Originally posted by: GeneralDisarray
I've looked into the perfect split many times, tried new groupings, changed days, but I keep coming back to this one:
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms
After monday and tuesday you rest upper body by doing legs, then by Thursday you hit shoulders (by this time, you should only have minor chest DOMS), then by the time Friday hits you have a triceps that havent really worked since Monday (3 full days) and biceps that havent barely worked since Tuesday (2 full days), which is great because in my experience biceps recover more quickly (makes sense doesn't it? They're used so often in everything).
After Friday arms you have 2 full days to recover before hitting chest again, giving you the optimal 7 day growth cycle for each group.
I also throw in abs, in season, as alternating days between upper and lower, such as:
Monday: upper
Tuesday: lower
Wednesday: upper
Obliques can be done during each, but kept to a small amount.
Thats my favorite, hope it helps.
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: GeneralDisarray
I've looked into the perfect split many times, tried new groupings, changed days, but I keep coming back to this one:
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms
After monday and tuesday you rest upper body by doing legs, then by Thursday you hit shoulders (by this time, you should only have minor chest DOMS), then by the time Friday hits you have a triceps that havent really worked since Monday (3 full days) and biceps that havent barely worked since Tuesday (2 full days), which is great because in my experience biceps recover more quickly (makes sense doesn't it? They're used so often in everything).
After Friday arms you have 2 full days to recover before hitting chest again, giving you the optimal 7 day growth cycle for each group.
I also throw in abs, in season, as alternating days between upper and lower, such as:
Monday: upper
Tuesday: lower
Wednesday: upper
Obliques can be done during each, but kept to a small amount.
Thats my favorite, hope it helps.
No offense, but that's horrible advice for working your abs.
Originally posted by: TallBill
Alright guys, I think I'll switch over to.
Chest + Tri's
Back + Bi's
Legs + Shoulders
With Abs still done on random days.
I think you guys keep focusing on the 7. I've probably only worked out 7 days in a row once in the last few months. Its almost always really 5-6, with the rest days completely random, or I'll jus throw in a total cardio day if I feel overworked.
But yes, I do burn a crapload of calories. I'm eating 4500 a day to maintain, and going to increase it to 5000. But yes, my cardio is fairly decent.
Anyways, as far as soreness goes, I'm only slightly sore for 1-2 days in each group.
I usually end up doing 3-4 excersises on each muscle group with 3 sets of 6-10.
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
And I disagree with both of you.
I'm one of the many, many people who don't workout their abs...at all. By this I mean I don't ever focus on them. Why? Because abs get worked with so many exercises (squats, deadlifts, etc.) that I don't believe it is necessary to do so. If you're worried about never getting that "6-pack"...change your diet...go run more...the 6-pack comes from being lean.
If you're a fatty with a pot-belly...don't do crunches...run! We need to remember that there is no such thing as spot-reducing. Get rid of the fat and I'm pretty sure you'll have a nice little six-pack underneath.
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
And I disagree with both of you.
I'm one of the many, many people who don't workout their abs...at all. By this I mean I don't ever focus on them. Why? Because abs get worked with so many exercises (squats, deadlifts, etc.) that I don't believe it is necessary to do so. If you're worried about never getting that "6-pack"...change your diet...go run more...the 6-pack comes from being lean.
If you're a fatty with a pot-belly...don't do crunches...run! We need to remember that there is no such thing as spot-reducing. Get rid of the fat and I'm pretty sure you'll have a nice little six-pack underneath.
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
Originally posted by: TallBill
Alright guys, I think I'll switch over to.
Chest + Tri's
Back + Bi's
Legs + Shoulders
With Abs still done on random days.
I think you guys keep focusing on the 7. I've probably only worked out 7 days in a row once in the last few months. Its almost always really 5-6, with the rest days completely random, or I'll jus throw in a total cardio day if I feel overworked.
But yes, I do burn a crapload of calories. I'm eating 4500 a day to maintain, and going to increase it to 5000. But yes, my cardio is fairly decent.
Anyways, as far as soreness goes, I'm only slightly sore for 1-2 days in each group.
I usually end up doing 3-4 excersises on each muscle group with 3 sets of 6-10.
5-6 is still too much. I wouldn't work out (weight training) anymore than 4 days per week, unless I broke down my days even more.
I've never done this, and this could be overworking as well but here's a thought:
Day 1
Chest (yes, only chest, say 3-4 different exercises, 3-4 sets, 4-8 reps per). Go big here, focus on bench.
Day 2
Legs (yes, only legs, same as above). Focus on squats.
Day 3
Back (back, yes, only back). Focus on Deadlifts.
Day 4
Arms (meaning Triceps and Biceps. Do 2-3 exercises per each muscle, 3-4 sets. 4-8 reps)
Day 5
Shoulders (3-4 exercises, same as above)
That could split it up into 5 separate days. You're still working the hell out of your shoulders but this could help.
If you HAD to work your abs you could throw them in on Day 4 or Day 5...
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
Originally posted by: TallBill
Alright guys, I think I'll switch over to.
Chest + Tri's
Back + Bi's
Legs + Shoulders
With Abs still done on random days.
I think you guys keep focusing on the 7. I've probably only worked out 7 days in a row once in the last few months. Its almost always really 5-6, with the rest days completely random, or I'll jus throw in a total cardio day if I feel overworked.
But yes, I do burn a crapload of calories. I'm eating 4500 a day to maintain, and going to increase it to 5000. But yes, my cardio is fairly decent.
Anyways, as far as soreness goes, I'm only slightly sore for 1-2 days in each group.
I usually end up doing 3-4 excersises on each muscle group with 3 sets of 6-10.
5-6 is still too much. I wouldn't work out (weight training) anymore than 4 days per week, unless I broke down my days even more.
I've never done this, and this could be overworking as well but here's a thought:
Day 1
Chest (yes, only chest, say 3-4 different exercises, 3-4 sets, 4-8 reps per). Go big here, focus on bench.
Day 2
Legs (yes, only legs, same as above). Focus on squats.
Day 3
Back (back, yes, only back). Focus on Deadlifts.
Day 4
Arms (meaning Triceps and Biceps. Do 2-3 exercises per each muscle, 3-4 sets. 4-8 reps)
Day 5
Shoulders (3-4 exercises, same as above)
That could split it up into 5 separate days. You're still working the hell out of your shoulders but this could help.
If you HAD to work your abs you could throw them in on Day 4 or Day 5...
See I disagree with the whole "arms" thing as one day of focus. In your order there are quite a few things that will not give you as great a benefit as if you had done something else.
If you do back on day3, then your biceps on day4, your biceps are going to be recovering from your back day since they are used secondary in almost every back exercise. So your biceps won't be in a 100% condition to work out.
Same goes with day 5. When doing shoulder presses, your tricep is being worked secondary. if you did a full workout on your tricep on day4, then do shoulder presses on day5, you are not going to get your full potential because your triceps will be recovering from the day before.
Originally posted by: tfinch2
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
And I disagree with both of you.
I'm one of the many, many people who don't workout their abs...at all. By this I mean I don't ever focus on them. Why? Because abs get worked with so many exercises (squats, deadlifts, etc.) that I don't believe it is necessary to do so. If you're worried about never getting that "6-pack"...change your diet...go run more...the 6-pack comes from being lean.
If you're a fatty with a pot-belly...don't do crunches...run! We need to remember that there is no such thing as spot-reducing. Get rid of the fat and I'm pretty sure you'll have a nice little six-pack underneath.
:thumbsup:
I tell people this and they don't listen.
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
And I disagree with both of you.
I'm one of the many, many people who don't workout their abs...at all. By this I mean I don't ever focus on them. Why? Because abs get worked with so many exercises (squats, deadlifts, etc.) that I don't believe it is necessary to do so. If you're worried about never getting that "6-pack"...change your diet...go run more...the 6-pack comes from being lean.
If you're a fatty with a pot-belly...don't do crunches...run! We need to remember that there is no such thing as spot-reducing. Get rid of the fat and I'm pretty sure you'll have a nice little six-pack underneath.
Originally posted by: GeneralDisarray
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
And I disagree with both of you.
I'm one of the many, many people who don't workout their abs...at all. By this I mean I don't ever focus on them. Why? Because abs get worked with so many exercises (squats, deadlifts, etc.) that I don't believe it is necessary to do so. If you're worried about never getting that "6-pack"...change your diet...go run more...the 6-pack comes from being lean.
If you're a fatty with a pot-belly...don't do crunches...run! We need to remember that there is no such thing as spot-reducing. Get rid of the fat and I'm pretty sure you'll have a nice little six-pack underneath.
Everything you've said is accurate, people can indeed get by on abs without ever focusing on them, spot reducing is a myth, and visible 6-packs are 90% how you eat and 10% cardio, HOWEVER, as purbeast said, it does not HURT to focus on abs and attain greater core strength, which in turn allows you to do more weight on compound lifts, etc... But yeah, dont get me wrong, I dont beleive doing abs in itself will produce visible definition.
Originally posted by: TallBill
I really need to get into a better schedule. I currently workout 5-7 days a week work dependent, and have a 3 day rotation of what I work. Exercises change. Reps change.
Day 1 -
Chest
Biceps
Day 2 -
Back
Triceps
Day 3 -
Legs
I insert shoulders and abs in when I feel ready to hit them again. I've been doing this for about a month now, and working out in general for about 2 months, and my overall strength has shot up, but I could probably be spending my time more efficiently.
Btw, I do plenty of cardio. Each workout starts with a 10 minute run, and each workout ends with a few minutes destroying the heavy bag.
And as far as diet goes, I eat as good as I can, but my choices are not super. I am on a high calorie diet, and barely gaining weight, but a slow gain is fine with me.
Edit - I had a typo on day 3. I dont do back back to back. lol