like this:
Day 1- Pull (deadlifts)
Day 2- Push
Day 3- Off
Day 4- Legs (squats)
Day 5- off
Day 6- Fullbody possibly
Day 7- Off
I don’t know, just a possibility considering I’d be stressed doing squats and pulls in back to back days like you suggested.
How about try it and see?
Stimulate your muscles, wait for them to recover, stimulate again…it’s that simple 
I do prefer the push/pull/legs workout, but you may get a lot of built up fatigue training full bore 6x/week especially if calorie aren’t adequate. Can simply reduce training days, or after you start to feel it, have some days off (rebound) and build back up again.
I’m far from an experianced lifter but I’m starting this split today… Exercise in brackets is the primary lift (3-5 reps) then I’ll do some accessory work in the 6-10 rep range. D2 and D4 will have a bit more volume as they have an extra days recover time compared with D1 and D6 which have 72 hours.
D1: Pull (Deadlift)
D2: Push (Bench/Flat DB)
D3: Off
D4: Pull (Squats)
D5: Off
D6: Push (Military Press)
D6: Off
Depends on your exercise selection, volume, intensity and lots of other things but I think the push/pull/legs twice a week wouldn’t allow enough recovery time for most people. Especially as there is a lot of cross-over between leg and upper back work… unless you avoid deadlifting (which isn’t ideal).
Partly inspired by the layout of HP Mass I’m currently doing this push pull legs-ish split with 5/3/1:
day 1 - push
day 2 - legs
day 3 - pull
day 4 - off
day 5 - push
day 6 - legs + pull
day 7 - off
This allows each muscle group to be hit twice every seven days with very even spacing:
day 1 (chest, shoulders and triceps)
Bench Press 5/3/1
DB OHP 5x10
Dips 5x10
day 2 (legs and lower back)
Squat 5/3/1
Leg Press 5x10
Good Morning 5x10
day 3 (upper back)
Weighted Chin 5/3/1
DB Row 5x10
Shrugs 5x10
day 5 (chest, shoulders and triceps)
Military Press 5/3/1
Decline Bench Press 5x10
DB Bench Press 5x10
day 6 (legs and back)
Deadlift 5/3/1
Front Squat 5x10
SLDL 5x10
Chins 5xMax
Curls 5x10
Squat (or leg press) is push, DL (or rack-pull) is pull.
So, lift every other day (which will be 3 days every other week and 4 days every other week), alternate push & pull each time you lift; high-volume/low-intensity walking on days you don’t lift.
I found this in the Cephalic_Carnages’s thread, and this is how i actually train right now. For me splitting up like this makes much more sense then the push-pull stuff.
The 2 way over 4 days, on the other hand, could be something like:
-Upper - Lower split (don’t like those much, too much work on upper body days)
-2-way like the standard DC variant (chest, delts, tris, backwidth, backthickness on day 1… bis, forearms, calves, hams, quads on day 2)
-day 1) chest, back, delts, day 2) tris, bis, legs
-day 1) chest, back, bis, day 2) delts, tris, legs
Anything like that.
Day 1
-CGP (shoulder wide grip or so, elbows tucked at the bottom, can flare on the way up) ← work up to 8-10, then 2 additional, consecutively heavier sets.
-Standing OHP (from the chin) ← You can use any overhead press here, and if it’s a seated high incline OHP in the smith, you can do it from the nose rather than from the chin if you want to… Anyway, work up to 8-10, then 1-2 heavier sets. Your call, I’d leave it at 2 total work sets at first, maybe.
-HS pulldowns or Rack Chins ← 2x12-15 (you have to decide for yourself what you want to use as your target number… If you hit that number, up the weight for the second set, if not, keep weight… Or use 15-30 DC Rest-Pause.
-HS low rows or Yates Rows or whatever (form = like getting into bottom position of PL bench, sort of, with less arching) ← If it’s yates rows, make it 2x15 (same format as above on backwidth… I.e. increase weight for second set if you got all reps of the first, otherwise keep weight for second set the same).
If it’s a machine row, your call… 10-12 followed by a heavier 6-8 perhaps.
-Some pullover/extension variant for the tris (2x15, same format as above, or 15-30DC RP)
Day 2
off
Day 3
-Alt. Offset Curls ← work up to 8-10 (per arm, i.e. 16-20 total reps) and do 2 consecutively heavier sets after that.
(-perhaps one-arm hammers) ← if you do those, then only 1x10-15 or so.
-Back Squats ← One week, work up to 10-12, then keep going heavier for 2 or so additional sets. You could end up at 12, 8, 4 or so, for example… Or just 12, 8, 8… The next week, we’re going to focus on deadlifts instead, so only do a set of 8-12.
-Deadlifts or SLDL or so? (one week you focus more on squats, the other on deads) ← When it’s squat-focus week, work up to a set of 8-10. When it’s deadlift week, either do a heavy 6-8 followed by a lighter 8-12 (4-5 mins rest between) or work up to 6-8 and keep going heavier for 2 additional sets.
-Ab and calf work, but ab work has priority (EZ rollouts or pulldown abs) ← if it’s weighted ab work, do 2x15 or 2x20, or just 2x8, depending on the exercise (usual protocol)
Day 4 off
Day 5
-Low-Incline Bench or flat bench ← work up to 8-10, then go heavier for 2 additional sets…
-Low-Incline DB bench or flat or HS machine or whatever ← 1x10-15, or 2x8-10, usual protocol.
-Kroc Rows ← 1 set of pure KROC! of course 10-25 reps, but do get your technique right… Needs to hit backthickness. Elbow out to some degree. Use straps. Every other week you could work up to 6-8 heavy and then do another lighter 8-12, or the other way around. But it shouldn’t be necessary.
-HS high rows? ← 1-2 sets of 12-15.
-(Dead Stop Extensions, lying and behind the head) ← 2x15, usual protocol.
Day 6
-Pinwheel Curls with straps ← work up to 8-10 reps per arm, then 2 consecutively heavier sets.
(- perhaps one arm curls or HS machine curls) ← if you do them, just 1 working set for higher reps… 8-15. Perhaps 1 warmup before that at half working weight or so…
-Leg Presses or Hack squat machine ← Work up to a 10-12 rep set or so, or go 12-15.
-Leg Curl variant or reverse hyper machine or GH raises ← Higher reps here as well, 8-15, kind of depends on the exercise though. Might want to do 2 sets at either the same or increasing weight.
Day 7
off
Oh yeah, food (without it, nothing goes anywhere fast):
-1.5 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight MINIMUM, 2 grams not needed yet but can help quite a bit. 1.8 would probably be, roughly, were you want to end up at.
Don’t get most of it from powder either.
-cals depend… How much do you weigh and how tall are you? Might want to start with 3000 and go from there… Maybe you’ll need more for fast progress, but you can just add and substract as necessary.
Also: Technique is important. Scapular retraction on rows and on rack pulls etc (as long as you’re not working with your 1-3RM there… And only after each lockout in the case of deadlift variants), PL setup for presses (though how much you tuck your elbows depends) and keep shoulders on the bench at all times…
A lot of that you’ll have to figure out for yourself though…