Wuts up guys?
Im going to be concise about this…
I work out three times a week:
Monday: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Wednesday: Back, Biceps
Friday: Legs, Abs
My question is, since I work out each muscle group once a week, if it’s not enough, if I could be more efficient by training more frequently. I mean my program has worked thus far, but not as well as I’d like. I’d just like to hear some opinions.
Thanks in advance 
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.[/quote]
Ok, could you give me an example of a program then? Keep in mind that I work out at school so I only have Monday to Friday. All I have at home are a couple of dumbbells.
[quote])(Lucifer)( wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
Ok, could you give me an example of a program then? Keep in mind that I work out at school so I only have Monday to Friday. All I have at home are a couple of dumbbells. [/quote]
Tons of them on here upper lower two each with a day between, splits that would have you in there five days the weekend off.
hats the best there are varied opinions on that as many as there are programs try on and see what it does.
two places to look for very different training look at Chad Waterbury’s work Like ABBH and look at CT’s stuff like HSS-100
what are your goals
Phill
[quote])(Lucifer)( wrote:
Wuts up guys?
Im going to be concise about this…
I work out three times a week:
Monday: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Wednesday: Back, Biceps
Friday: Legs, Abs
My question is, since I work out each muscle group once a week, if it’s not enough, if I could be more efficient by training more frequently. I mean my program has worked thus far, but not as well as I’d like. I’d just like to hear some opinions.
Thanks in advance :)[/quote]
more frequency is better for a beginner, it helps you get your neural motor units more efficient for lifting or something like that. Could someone help me out with the proper term?
[quote])(Lucifer)( wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
Ok, could you give me an example of a program then? Keep in mind that I work out at school so I only have Monday to Friday. All I have at home are a couple of dumbbells. [/quote]
The only days I could lift all of the way through college were Mon-Fri because the gym was closed on weekends. Therefore, I was in the gym five days a week with weekends off. I personally don’t understand why so many people seem to be more concerned with their time OFF than their days a week training. You are either in this to make progress or you are farting around and will make minimal.
As far as putting a routine together FOR you, how about you tell me how you would put your routine together if you had five days a week to train?
If you’re into doing bodybuilding type workouts here’s one I followed for a while in college under similar circumstances…
mon - Workout A: Legs
tue - Workout B: Chest/Shoulders
wed - Workout C: Back/Biceps
thu - Repeat A
fri - Repeat B
Two days off…
mon - Repeat C
tue - A
B
C
A
Weekend off…
B
C
A
B
C
Weekend off…
etc.
There’s about a zillion different ways to train that are effective as long as you’re busting your ass in the gym, getting plenty of calories to grow, and getting plenty of sleep.
Good luck!
[quote]Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.[/quote]
What advice would you give to someone who can only have access to weights 3 times a week, on a Mon/Wedn/Fri basis.
Not being contentious, genuinely curious.
[quote]Nikiforos wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
What advice would you give to someone who can only have access to weights 3 times a week, on a Mon/Wedn/Fri basis.
Not being contentious, genuinely curious.[/quote]
If you can only workout three days a week, full body is probably the way to go.
[quote]ExNole wrote:
Nikiforos wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
What advice would you give to someone who can only have access to weights 3 times a week, on a Mon/Wedn/Fri basis.
Not being contentious, genuinely curious.
If you can only workout three days a week, full body is probably the way to go.[/quote]
Agreed.
Some other possiblities include:
Option 1:
Day 1 - Lower Body; Day 2 - Upper Body; Day 3 - Full-body.
Option 2:
Day 1 - Lower Body; Day 2 - Upper Body; Day 3 - Lower Body. The next week you would do two upper and one lower body (typical A-B split).
Option 3:
Push-Pull-Squat each day.
HMM how bout day 1, 2, and 3 go ion there and give your all lift your ass off work damn hard so you deserve and need 4 days off. The what is relative be sure to hit the whole body damn hard and you will make gains. learn to listen to your body if something is still beat up hit what isnt.
That said full body is a great option keeping the above in mind learn to listen to your body to push things when you can and not to when they need to heal.
There does as Prof said seems to be a huge emphasis of late on the off days as Opposed to the actual work Both are important but a day off is useless until youve earned it and need to recover heal and progress.
Id look at some routines by CW TBT etc. Nate gave some great options as well.
Phill
[quote]Professor X wrote:
)(Lucifer)( wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
Ok, could you give me an example of a program then? Keep in mind that I work out at school so I only have Monday to Friday. All I have at home are a couple of dumbbells.
The only days I could lift all of the way through college were Mon-Fri because the gym was closed on weekends. Therefore, I was in the gym five days a week with weekends off. I personally don’t understand why so many people seem to be more concerned with their time OFF than their days a week training. You are either in this to make progress or you are farting around and will make minimal.
As far as putting a routine together FOR you, how about you tell me how you would put your routine together if you had five days a week to train?[/quote]
Prof, do you have a job? I swear half the posts in this forum are from you–which wouldn’t in itself be a bad thing if you had anything to say except “you’re skinny”, “eat more” and “lift a lot”.
If you’re not actually going to even try and help anyone why not just copy and paste your posts, that way you could post twice as much in half the time? Now as far as the posters question, I think 3 days a week is probably optimal for most over the age of 25, who has other priorities in their life, and who is not taking drugs.
As far as splits I like total body (rotating emphasis per day, M-upper body horizontal pull/push lowerbody quad dominant, W-upper body vertical pull/push lower body hip dominant, ect.). Other options include M, upper, W lower, F upper alternating that the next week. I also sometimes like M-total body, W-lower, F-upper. These are some ideas not a complete list, feel free to experiment.
Ok, I’ll try to do something like:
Monday: Back and Bi’s
Tuesday: Legs/Abs
Wednesday: Chest, shoulders and tri’s
Thursday: Back and Bi’s
Friday: Full body, concentrating on chest and legs.
…:S, Idonno…I’ll experiment with stuff like that and post later to let you know how its going.
BTW, I have another question…It’s about training while sore…often times, after I have a good workout, my muscles will be sore for up to 4 days…is it okay to do the same group of muscles while they’re still sore from the last workout?
[quote]timmwwaa wrote:
Professor X wrote:
)(Lucifer)( wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
Ok, could you give me an example of a program then? Keep in mind that I work out at school so I only have Monday to Friday. All I have at home are a couple of dumbbells.
The only days I could lift all of the way through college were Mon-Fri because the gym was closed on weekends. Therefore, I was in the gym five days a week with weekends off. I personally don’t understand why so many people seem to be more concerned with their time OFF than their days a week training. You are either in this to make progress or you are farting around and will make minimal.
As far as putting a routine together FOR you, how about you tell me how you would put your routine together if you had five days a week to train?
Prof, do you have a job? I swear half the posts in this forum are from you–which wouldn’t in itself be a bad thing if you had anything to say except “you’re skinny”, “eat more” and “lift a lot”.
If you’re not actually going to even try and help anyone why not just copy and paste your posts, that way you could post twice as much in half the time? Now as far as the posters question, I think 3 days a week is probably optimal for most over the age of 25, who has other priorities in their life, and who is not taking drugs.
As far as splits I like total body (rotating emphasis per day, M-upper body horizontal pull/push lowerbody quad dominant, W-upper body vertical pull/push lower body hip dominant, ect.). Other options include M, upper, W lower, F upper alternating that the next week. I also sometimes like M-total body, W-lower, F-upper. These are some ideas not a complete list, feel free to experiment.[/quote]
Interesting. This is the first time I am logging in today. It is 6:40 by my clock…at night. I do have a CAREER. Maybe you have a “job”. I have been able to train on average 6 days a week for several years and that includes going all of the way through college, dental school and residency. You sure don’t seem to know much.
[quote]Nikiforos wrote:
Professor X wrote:
There is no way I would ever recommend a beginner (or anyone else for that matter) only workout 3 times a week. It isn’t enough volume and it is doubtful that a beginner or even most intermediates are producing so much stress that they need 4 days off a week.
What advice would you give to someone who can only have access to weights 3 times a week, on a Mon/Wedn/Fri basis.
Not being contentious, genuinely curious.[/quote]
Honestly, first I would ask why they claim to only be able to train 3 days a week. I have worked three jobs and still made it to the gym, but then it was open 24 hours a day and I really wanted to make progress.
If 3 days a week was actually all they could lift, then yes, I would recommend you find some full body program that fits that schedule. I would also be frank enough to tell them that I don’t expect them to make as much progress as someone who trains more often. That is truly how I feel about it.
[quote])(Lucifer)( wrote:
BTW, I have another question…It’s about training while sore…often times, after I have a good workout, my muscles will be sore for up to 4 days…is it okay to do the same group of muscles while they’re still sore from the last workout?[/quote]
Most people who are serious have trained a muscle when it was still sore (to a MINOR degree), meaning it wasn’t anywhere near a severe pain. Usually, if I am getting ready to train chest, and it was only a few days since the last day I trained it, and it feels a little sore when I go through a movement, I move on to another body part. Yes, there have been days where I train through minor soreness. No, I would not recommend a beginner attempt something like that because they are still learning their own body’s limits. I have a pretty good handle on where my limits are…so I train close to them. Doing this without being smart about it is simply a great way to get injured.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I would also be frank enough to tell them that I don’t expect them to make as much progress as someone who trains more often. That is truly how I feel about it.
[/quote]
What I find mind expanding about this working out more often thing, is that we hear so much talk of “overtraining” these days being “dangerous”, yet you actually advocate more volume…Interesting…
[quote]Blacksnake wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I would also be frank enough to tell them that I don’t expect them to make as much progress as someone who trains more often. That is truly how I feel about it.
What I find mind expanding about this working out more often thing, is that we hear so much talk of “overtraining” these days being “dangerous”, yet you actually advocate more volume…Interesting…
[/quote]
Are you actually LOOKING at the people telling you to train that much less? I do believe it is that simple. Things get confusing when you start taking bodybuilding training advice from people who wouldn’t even look like they lift if they wore a sweatshirt.
[quote]Blacksnake wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I would also be frank enough to tell them that I don’t expect them to make as much progress as someone who trains more often. That is truly how I feel about it.
What I find mind expanding about this working out more often thing, is that we hear so much talk of “overtraining” these days being “dangerous”, yet you actually advocate more volume…Interesting…
[/quote]
“Overtraining”, is thrown around a lot…
[quote]That One Guy wrote:
“Overtraining”, is thrown around a lot…[/quote]
Ever hear a farmer complain that he’s overtrained?