Thread: 4x split critique

I don't see any arm work in there, unless you intentionally left it out. I have one son that does not believe in lower arm work, he says you get enough handling your weights, I disagree - But!.

Calve two times a week I don't see, although some have a hard time developing this muscle. I debate, whether extra work will over come genetic tendency's. I'm like my son on this, calves get a lot of natural work, so once a week is enough for me.

Just curious why you can't do 3 workouts in a week, but you can do 4? However, I think the routine looks pretty good.

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

Session 1 (Tue)
Leg Press (feet low on plate) - 5x6-8 120RI
Lunges - 5x8-10 90RI
Standing Calves - 2x6-8 90RI
Seated Calves - 3x10-12 60RI
Weighted Leg Raises - 3x6-8 90RI

Session 2 (Thu)
Flat DB Bench - 4x6-8 120RI
CG Seated Lat Pulls/Rows - 4x8-10 90RI
Decline BB bench - 3x8-10 90RI
WG pulldowns - 3x10-12 60RI
Standing Miltaries - 3x6-8 90RI

Session 3 (Sat)
RDL's - 5x6-8 120RI
Squats - 5x8-10 90RI
Seated Calves - 2x8-10 90RI
Standing Calves - 3x25-30 60RI
Lying Crunches - 3x10-12 60RI

Session 4 (Sun)
Bent Over BB Rows - 4x6-8 120RI
Incline DB Bench - 4x8-10 90RI
WG Seated cable rows - 3x10-12 60RI
Pec Dec - 3x10-12 60RI
BB Upright Rows - 3x8-10 60RI

I would replace the leg press with back squats on day 1 and squats on day 3 with front squats. lunges are okay, but you need to add a posterior chain exercise into day 1, GM's, RDL's, Pull Throughs or something like that.

i would personally break my upper body days into upper horizontal and upper vertical work. so day 1 would be horizontal presses and horizontal rows, Bench, decline bench, then a low row and a high row (for post. delt, traps etc). day 4 would be vertical pressing and vertical rowing. OH presses followed by pull ups, even upright rows followed by pull downs with some misc stuff thrown in, like pullovers or whatnot.

you can also split your leg days up into hammy vs quad intensive sessions. doing DL's/GM's of various types for one day and squatting and pressing on the second day.

just some suggestions...

Originally Posted by Sam40

I don't see any arm work in there, unless you intentionally left it out. I have one son that does not believe in lower arm work, he says you get enough handling your weights, I disagree - But!.

Yes, i have intentionally left arm work out. Previously i did have arm work in the routine but now i just want to focus mostly on the big movements as i need more mass overall rather than focussing of smaller parts presently. Besides i have been advised (and have been following some of the experienced members journals) that for arm work, less is more also gaining overall mass will also result some size increase in arms. So i'v decided to give it a try.

Originally Posted by Sam40

Calve two times a week I don't see, although some have a hard time developing this muscle. I debate, whether extra work will over come genetic tendency's. I'm like my son on this, calves get a lot of natural work, so once a week is enough for me.

Calves for me are probably the most underdeveloped. On previous routines had them only once a week. So for this i decided to split it on 2 days and increase the sets and reprange. Hopefully i should see some gains in them.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Just curious why you can't do 3 workouts in a week, but you can do 4?

A project at work came to me and i shall be busy babysitting it until mid/late sep. So i dont think i can handle 3x full body with 1 day off in between (as was part of the plan on that routine) along with my work schedule. That routine would not only take a lot of energy out of me but also time since on some days it goes upto 24sets. The above routine i put together had 16-18sets.

Also LAM's post suggested the full body wo leans more towards endurance than hypertrophy. And if there is anything i need presently, it is size

Originally Posted by CowPimp

However, I think the routine looks pretty good.

Thanks CP

Originally Posted by Yanick

just some suggestions...

Thanks for the suggestions, Yanick. I was trying to change the routine around from my previous one which was more targeted towards specific parts e.g. Quads/delts, chest/tris/abs, upper back/bis/abs, lower back/hammies/calves.

For this routine, i was considering some sort of antagonistic training. Ideally i would have to do 1 set of the first exercise followed my 1 set of the second. But that may not be possible as i wo at the gym after work which is the busiest time at the gym. So i guess i will have to do one exercise after the other.

Exercises have been placed as opposites. So i guess this split is more like an antagonistic upper/lower split... if i am making any sense with that

yea i see what you're saying, i just don't like too much repetition in my routines. although i do higher frequency work and it seems like i hit every muscle group 2-3 times/week, i'm never really working the muscle the same way in one week (intensities, speed/trength work etc). there really is no right or wrong way, so give your routine a shot and see how you respond. however the first paragraph of my post still stands:

"I would replace the leg press with back squats on day 1 and squats on day 3 with front squats. lunges are okay, but you need to add a posterior chain exercise into day 1, GM's, RDL's, Pull Throughs or something like that."

You could easily do a full body workout in 16-18 sets. Also, full body workouts only lean toward endurance if you want them to. The most size I've ever gained was on a full body routine.

Originally Posted by Yanick

however the first paragraph of my post still stands:

Yes, i agree. I need another posterior exercise. Need to think which one i feel comfortable doing.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

You could easily do a full body workout in 16-18 sets. Also, full body workouts only lean toward endurance if you want them to. The most size I've ever gained was on a full body routine.

I don't think anyone has a good concept of how to train total body. Why is it so many sets? Why is it take longer than any other type of routine?

Look:
squat- 3 sets
incline press- 3sets
RG pull down- 3sets
SLDL- 3 sets
curls- 2 sets


There you have it....14 sets for total body. Train on 30sec rest intervals and you will be out of there in less than 30min.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

You could easily do a full body workout in 16-18 sets.

Most of what i worked out was 20+ sets. As a rough example 4sets each for quads, hammies+lower back, chest and back. Plus if i threw in delts and calves (as i need to work on those), it seemed a bit much to do that 3x a week. Maybe i was going about it the wrong way and should have considered a lower volume.

Ah well, after this routine i wil need a new routine anyway and winter will be a better time to do 3 days as there will be one less day to drag my ass to the gym in the snow.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Also, full body workouts only lean toward endurance if you want them to..

How would you make them lean towards hypertrophy? Lower reps and longer RI?

Originally Posted by P-funk

I don't think anyone has a good concept of how to train total body. Why is it so many sets? Why is it take longer than any other type of routine?
.

Thanks P. I was considering the Total-Body Training by Chad Waterbury. That routine seemed a bit much to follow through with my present work schedule. I tried to come up with my own routine, but i guess i was overdoing it.

My idea of a full body workout is three heavy sets of the clean and press.