I am going to have to change my current split to accomdate my partners schedule. We need to work out duing the week, no weekends, we will also be going early, 5:30 am. I am considering the following:
Day 1—Chest
Day 2—Back
Day 3—Legs
Day 4—Shoulders and abs
Day 5—Arms
Day 6—Off
Day 7—Off
It seems with 7 days of rest I should add sets from my current 6 works sets per body part and just really blast the shit out of each day.
What would be a good set count for this type of split? If anyone has done this split, and can post their workout or coments I would appreciate the help.
A few generalised comments - Id say 5 on two off is likely to be too much/underestimating the importance of recovery. I do better with 2 on 1 off with legs on arm day or split between arm and shoulder with abs on an off day. Generally I think 12-15 sets per day should be your limit and over time best results would come from mixing things up as much as possible with something like consecutive months of 4 exercises 3 sets 8-12 (maximal hypertrophy for newbies), 5x5 (more strength), HIT one set to failure (using increased strength with lower voume for adaptation gains), GVT 10x10 (major adaptation gains). Unless you are counting calories, weigh yourself regularly to make sure the scales go up a pound or so a week (but not too much more) or you will be wasting alot of effort. Ditto sleeping 8hrs and not drinking. Final point - creatine enables you to train with more reps and intensity and accelerates my strength and size gains (provided rest and nutrition is right).
It seems everyone in the ‘natural’ BB scene (Mike O’Hearn, Skip LaCour)praises the 5 on 2 off thang. Like you, I train at 6:00 am before work, so the 5 in a row with weekends off seemed to make sense. After 2 months I can say- too much training. I since revised it to properly facilitate recovery: Mon- Chest & back, Tues- Legs, Wednesday- Rest, Thurs- Arms, Friday- Shoulders & Calves. This works well as the bigger workouts are early in the week, when you’re fresh. (Hammer in the carbs on the weekend and Monday morning is a breeze!) If you don’t progress, you can get away with changing Thursday to a second rest day and hitting Shoulders & Arms on Friday (this workout split was the darling of the late Dan Duchaine). Try em both! - Dolemite, the Human Tornado.
Not a bad idea. I would probably try that routine if my traning partner could meet on Wednesday. I would just try it for a while and see how it works. The only thing I would worry about is working your system 5 days straight. I have done this before with good results, but not for more that 6-8 weeks, unless I’m taking alot or recovery agents and eating perfectly.
JD: Try out Ian Kings Get Buffed (or his seperate leg/arm workouts posted here)… there 4 day/week workouts on a 7 day split (so you can take your Wed) off. I’ve been training in the morning for about 3 years, and have gotten the best progress on these type of splits (after a few weeks of 5 day/week routines, I was burnt and not making any real progress). Good luck!