Thread: One body part a day

Originally Posted by kyle64

Due to very limited time in my schedule I decided to do 1 body part per day, Chest on Monday, Shoulders on Tuesday, Biceps & Abs on Wednesday, Back on Thursday and Triceps on Friday, dedicated Saturday for my big lifts, Dead Lifts, Clean and Jerk, Rack Pulls and Snatch and Sunday to rest. I do not work legs.
2 Weeks now and I am seeing some incredible results, I am actually seeing the change in the mirror for a change. I have also noticed big boost in my strength and Stamina.
Is this a temporary boost or is it a better way to go?

How many excersises/sets do you do per workout and how long do you stay in the gym for?

I have my own home Gym, I am doing average 4 exercises per body part 5 sets each.
I am doing it in about an hour including my warm up and stretching.

So you have limited time in your schedule, yet you're training for a whole hour 6 days a week? That pretty much allows you to do any program in the known universe that wasn't designed by a pro bodybuilder.

If you want to maximise your time, ditch the arms and do a fullbody 3x-4x a week split. 3 exercises per session. You could cover all of that and give yourself 2-3 days extra rest.

A: C+J, Squats, Bench.
B: Rack Pulls, Pullups, Planks.
C: Snatch, Rows, Lunges.
D: Deads, Military Press, Side Planks.

Boom. 5 Sets a piece, and i'd be surprised if this even took you an hour. Put some CV on the end to make up the difference. Or one arms exercise.

I agree with gaz, youve got more time then you think, im sure they say you should only spend 45 minutes - hour in the gym anyway so you dont overtrain.
Why dont you do legs? is it because your blessed with monster legs or because you dont really see the point in training them. I used to be like that, but if you start training them you will really get into it and probably become your favourite excersises, plus its meant to help you with your other lifting moves.

Originally Posted by kyle64

Due to very limited time in my schedule I decided to do 1 body part per day, Chest on Monday, Shoulders on Tuesday, Biceps & Abs on Wednesday, Back on Thursday and Triceps on Friday, dedicated Saturday for my big lifts, Dead Lifts, Clean and Jerk, Rack Pulls and Snatch and Sunday to rest. I do not work legs.

Originally Posted by kyle64

I have my own home Gym, I am doing average 4 exercises per body part 5 sets each.
I am doing it in about an hour including my warm up and stretching.

I agree with gaz, as well.

Originally Posted by kyle64

I do not work legs.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

So you have limited time in your schedule, yet you're training for a whole hour 6 days a week? That pretty much allows you to do any program in the known universe that wasn't designed by a pro bodybuilder.

If you want to maximise your time, ditch the arms and do a fullbody 3x-4x a week split. 3 exercises per session. You could cover all of that and give yourself 2-3 days extra rest.

A: C+J, Squats, Bench.
B: Rack Pulls, Pullups, Planks.
C: Snatch, Rows, Lunges.
D: Deads, Military Press, Side Planks.

Boom. 5 Sets a piece, and i'd be surprised if this even took you an hour. Put some CV on the end to make up the difference. Or one arms exercise.

sumbitch is right. As usual.

I do not work legs directly for medical reason, I had compartment syndrome in 97 and the fascia on my right lower leg was removed, the Doctors at first told me I would never walk normal or run again but I proved them wrong through physical therapy and spending 90 minutes a day in the pool for close to a year. Enlarging my leg muscles could cause me compartment syndrome again so I avoid it.
My legs do get pumped when I do dead lifts, clean jerks and other full body exercises.
I am gonna stick to what I am doing for a couple of more weeks and see what kind of results I get.
I did try the routine Gaz suggested as m11 recommended it to me a while back but all it did is make me bigger, heavier and stronger but with no definition. I will probably go back to it soon as I am bored of my current routine.
IMO Working out should be effective & fun not boring torture.

Originally Posted by kyle64

I did try the routine Gaz suggested as m11 recommended it to me a while back but all it did is make me bigger, heavier and stronger but with no definition.

Bulking generally does that. Thats why you cut afterwards. Do you think bodybuilders are shredded all year round? You're going to get fat on a bulk.

Also, Squats don't have to be weighted squats, you can also do them with bodyweight if your medical condition allows.

No one replied to my original question regarding the current routine. I am not knocking what you suggested Gaz, like I said, m11 suggested the same and I enjoyed that routine of over 2 months I just needed to do something different, I will be back to the bulking routine soon again because I enjoyed it. What is your opinion on my current workout?

Originally Posted by kyle64

No one replied to my original question regarding the current routine. I am not knocking what you suggested Gaz, like I said, m11 suggested the same and I enjoyed that routine of over 2 months I just needed to do something different. What is your opinion on my current workout?

Like most routines posted up here:

- Too much emphasis on pressing musculature.
- Not enough pulling.
- Not enough rest.
- Whole workouts dedicated to arms.

You're doing some big lifts on that one day, and thats great, but you'd be better off spreading them out over the whole week so you can put more effort into them.

I don't think your time/schedule really has much bearing on this because even though you say your gym-time is limited, on this program you'd still train more than most people i know!

Thanks for clarification on the legs part. They're such an integral part of overall size and symmetry I was curious why you would leave em out. But you're right, those big lifts of yours will hit your legs.

To pick up where Gaz left off; you can't really look like Ronnie Coleman (contest ready) and lift like Derek Poundstone. You can train like a powerlifter to gain size, then train like a bodybuilder to get more definition/symmetry. But it's very difficult to excel at both at the same time.

I have several clients on a variant of the classic 20 rep squat routine and all ask the same question; where's my arm work? I dont give arm work to any of my clients except those competing and even then, they get minimal work. Yet, every single one of them gets larger arms all around. Duh.

OK cool to be honest I hate bicep training and it seems so useless as I lose the pump the next day. Triceps on the other hand is a different ball game, I love doing them with heavy weights, my triceps are starting look awesome. I agree with you guys, the big lifts seem to be the way to go but a little variation keeps the workout interesting. Thanks everyone for your input it gives me a lot of food for thought!

benching, shoulder pressing and pushing heavy weights arent enough?

So you "don't do legs" but you do deadlifts, cleans, and snatches? How do you get the weight off the floor?

uhh he picks it up???

Originally Posted by juggernaut

uhh he picks it up???

Originally Posted by gtbmed

So you "don't do legs" but you do deadlifts, cleans, and snatches? How do you get the weight off the floor?

What part of I don't do direct leg training for medical reasons did you not get? Or just out to give folks a hard time with irrelevant comments? Do you have anything helpful you would like to share?

Originally Posted by kyle64

What part of I don't do direct leg training for medical reasons did you not get? Or just out to give folks a hard time with irrelevant comments? Do you have anything helpful you would like to share?

If I may be the obnoxious middle-man for a second, I think his point was that you say you don't train legs yet you're performing some lifts that heavily involve the legs. In the case of deadlifts, they're ham/glute-dominant! Buddy, that's a leg exercise. Cleans and snatches require just as much leg work as upper body, maybe more. A clean starts in a deadlift position. What muscles do you think are called upon in the first pull?

My name is Phineas....and I dispute the myth of the deadlift as a back exercise one god damn day at a time.

Even though I do dead lifts and other power lifts and Olympic lifts they don't seem to bother my legs, but my legs get a decent workout.
However doing squats, leg extensions and so on really hurt the leg I had surgery on, that is why I avoid them.

try front squats

Originally Posted by Phineas

My name is Phineas....and I dispute the myth of the deadlift as a back exercise one god damn day at a time.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Phineas again.

Originally Posted by SilentBob187

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Phineas again.

Awww shucks!

Honestly, that is probably a great routine.

I've noticed that if I give my muscles 2-3 days rest my strength goes up tremendously the next time I visit the gym.

If I'm on a full body routine I usually hit that plateau and stay there.

That's just me, it's all trial and error bro, trial and error. See what works for you.

Originally Posted by cxpharm

That's just me, it's all trial and error bro, trial and error. See what works for you.

Ahhh bro-school bodybuilding at its best...throw shit in the wind and see what sticks. Good thinking. Fuck research; why should that be used?

Couple of ideas. Nothing wrong with one bodypart a day inherently. But to do all major compound movements in one day does not make a lot of sense to me. Why not incorporate these lifts into your lifting during the week. If you are looking for strength and stamina, I also have to agree with Gazhole. It just makes sense to do compound movements involving a lot of different muscles as opposed to so much isolation if you are looking for overall body strength and stamina. Especially if you are concerned about time limitations. Good luck with your training.

Originally Posted by MDR

Couple of ideas. Nothing wrong with one bodypart a day inherently. But to do all major compound movements in one day does not make a lot of sense to me. Why not incorporate these lifts into your lifting during the week. If you are looking for strength and stamina, I also have to agree with Gazhole. It just makes sense to do compound movements involving a lot of different muscles as opposed to so much isolation if you are looking for overall body strength and stamina. Especially if you are concerned about time limitations. Good luck with your training.

Excellent points.