Best Workout Split?

[kingleo]

I want to gain mass.....so this is my routine i want to get in 4 days instead of three N E Ideas

Tues. chest bi's tri's

Wed. Back shoulders

Thur. chest bi's Legs

 

[Elvia1023]

I want to gain mass.....so this is my routine i want to get in 4 days instead of three N E Ideas

Tues. chest bi's tri's

Wed. Back shoulders

Thur. chest bi's Legs

I can't understand why if your doing 3 days you do them all together. You can do 5 days splits etc. But the nervous system takes 24hrs to recover so it is always good to have one day break in between intense sessions. I find it is usually not just the schduele but the actual workouts themselves that effect performance. The Mon, Wed, Fri is a winning formula but I have started doing 4 days too. There are 1001 ways but if your doing 4 days I would rec:

Mon- Legs, Abs

Tues- Shoulders, Biceps, Abs

Thurs- Back

Fri- Chest, Triceps, Abs

If you do 3 days then:
Mon Legs, shoulders, Abs

Wed Chest and Tri-ceps, Abs

Fri Back and bi-ceps.

People might say Abs 3 times in the 4 day split is too much. But that is one part you can work out more than once per week. I am not talking about exhausting them but a good 3 sets of low weighted crunches then some sit-ups or alternatives. It's always funny when you see people doing 100 sit-ups in the gym. When I was 17 I used to do thousands thinking it was good for me... cos after about 60 you go through the pain barrier and they become almost easy (pain barrier comes back but you just go past it again).

To bulk the key is lots of protein and complex carbs and to be honest a bit of everything if your bulking. It doesn't matter what you are doing in the gym if your not getting enough calories, carbs, protein etc if will be a waste. Then short but intense workouts. Each day should be about 1 hour or so. I do 2/3 core exercises such as deadlift, squats, bench press for the particular body part. Then I rotate other 2/3 exercises each week so my routine is always different. Try not to do more than 5 sets for each one. If your doing 4 different exercises for one part then 3 sets of for each one is plenty. If you do 3 exercises then do 4 sets. I also change about with sets and reps and weight so my routine is constantly evolving and I am shocking my muscles. The key is to simply life heavy... to failure on many exercises. I go up in weight and down in reps. Or the opposite. Or an example is I would get a weight I could just about manage 5 reps with on bench press and repeat it 5 times (5 sets of 5) and ensuring I have atleast 2 mins rest between each set. So I use different approaches for different bodyparts and sometimes all for each part.

Things like bi-ceps I lift fairly heavy but then I will finish on some super sets. I will use a low weight and do 30 reps after I have just done 25 on the slightly heavier weight. So you are left with the hardest lift you can do on a weight you could lift with one finger when you first walked into the gym.

The key to size is Deadlifts and Squats. They must be included in your routine. Do deadlifts on back day and squats on leg day and ensuring you have plenty of time in between each. Form is key in every movement but for those two it is extra important because injury is only one bad rep away.

There is plenty of good info all over this forum. I know I may have mentioned lots of things you already know but I just wanted to cover all bases. I hope it helps.

 

[Elvia1023]

I feel my chest needs more work them my other parts so I have changed my routine accordingly. I would never usuallydo twice weekly but if you provide enough time in between it should be plenty (especially if your on test c, deca and adrol like me)!

So my routine now is

Mon- Legs, Shoulders, Abs

Tues- Chest, Bi-cep, Abs

Thurs- Back

Fri- Chest, Tri-cep, Abs

I make my Tues chest set more lighter but still intense. That is just an example if you wanted to do the same. I am doing this for about 6 weeks then I will swop it around again. It isn't just good for your muscles but good for your mentally cos if I was doing the same thing for months I would fall into routine and become stuck me thinks.

 

[Elvia1023]

The following link just takes you on to a site that you click on each part and you go down the list and pick certain ones and many show numerous exercises for each bodypart (and tips). I am sure you know many but there is always room for more.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=BackDeadlifts

The following is really good though. I learned alot of new movements from this guy. Just go on www.you-tube.com

Then on the search paste this name Michael Ferencsik

He has about 20 vids of many different exercises and goes through them step by step.

 

[kingleo]

thanks

yea I'll try the routine that you are doing now that seems good

Yea I got to get some more gear 2 lol that would help

 

[kaju]

elvia has a good routine he sugested. I have been doing this for the past 25 years. I have tried many different routines. There is one that I keep comming back to. Ill try one or two different routines but I always come back to this one. I do one bady part a day. it is a five day routine. Start with leggs on monday. shoulders tuesday. chest wednesday. back thursday arms fri day. Every body part is hit hard. chest day hits triceps and shoulders. back hits biceps good. I do dead lifts on back day so my leggs get a second hit during the week. so during the week of five days every body part gets hit all week long so there is no atrophy. I do stomach every day and calves I will throw some thing in during the week on a day I have time.The reason this works for me is because it takes a good hour to finish a compleat workout on each body part. example- chest day three sets flat bench three sets declie bench three sets incline bench three sets flies. you could add sets or excercises to that; it was an example
oh yea by all means I would not suggest this for a beginner.

 

[Elvia1023]

elvia has a good routine he sugested. I have been doing this for the past 25 years. I have tried many different routines. There is one that I keep comming back to. Ill try one or two different routines but I always come back to this one. I do one bady part a day. it is a five day routine. Start with leggs on monday. shoulders tuesday. chest wednesday. back thursday arms fri day. Every body part is hit hard. chest day hits triceps and shoulders. back hits biceps good. I do dead lifts on back day so my leggs get a second hit during the week. so during the week of five days every body part gets hit all week long so there is no atrophy. I do stomach every day and calves I will throw some thing in during the week on a day I have time.The reason this works for me is because it takes a good hour to finish a compleat workout on each body part. example- chest day three sets flat bench three sets declie bench three sets incline bench three sets flies. you could add sets or excercises to that; it was an example
oh yea by all means I would not suggest this for a beginner.

Sounds good. Thats what I am basically doing now. Throughout the year I do 3-6 days per week. But usually average on about 4. I sometimes just do one part in the day like you suggested and ensure they are spread out efficiently (like the legs and back thing). But as I want to develop my calves and chest more I will do those parts twice weekly. So I am doing what you say but just extra chest work and one day of calves (the other day is covered in my leg day). It's working well for me. Like you said I would not rec this for beginners.

Beginners would be best doing a Mon, Wed, Fri split. If they want cardio do that in those days too or do cardio Tues and Thurs if they have the time. There is no right answer but just find what is good for you. But to any beginners there are just some fundamentals you shoud follow such as not training a body part more than twice weekly. Your muscles grow in recovery so rest is just as important as your bi-cep curls etc. Just train intensely but ensure you rest well. I see so many people train each part every gym session and they wonder why they don't grow. Anyway got to go I have a girl buzzing me downstairs! Good to hear from you Kaju and thanks for the message on the other thread. I explained why I have been missing for a few weeks in other thread. Happy training to all.

 

[ASHOP]

I want to gain mass.....so this is my routine i want to get in 4 days instead of three N E Ideas

Tues. chest bi's tri's

Wed. Back shoulders

Thur. chest bi's Legs

this works for me without overtraining:
CHEST,SHOULDERS,TRICEPS
BACK,BICEPS,ABS
QUADS,HAMS,CALVES

Typically I take the day after each training session OFF depending on how I'm feeling

 

[Elvia1023]

My routine now is-

Mon- Back, Bi-ceps
Tues- Chest, Tri-ceps

Thurs- Shoulders, Legs
Fri- Chest, Back

It mixes about cos sometimes I add in calves other day (so twice weekly). And sometimes I add other tri-cep routine (so twice weekly).

I should add each back and chest workout is different. Meaning tues chest is mainly lower chest and fri is mainly upper.

To avoid overtraining my workours are 1hr 15mins max for each day... but usually just under an hour. I do abs on various days (usually on wed and then the w/e).

But the above is geared towards my aims. I would imagine a similar routine like the below would be best for most.

Mon- Back, Bi-ceps

Wed- Chest, Shoulders, Tri-ceps

Fri- Legs (quads, hams, calves)

Or even doing 4 days and have one day just shoulders or maybe chest or even back. It all depends what goals you have and what bodyparts you wanna concentrate on most at that particular time.

 

[tkav1980]

this worked wonders for me..
chest shoulders back
arms legs
off
chest shoulders back
arms legs
off
off
heres the key though
chest is flat incline and hammerstrength. i warm up then its only one working set per exercise to failure. the thinking is that if you truly work to failure how can you do another set. also stick with heavy compound movements. we could go into rest pause sets but it mught be alittle much for you at this point. oh and keep a log book and every week you have to beat you lifts by 5 lbs or a couple of reps, every week without fail.
hope this gives you a few ideas.