Thread: heavy and light chest day?

why not something like this?
mon.chest,shoulders,tri's
tues.off
wed.legs
thurs.off
fri.back,biceps, maybe forearms
or
mon.upper
tues.lower
wed.off
thurs.upper
fri.lower

or
mon.chest,shoulders,tri's
tues.back,bi's,forearms maybe
wed.off
thurs.chest,shoulders,tri's
fri.back,bi's,forearms maybe

????? just a suggestion

I combine chest and tris on the same day.

Maybe you should try that.

yea, for awhile i was doing the whole chest/tri, back/bi thing, but i didnt feel like i was getting as strong since my muscles were already fatigued. i felt like i got stronger after i started keeping arms on its own day. i dunno. maybe ill try monday-chest, tuesday-back, wed-off, thursday-shoulders and a light chest after shoulders, friday-arms, saturday-legs. does this sound like too much? what do u guys think? i just dont want to over train

Well, I guess different things work for different people, so I wouldn't go back to a chest/tri workout if you feel it didn't do as much for you.

I don't know if I'd do shoulders before chest. I've never really tried it, though, but it just seems kinda strange to me personally.

Since you're only doing shoulders one day week, I'd do them with my back workout on Tuesday, or maybe after chest Monday, if you feel you have enough left in you for shoulders.

Then maybe do another heavy chest day on Thursday. Personally, I don't like light days for chest if you're looking to gain strength, but do whatever you feel works best for you.

It doesn't look like you're doing too much to me. I train heavy twice a week on chest and legs and it doesn't bother me.

Originally Posted by jwg

Well, I guess different things work for different people, so I wouldn't go back to a chest/tri workout if you feel it didn't do as much for you.

I don't know if I'd do shoulders before chest. I've never really tried it, though, but it just seems kinda strange to me personally.

Since you're only doing shoulders one day week, I'd do them with my back workout on Tuesday, or maybe after chest Monday, if you feel you have enough left in you for shoulders.

Then maybe do another heavy chest day on Thursday. Personally, I don't like light days for chest if you're looking to gain strength, but do whatever you feel works best for you.

It doesn't look like you're doing too much to me. I train heavy twice a week on chest and legs and it doesn't bother me.

yea maybe shoulders after back..that could work. the only reason i suggest a light chest after shoulders is because it would be light. i go heavy on mondays, and that has worked so far. my biggest issue is overtraining. we'll see what happens i guess. thanks for the suggestions so far.

why would you train your chest with more frequeny then anything else? Either you have a frequent training program or you don't. If you do what you are saying you want to do you will have very unbalanced strength in the shoulder which could lead to injury in the future.

mon: chest 8x6-8, triceps 5x6-8
Tue: Lats 10x6-10, biceps 5x6-10, SLDL 3x10
Wed: off....light cardio 20-25 min
Thurs legs
Fri: delts 10x6-10, traps 3x10, chest 2x30+ triceps 2x30+
Sat: lats 3x20+, biceps 2x20+
Sun: off...run 25-30 min

I do it something like this

that routine is pretty unbalanced around movement planes and between push and pull.

Originally Posted by P-funk

why would you train your chest with more frequeny then anything else? Either you have a frequent training program or you don't. If you do what you are saying you want to do you will have very unbalanced strength in the shoulder which could lead to injury in the future.

Indeed. Most people have underdeveloped external rotator muscles relative to their internal rotators.

Originally Posted by P-funk

why would you train your chest with more frequeny then anything else? Either you have a frequent training program or you don't. If you do what you are saying you want to do you will have very unbalanced strength in the shoulder which could lead to injury in the future.

so then if i want to do a light chest day, u think that i should do all the other groups as well, to add balance? or to just not have a light chest day? so far what im leaning towards is no light chest, maybe just bangin out a couple of lighter sets at the end of my regular chest day. i have been working out for awhile, but do not fully understand the "scientific" side of it with the whole exhaustin cns' and all that. so if there is a reason i shouldnt be doing something, explanations are great. thanks guys.

yes,

upper
lower
upper
lower

Originally Posted by P-funk

yes,

upper
lower
upper
lower

can u give me an example of that? thanks again, you seem like a very knowledgeable person on this subject..plus your back is huge.

here is what I wrote on another board. You can use it for ideas.

Some ideas to give you as far as exercise selection. As galya said, we coudl use undulating periodization and select 3 different rep ranges to work from.

So, lets say our loading parametres were as follows:

5 reps x 5 sets rest interval (RI)= 90sec (strength day)
15 reps x 3 sets RI= 30sec (endurance work)
10 reps x 4 sets RI= 60sec (hypertrophy work)

I would select my exercises (breaking them up by movement planes) and use the rep ranges (with their rest intervals) in a cyclical manner.

Upper body day may look like this:

Bench press
cable row
DB sholder press
Wg pulldown
(I guess you could include arms if you want. I usually don't though considering that you are doing all that pushing and pulling two times a week)

So, I would do this workout every mon adn thurs. And move the rep ranges around. Workout 1- 5x5 for all exercises, work out 2- 15x3, workout 3- 10x4, then repeat.

Okay, that is a basic undulating.

You could also do conjugate periodization. That is somethign best explained by Louie Simmons of Westisde barbell powerlifting. You can read the articles of how to set up their template at elitefts.com or westside-barbell.com. Basically he took a lot of ideas from the BLOC countries on training and programing and set up a program that bases the training around a power day (dynamic effort) adn a strength day (max effort).


Another way I might break it up would be like this:

day1- upper horizontal
day2- lower quad dominant
day3- off
day4- upper vertical
day5- lower hamstring (hip) dominant)
day 6 and 7- off

So my exercises selection and rep scheme may look something like this:

day1- upper horizontal
Bench press- 3 reps x 5 sets
bent over BB row- 3reps x 5 sets
DB low incline press (or flyes)- 8 reps x 3 sets
reverse peck deck- 8 reps x 3 sets

day2- lower quad dominant (light hamstring)
back squat (or front squat)- 3 x 5
split squat- 3 x 5
RDL- 8 x 3
leg curl- 8 x 3

etc...you can probably continue the rest of it....


Another way might be a heavy and a light day...

upper 1 (heavy)
bench - 3x3
one arm DB row- 3x3
BB press- 3x3
chin ups- 3x3


upper 2- light
DB bench press- 10 x 4
bent over bilateral DB row- 10x4
single arm DB shoulder press- 10 x 4
pulldown- 10 x 4

and ofcourse you could increase the volume as weeks go on. Use undulating periodization and rotate the rep ranges.

Or, you could do heavy on the vertical stuff and lift on the horizontal stuff one day and then the opposite the other (much like you do heavy on the quad and lighter on the hip one day and then vice versa)

upper1
Standing BB press- 5 reps x 5sets
WG pullup- 5 reps x 5 sets
cable chest press- 10 reps x 4 sets
bent over BB row- 10 reps x 4 sets


etc.....just some basic examples to go off of. You can do a lot of different things. I would probably set up something that shifts the rep ranges around in some sort of three training day cycle.

Originally Posted by ilikeweights

can u give me an example of that? thanks again, you seem like a very knowledgeable person on this subject..plus your back is huge.

Here's an example from a post I wrote up:

Bodybuilder – Undulating Periodization

Monday – Upper:

Overhead Press
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Chinups
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

DB Decline Press
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI

Seated Cable Rows
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI


Wednesday – Lower:

Squats
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

SLDLs
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Lunges
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI

Situps
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI


Friday – Upper

Bench Press
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Yates' Rows
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Dips
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI

Pulldowns
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI


Sunday – Lower:

Deadlifts
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Split Squats
Week A: 8x3 @ 5RM - 75sec RI
Week B: 3x12 @ 15RM – 30sec RI
Week C: 4x6 @ 8RM – 60sec RI

Glute Ham Raises
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI

Hyperextensions
Week A: 4x10 @ 12RM – 45sec RI
Week B: 5x5 @ 7RM – 75sec RI
Week C: 5x8 @ 10RM – 60sec RI

The basic skeleton of this is...

Monday:
Upper Push Vertical
Upper Pull Vertical
Upper Push Horizontal
Upper Pull Horizontal

Wednesday:
Lower Knee Dominant
Lower Hip Dominant
Lower Knee Dominant
Abs

Friday:
Upper Push Horizontal
Upper Pull Horizontal
Upper Push Vertical
Upper Pull Vertical

Sunday:
Lower Hip Dominant
Lower Knee Dominant
Lower Hip Dominant
Lower Back/Posterior