So I have been doing full body for a long time and thought I should switch to a split. BUT I keep feeling like there is so much wasted time since I need to use 60 seconds rest periods. When I am alternating lower and upper body parts I can just go inbetween them. I’m finding though that if I try to do squats, then leg press and only have 45 seconds between it is NOT enough.
Should I just be trying to work up to being able to do them right after each other? My goals are hypertrophy first, strength second.
I’d love some input on what has worked well for people.
Id say after any set , rest as long as it takes your muscle to lose the lactic acid that has built up(ie as soon as the burning stops). After that just pick up and keep on going.
You don’t always have to superset your exercises. In fact If Im going heavy on squats I don’t want to superset with leg presses because that will inhibt my ability for maximum force production on my next set of squats. Also moving from a total body workout to a split you may still be able to superset depending on what split you move to. For example if your new split has a day of say arms you can superset a biceps exercies with a triceps exercise. Ultimately I like supersets but its not the only tool I use. Sometimes that “wasted time” is not being wasted but is actually vital as your muscles are removing toxins, re-oxygenating and rebalancing their ph all of which are getting you ready to preform your next set at maximum capacity.
[quote]OneMoreRep wrote:
You don’t always have to superset your exercises. In fact If Im going heavy on squats I don’t want to superset with leg presses because that will inhibt my ability for maximum force production on my next set of squats. Also moving from a total body workout to a split you may still be able to superset depending on what split you move to. For example if your new split has a day of say arms you can superset a biceps exercies with a triceps exercise. Ultimately I like supersets but its not the only tool I use. Sometimes that “wasted time” is not being wasted but is actually vital as your muscles are removing toxins, re-oxygenating and rebalancing their ph all of which are getting you ready to preform your next set at maximum capacity. [/quote]
Yes, see this is what I don’t want to miss - I tend to err toward not using rest periods and then I just get good endurance, but I need SIZE esp on my legs.
The problem, is in doing a split when I do lower body, that means just sitting around for a LONG time!! Like 60 seconds between sets? I just feel like it would be a lot more efficient to let my legs rest while working my shoulders for example (I often do that on my full body routines) and then going back to the legs.
However, this means I rarely am getting a NET rest period of less than 2 min or so for my legs since I would do:
1 set legs
30 sec
1 set shoulders (maybe lasts 30-60 sec)
30 sec rest
legs (so now legs have had 90-120 sec rest)
Is this bad?
Could I make a split where I could do this?
Would maybe
legs + shoulders low rep
torso low rep
off
legs + shoulders(with glute/single leg emphasis)
torso high rep
legs+ shoulders high rep
off
Depending upon what back exercies you choose there may be some overlap with shoulders there as well and then to have them 3 days a week would be too much for me so I might cut out one shoulder session. But if shoulders are a weakspot for you you could try it one week and see how they feel.
I still think you are afraid of just resting. I know if you superset with a different muscle the original muscle is getting more rest but you arent. I know this isn’t a scientific concept but I think of it as musculat fatigue and “you” fatigue. For example say you have a knockout session of legs, you did plenty of squats, leg presses etc and you are wasted. Now do some sets of pullups. I guarantee you won’t be able to do as many pullups as if you had done them first in your workout even though the muscles themselves haven’t been fatigued, you have been fatigued. Supersets can contribute a lot to that “you” fatigue. Making them still great but something I am not afraid of removing because being able to produce maximum force on my next set will allow me more reps and more weight and that is an effecient workout.
There was a good article a couple weeks ago which was about how to fit in core/abdominal training into your workouts. A potential solution - do ab/core exercises in between “regular” sets, so instead of sitting around doing nothing you train the midsection whether it be for strength and/or size.