3 days a week split(s)!

**Built** · 05-03-2009, 02:44 AM

Bis - sure thing.
Back - try self-assisted chins. Set a bench a bit behind where you stand, so you can self-assist to "up" with your toes, but lower unassisted, or just stabilizing with your toes on the way down. WAY better than lat pull downs. Use a slow count for the negatives. Eventually you'll be able to do full sets of chins. That's how I taught myself to do chins. Took me three years (okay, and dropping 30-40 lbs helped LOL!) but I was 38 and obese when I started.

Try close grips for the 5x5, pushdowns for the 3x8. Try one-armed lat pulldowns, they're interesting. I really prefer them to ordinary lat pulldowns.

One-arm dumbbell rows are a very underappreciated movement - my husband literally built his back doing them, and he does weighted chins, too. He's forty-two and unassisted, and he cranks out 3x8 sets of weighted chins with a forty-five strapped onto a belt, and one-arm dumbbell rows with 120lb dumbbells. If he can do it, so can you. Maybe not tomorrow, but still.

OH - start with the 5x5 stuff; 3x8 comes after the heavy compounds. If you want to do a third, do 2x12 for a pump at the end. Read Thibaudeau's "three ways to get big" for more on this sets and reps combo. I reference it in Baby Got Back, near the top of the article.

5x5 barbell shoulder press is fine, but trust me on the Olympic bar corner presses - they're awesome, you will love what they do and how they feel. This is another Thibaudeau movement. There's a link to it in my shoulder module on my blog as well.
(You can use the rear delt raises as a shoulder warmup if you like. Face pulls work well for this purpose also)

**sagejx** · 05-03-2009, 03:00 AM

Great stuff!!Thanks

**Built** · 05-03-2009, 03:01 AM

Lemme know what you end up doing, and how it works out for you.

**nkira** · 05-03-2009, 04:52 AM

I do those & they are AMAZING!! Much much better than regular shoulder press movement. I am also very happy with Builts BGB routine. I started noticing improvement in just few days after I started with BGB + Shoulder Module.

Originally Posted by Built

5x5 barbell shoulder press is fine, but trust me on the Olympic bar corner presses - they're awesome, you will love what they do and how they feel.

**Plataeu** · 05-03-2009, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by gymforall

the normal bodybuilders routine is

back/bi
chest/tri
shoulders/ legs

I like your last routine.........

But I would add so,e ,ore imtense workout if you want to loose weight.

I don't like that kind of set up, personally.

For one, biceps have a bump in them after doing pull movements, so therefore they aren't training as efficiently as they would fresh like on a chest / bicep day.

Another thing is, muscle groups don't need seven days rest in between sessions to repair, they need anywhere from 32-72 hours depended upon factors (protein, water, etc).

**DIVINITUS** · 05-04-2009, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Why not?

Push - Bench Press, Overhead Press, Dips.
Legs - Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges, Single Leg RDLs, Hyperextensions, Calve Raises.
Pull - Pullups, Rows, Face Pulls.

For example.

Admittedly thats a lot of volume for leg day, but that's an inherent flaw in that particular split, and should be taken into consideration when choosing a split.

Balance between antagonistic muscle groups is more important than a split, so if a mammoth leg session isnt achievable choose a different split rather than open yourself up for muscular imbalances, lol.

Upper Push/Lower Pull/Upper Pull/Lower Push

Is a split i prefer for this reason.

Is it me or is the above split a little light on upper body work? I mean, I don't do that much in one lower body day, but I don't think my body wouldn't be pushed enough doing only 3 pushes/pulls on their respective day. thoughts?

**P-funk** · 05-04-2009, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by DIVINITUS

Is it me or is the above split a little light on upper body work? I mean, I don't do that much in one lower body day, but I don't think my body wouldn't be pushed enough doing only 3 pushes/pulls on their respective day. thoughts?

A list of exercises does not dictate volume. So, I have no idea what you mean.

Patrick

**Gazhole** · 05-04-2009, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by DIVINITUS

Is it me or is the above split a little light on upper body work? I mean, I don't do that much in one lower body day, but I don't think my body wouldn't be pushed enough doing only 3 pushes/pulls on their respective day. thoughts?

Well, theres less volume in each upper session and more frequency compared to the leg work.

If you find each session too easy, work harder rather than longer. Put everything you have into each set, either by making sure you get the fullest range of motion possible, you control the weight with far more focus than you usually would, or increase the weight a little if all else fails.

The key phrase is "stimulate not annihilate" which lately is something i've really come to discover true. Most people, including myself in the past, do far too much. They absolutely kill themselves in the gym each session, and set out to destroy their muscles, and end up doing just that.

The body is using all it's resources to repair rather than improve, and gains aren't as good as they could be.

Push/Legs/Pull isn't a great split, and the volume will largely not depend on the exercises.

3 Movements doesn't sound like a hard session, untill you find out you're doing 6-8 sets on each. In comparison, you may only be doing 3 sets on each leg movement.

I was the same as you, but since ive decreased QUANTITY and focused on QUALITY i seem to be acheiving a lot more in the gym.

**DIVINITUS** · 05-04-2009, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by P-funk

A list of exercises does not dictate volume. So, I have no idea what you mean.

Patrick

I was going on the assumption of 3-4 sets per...not 6-8 as is apparently the case.

**DIVINITUS** · 05-04-2009, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Well, theres less volume in each upper session and more frequency compared to the leg work.

If you find each session too easy, work harder rather than longer. Put everything you have into each set, either by making sure you get the fullest range of motion possible, you control the weight with far more focus than you usually would, or increase the weight a little if all else fails.

The key phrase is "stimulate not annihilate" which lately is something i've really come to discover true. Most people, including myself in the past, do far too much. They absolutely kill themselves in the gym each session, and set out to destroy their muscles, and end up doing just that.

The body is using all it's resources to repair rather than improve, and gains aren't as good as they could be.

Push/Legs/Pull isn't a great split, and the volume will largely not depend on the exercises.

3 Movements doesn't sound like a hard session, untill you find out you're doing 6-8 sets on each. In comparison, you may only be doing 3 sets on each leg movement.

I was the same as you, but since ive decreased QUANTITY and focused on QUALITY i seem to be acheiving a lot more in the gym.

Well, you've essentially done the same thing haven't you? 3 exercises with more sets amounts to similar workload as a few more exercises with less sets, isn't it? I might do more exercises, but I don't do 6-8 sets of each one, half of that actually...

**DIVINITUS** · 05-04-2009, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Well, theres less volume in each upper session and more frequency compared to the leg work.

If you find each session too easy, work harder rather than longer. Put everything you have into each set, either by making sure you get the fullest range of motion possible, you control the weight with far more focus than you usually would, or increase the weight a little if all else fails.

The key phrase is "stimulate not annihilate" which lately is something i've really come to discover true. Most people, including myself in the past, do far too much. They absolutely kill themselves in the gym each session, and set out to destroy their muscles, and end up doing just that.

The body is using all it's resources to repair rather than improve, and gains aren't as good as they could be.

Push/Legs/Pull isn't a great split, and the volume will largely not depend on the exercises.

3 Movements doesn't sound like a hard session, untill you find out you're doing 6-8 sets on each. In comparison, you may only be doing 3 sets on each leg movement.

I was the same as you, but since ive decreased QUANTITY and focused on QUALITY i seem to be acheiving a lot more in the gym.

Actually, if you don't mind, what do you think is a good 3 day split? I am bound by 3 days in the gym a week because of schedule, like my split now, but will change it up in weeks or so.

**Gazhole** · 05-05-2009, 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by DIVINITUS

Well, you've essentially done the same thing haven't you? 3 exercises with more sets amounts to similar workload as a few more exercises with less sets, isn't it? I might do more exercises, but I don't do 6-8 sets of each one, half of that actually...

Well, depends how you set it up. The workouts on my last program look like:

Exercise 1 - 6x3
Exercise 2 - 4x7
Exercise 3 - 3x14

=13 Sets at varying intensity.

As opposed to:

Exercise 1 - 3x10
Exercise 2 - 3x10
Exercise 3 - 3x10
Exercise 4 - 3x10
Exercise 5 - 3x10
Exercise 6 - 3x10

= 18 sets at the same intensity.

I find that when you put more exercises in, not only are the latter exercises usually inferior (simply because there arent a limitless number of good exercises), but you're spending longer in the gym just because you have to set up new equipment and all that where you didnt really have to.

**Gazhole** · 05-05-2009, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by DIVINITUS

Actually, if you don't mind, what do you think is a good 3 day split? I am bound by 3 days in the gym a week because of schedule, like my split now, but will change it up in weeks or so.

My favourite split is:

Upper Pull
Lower Push
Upper Push
Lower Pull

Its a 4 day split, but you can perform it 3x a week. Just cycle through them. This automatically opens itself up for a form of periodization where you assign a different rep range to mon/wed/fri because you'll be doing different workouts on those days every week, which is why i like it. If im stuck for a program idea i'll do this because it basically sets itself up.

**DIVINITUS** · 05-05-2009, 07:23 PM

Lol...I'm officially confused! I will look into this for my next routine though. I am open to switching things up now much more than I ever was.

**P-funk** · 05-05-2009, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by DIVINITUS

Lol...I'm officially confused! I will look into this for my next routine though. I am open to switching things up now much more than I ever was.

Don't be confused. It is simple, "push something, pull something, and do something for your legs."

Cover those three bases every time you go to the gym and you will be on your way.

patrick

**DIVINITUS** · 05-05-2009, 07:44 PM

Gotcha...I will check this out. Seems almost like a mix of what I was doing for my last routine and what I'm doing now, which is the Upper Push, Legs, Upper Pull on Mon, Wed, Fri respectively. I like it so far, but it doesn't seem to have too many fans around here. I'm just keeping my eyes open for any splits that I can comfortably fit into a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule.

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