Thread: How do you lift 4 days a week?

I do chest and arms twice a week in addition to back day and legs/shoulder day. I don't feel overtrained. If I don't train that extra day my progress suffers. I use this routine irrespective of whether I'm lifting heavy or medium weights.

Day 1 - Chest & Biceps
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Off or light cardio and/or active recovery day
Day 4 - Front & Side Delts, Triceps
Day 5 - Back, Traps, Rear Delts
Day 6 - Off or light cardio and/or active recovery day
Day 7 - Repeat cycle

Originally Posted by CancerNV

The general consensous (terrible spelling I know) is that if you want to gain mass a good place to start is lifting 4 days a week. Another "standard" most people accept is that you should let each bodypart rest for 3 full days before you use it again. See the problem?

My current split is this...

Day 1 - Chest, Tri, Shoulder

Day 2 - Back, Bi

Day 3 - Legs, Abs

Then back to day 1.

With this current split 2 out of the 3 days it will take a full week until I hit them again. 1 out of the 3 will be hit in the correct amount of time.

Can anyone help me out with this.

Relax your thinking to much. Your routine is fine. I do the same split.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

Relax your thinking to much. Your routine is fine. I do the same split.

Your probably right. Im just getting paranoid because I dropped the reps on my bench a few days ago.

I read somewhere that it takes 4 times as long to gain muscle as it does to lose it. Am I starting to lose muscle on day 5, 6, or 7?

No your not losing muscle. I have gained 17lbs in 8 weeks doing your same split. I go the gym 3 times a week about 40 mins a work-out. Diet is so much more important. Just make sure when your in the gym you punish your muscles. They will grow, give it time.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

No your not losing muscle. I have gained 17lbs in 8 weeks doing your same split. I go the gym 3 times a week about 40 mins a work-out. Diet is so much more important. Just make sure when your in the gym you punish your muscles. They will grow, give it time.

How long are you sore for when you do something like chest? I have my friend with me most of the time to spot and I stay sore for the next 2 - 3 days. After that it feels like I should be in the gym almost like im cheating.

Originally Posted by CancerNV

How long are you sore for when you do something like chest? I have my friend with me most of the time to spot and I stay sore for the next 2 - 3 days. After that it feels like I should be in the gym almost like im cheating.

I am the same way. Yes like 2-3 days. Thats good. I feel like I need to go back too. Remember it just takes time. Keep fueling your engine and you will be fine.

Originally Posted by CancerNV

The general consensous (terrible spelling I know) is that if you want to gain mass a good place to start is lifting 4 days a week. Another "standard" most people accept is that you should let each bodypart rest for 3 full days before you use it again. See the problem?

My current split is this...

Day 1 - Chest, Tri, Shoulder

Day 2 - Back, Bi

Day 3 - Legs, Abs

Then back to day 1.

With this current split 2 out of the 3 days it will take a full week until I hit them again. 1 out of the 3 will be hit in the correct amount of time.

Can anyone help me out with this.

thats my split too. works well for me. don't worry about days off, just take the time off you feel you need, read your body.

upper
lower
off
upper
lower
off
off
repeat

Train how you train.

Diet is more important

Where the hell did you get that thought?

Doublebase, can you share how you gained 17 pounds in 8 weeks? That seems like a real lot, was any of it fat? Are you any supplements, let me know. Im a major hard-gainer (135 pds) 17 pds in 2 months for me would be enormous!

Originally Posted by Nyisles2004

Doublebase, can you share how you gained 17 pounds in 8 weeks? That seems like a real lot, was any of it fat? Are you any supplements, let me know. Im a major hard-gainer (135 pds) 17 pds in 2 months for me would be enormous!

guys its not rocket science, i did the same thing that he did, 20 lbs in 2 months (15 was lean.. i get bf tested every 2 months or certain pound gains/losses).

the training is simple, work a bodypart once a week hard and intensly.... and while your waiting to go back to the gym, eat eat eat eat, and eat good, not shit. 1.2-1.5x your bodyweight in protein (not a shitload like some do), 15% of the calories you eat should be fats (only enough to be essentials), the rest is carbs, which makes up a whoole lot. so have at it

so are you people saying it is ok to train a muscle group twice a week if you have 2-3 days off in between? because right now for example i do:

mon-chest/arms
tues-back/traps/abs
weds-legs
thurs-cardio
fri-chest/arms
sat-back/traps/abs
sun-off or cardio

so lets say there are 30 grams of protein in one protein shake drink, how much cups would u drink in 1 day?

i would personally drink 0 cups of it. i dont use shakes anymore because its so much better to use real food, if you must, have one shake after a workout for a quick absorbed meal. but you want to split up your meals evenly, lets say you weigh 150 lbs, 1.5x that is 225, divide that by 6 (number of meals a day) and you need tha tmuch protein per meal.

Originally Posted by Nyisles2004

Doublebase, can you share how you gained 17 pounds in 8 weeks? That seems like a real lot, was any of it fat? Are you any supplements, let me know. Im a major hard-gainer (135 pds) 17 pds in 2 months for me would be enormous!

Its not that hard in theory to gain. Physically you have to discipline yourself and have some will-power. All your information is right here in this web-site. Read the stickies in the diet and nutrition section. You have to eat big and lift big. The training is the easy part. Your 135lbs then eat about 200grams of protein a day. Eat around 220 grams of carbs. Start eating foods like pasta, steak, oats, things like that. Eat so you are full all the time. Like every 2-3 hours. Thats what I do. You have to be disciplined and you can't miss meals. From the time you get to the time you go to bed your are eating.

Originally Posted by cfs3

Where the hell did you get that thought?

I dont know. 3 or 4 days after doing chest Im not sore anymore and I feel like im slacking.

How long do you think it take to start losing muscle?

Originally Posted by CancerNV

How long do you think it take to start losing muscle?

12

Originally Posted by Doublebase

Start eating foods like pasta, steak, oats, things like that.

Wouldn't pasta be considered a "bad" carb? Unless it's wheat pasta? Or are you bulking so it doesn't matter?

Originally Posted by CancerNV

I dont know. 3 or 4 days after doing chest Im not sore anymore and I feel like im slacking.

How long do you think it take to start losing muscle?

My question was directed at req56. How you workout does matter, a lot.

As for how soon you start losing muscles...it depends on several factors: diet, general level of exercise, genetics, and what sort of supplements you are taking. I'm not really sure how long it takes, but no one has convinced me that it starts any earlier than two weeks. As a matter of fact, many people who take a week off find that they come back stronger than before. That's one of the guiding principle of Mentzer's Heavy Duty Training.

Originally Posted by ChrisTheo

Wouldn't pasta be considered a "bad" carb? Unless it's wheat pasta? Or are you bulking so it doesn't matter?

Give the man some credit. The rest of his list contains goods foods, so assume that he means wheat pasta.

Maybe if it was twinkie, coke, pasta, lard you'd have a right to wonder.

so will i see more gains working a muscle group once a week rather than twice. Because right now i am seeing noticeable gains from twice a week.

lets remember, more isnt always better, if you work the muscle group intensly enough, it will feel like you need a week before you recover it fully.

i feel like i am working as hard as i can. how can i kick up the intensity of my workouts so i am sore for more days? I do plenty of sets for each muscle group and am doing about 5-8 rep range for all of them. Right now if i work my chest/arms on a monday, i feel like i am able to go 100% by friday. Maybe feeling 100% doesnt mean 100% recovery.

any thoughts?

Originally Posted by P-funk

upper
lower
off
upper
lower
off
off
repeat

You might be someone who responds well to what P-funk suggested. I my self am thinking about trying out this routine.

Originally Posted by keelo1086

i feel like i am working as hard as i can. how can i kick up the intensity of my workouts so i am sore for more days? I do plenty of sets for each muscle group and am doing about 5-8 rep range for all of them. Right now if i work my chest/arms on a monday, i feel like i am able to go 100% by friday. Maybe feeling 100% doesnt mean 100% recovery.

any thoughts?

Just train eat grow, if you feeling like shit all the time in the gym just cut back, human bodies arnt as feeble as these cazy overtraining guru`s think!

By a BIGMAN