Thread: 3 days a week split(s)!

Originally Posted by sagejx

Hey!I'm 17 years old,about 18% bf and wanna get down to about 10%,with min. mass loss.
I've been training for almost 8 months and I've lost quite a lot of weight,the last layers of fat shall be terminated! Unfortunately I can only train 3 times/week now,so I have to design a good split! Here are the exercises I will be performing and the possible splits;please rate 'em and tell me which one is the "best".

The exercises
legs
- laying ham curls - 3x6-8
- standing calf raises - 3x8-10
- good mornings - 3x8-10
- seated calf raises - 3x6-8
- leg extensions - 3x10-12
Chest/biceps
- flat bench - warm up set - 3 working sets of 6-8 reps
- incline DB press - 3x6-8
-Straight bar bicep curl - 3x6-8
- machine pec fly - 8-10 (squeeze and hold it for 2-3sec)
- DB seated hammer curl - 3x6-8
- either incline smith machine or BB decline ( i sub in machines for this sometimes) - 3x8-10
- incline DB curls or incline using the low cables. 3x8-10
Back/triceps
- Wide overhand grip bent over BB rows - 3x6-8
- overhead DB tricep extension with two hands - 3x6-8
- Deadlift - 2 warmup sets then heavy as possible - 3x4-6 (watch form on this)
- Close grip bench press - 3x6-8
- behind the neck pull downs 8-10
- over head rope extensions with flat bar push down superset - 3x8-10
- cable rows - close grip - 3x8-10
Shoulders

- Power cleans - 2 warm up sets - 3 working sets 6-8 reps
- DB shoulder press - 3x6-8
- Side DB lateral raises - 3x8-10
- BB shrugs - 3x6-8
- Front lateral DB raises - 3x8-10
- standing overhead BB push press - 3x8-10

The splits

Monday: Chest+Biceps
Wednesday : Back+Triceps+Forearm
Friday: Shoulders+Traps+Legs+Abdomen

or

Monday: Chest+Biceps+Triceps+Abs
Wed: Legs+abs
Fri: Back+Shoulders+Traps

or

Mon: chest+triceps+shoulders
wed: legs+abs
fri: back+biceps+traps

Thanks!!

If I could only train 3 days/week, I would stick to the last split. Push/Legs/Pull. How much time do you spend in the gym on the 3 days in which you do work out and where did you get the idea for your split routines? Did you read the stickies?

You may want to send a private message to P-Funk, he's really good.

The time spent in the gym depends;if it's crowded or not so crowded.I normally stay around 1 hour,including 10 minutes of hiit!However I don't do much cardio 'cus it bores me to death

I wouldnt discount the benefits a full body split can do for weight loss and work capacity.

But other than that i agree with highpockets and the last split is the only one i would really consider.

The split is just a small part of an overall program however - remember exercise selection, rep ranges, rest intervals, and overall progression throughout the 6-12 weeks of the program. If you don't plan HOW you will succeed, you wont!

Oh, don't forget the golden rules:

1. Do the same number of pushing + pulling exercises.

2. Do the same number of upper body and lower body exercises.

3. Focus mostly on big compound, multiple-joint exercises.

4. Take plenty of rest days.

Is chest+triceps+shoulders the correct order?



Also, 3 exercises for biceps = 9 sets , isn't that too much?

I usually rest aprox. 2 min between sets and 4 min. between ex.

Try not to think in terms of bodyparts. You body doesnt know or care which bodyparts or individual muscles its using to perform an exercise.

All it knows are the patterns of those movements - like how to actually perform the entire movement.

Think of exercises in terms of movement planes/mechanics.

So a bench press isnt a chest exercise, because it also heavily utilizes the shoulders and the triceps.

A bench press is a "push" exercise for the upper body, because you are PUSHING the weight away from you.

But yeah, i would say 1 exercise with 2-3 sets is fine for biceps. 3 exercises is overkill for such a small muscle.

Originally Posted by sagejx

Is chest+triceps+shoulders the correct order?



Also, 3 exercises for biceps = 9 sets , isn't that too much?

I usually rest aprox. 2 min between sets and 4 min. between ex.

I normally work Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, in this order, as my chest and shoulder exercises are compound movements. Triceps=isolation exercise. Every once in a while I might switch things up just a bit (Periodization).

In regards to 3 exercises for biceps and 9 sets; like Gazhole said, it depends on what your goals are. If I work by biceps the same day as back, my bi's are already getting a good workout. On these days I usually only do one or two isolation exercises on the biceps. Just remember when you are doing your Pull workout and exercising your back/lats you are in fact working your biceps. I like to incorporate CG and WG pullups into my back workouts which really stresses my arms since my bodyweight equals 245 lbs.

Good Luck!

I was also considering these exercises:

Chest
Barbell Bench Press - Medium Grip
Pec Deck
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Triceps
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Triceps Pushdown

Shoulders’
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Seated Bent Over Rear Delt Raise
Side Lateral Raise

Back
Seated Cable Rows
Wide-Grip Pulldowns Behind The Neck
Close-Grip Front Lat Pulldown

Biceps
Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Close-Grip EZ Bar Curl

Would it work on that 3d split? (Mon: chest+shoulders+triceps
wed: legs+abs
fri: back+biceps+traps)

Looks pretty good! Just an idea and two of my favorite compound movements would be 'dips' for chest/shoulder/tris push day and 'T-bar rows' for back/bis pull day.

Go to it!

Thanks a lot guys

Legs
Quad dominant
-Full back squats
-Full front squats
-Box squats
-Walking lunges/split squats

Hamstring dominant
-Romanian deadlifts
-Glute Ham Raises
-Good mornings
-SHELC

Chest AKA Horizontal Pushing
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell incline press
Dumbbell flat or incline press
Weighted dips

Triceps
Included in pressing work; do one or two concentration movements if desired

Shoulders AKA Vertical Pushing
Olympic bar corner press
Hang cleans/clean and press/pushpress
Arnold press

Back AKA Horizontal and Vertical Pulling
Horizontal pulling:
-Deadlift
-Bent over rows/Pendlay rows
-T-bar rows
-One-arm dumbbell rows

Vertical pulling:
-Weighted chins / negative only chins - shoulder-width or narrower always; overhand, underhand or neutral grip
-Unweighted chins
- One arm at a time lat pulldowns

**Wide-Grip Pulldowns Behind The Neck**never do these - wide grip trashes your rotator cuffs; behind the neck trashes 'em some more. Both will de-emphasize the lat and there are far more effective ways to work lats anyway.

Biceps
Included in pulling movements; do one or two concentration movements if desired

How about:
Monday: Horizontal pull and push; deads 5x5, rows 3x8, flat or incline barbell bench 5x5, flat or incline dumbbell bench 3x8
Wednesday: Legs; back squats 5x5, front squats 3x8, Glute Ham Raises or Romanian deads 5x5, walking lunges 3x8 each leg
Friday: Vertical push and pull: cleans/clean and press/push press 5x5, Olympic bar corner press 3x8, Weighted chins 5x5, single-arm lat pulldowns 3x8

Hmm I can't really hit it hard when doing squats,deadlifts due to having a stupid knee pain "gained" when I was young and obese It actually hurts kinda bad squatting with no weight at all! I also have low-back problems;that's why I prefer working my back&legs with machines,it doesn't hurt

By the way,I've heard that H.I.T is a very good thing to do if you wanna loose fat,however this HIT training seems quite...easy...to me!I don't think that it will stimulate me enough...What do you guys think?
The goal is to lower my bf,increase endurance,not gain mass

if you find HIIT anywhere near the level where it doesnt make you feel sick, then you're not doing the intensity part.

Sprint 25-30 sec at around 85-90% of max sprint speed, as in, you can hardly go any faster even if you tried, then walk for about a minute and a half-3 minutes depending on your fitness levels.

I do it on a steep uphill and run nearly at the point where my knees would buckle if i ran any faster, and then i zig zag down doing stretch-walking. And almost everytime i do it i cant eat straight after because i feel so sick. It should be so intense that doing it 3x a week is pushing it

Are you talking about:

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training (Cardio/Sprints)

or

HIT - High Intensity Training (Weights/One set to failure)

???

Either way, if its easy you arent doing it right.

HIT - High Intensity Training,sorry

I was considering to do these ex. for my back:

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
Straight-Arm Pulldown
Elevated Cable Rows

I feel no pain while doing 'em...

Keep the grip at shoulder-width or narrower and you'll hit the lats better. The wider you go, the less you hit lats and the more you hit the rotator cuff.

Up to you.

I see,thank you.
Well I'm ready to try it!

my bad I read HIIT; i had previously answered 2 topics on HIIT at the time hehe!

I would do one more exercise for chest (dips) and do one less tricep exercise

I find during my push day my triceps get hit pretty hard as the secondary muscle in everything, chest & shoulder exercises and the lot

hey guys,how many sets/reps should I do on this workout in order to gain strength? 3 sets - 6-8 reps would be ok, or doing HIT- 1 working set taken to failure ?
*my gym is really small and crowded so using the pyramid technique would be hard

Chest
Barbell Bench Press
Pec Deck
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Triceps
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Triceps Pushdown
Shoulders’
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Seated Bent Over Rear Delt Raise
Side Lateral Raise
Back
Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown
Straight-Arm Pulldown
Elevated Cable Rows
Biceps
Dumbbell Hammer Curls
Close-Grip EZ Bar Curl
Legs
Leg Extensions
Leg Press
Leg curl(face down)

I was also considering periodization!

Heavy period - 4 weeks
Transfer period - 1 week
Light period - 4 weeks
Transfer period - 1 week

Heavy = 4-8 reps, 2 min rest
Transfer = 6-10 reps, 1 min rest
Light = 10-15 reps, 40 sec rest
*weight used: max. weight that can allow me do the specific nr of reps and nothing more

I'm kinda fond of 3-5x5 for heavy compounds, then 3x8 and 2-3x12 for subsequent accessory/concentration work. T-Nation.com | 3 Ways to Get Big!

Now, your exercise selection.

I'm not seeing deadlifts or squats anywhere.

"Wide" grip - don't go wider than shoulders. I'd suggest chins as a superior move.

Legs, I'd ditch leg extensions and curls - and use squats for the heavy compound. Glute ham raises are excellent for hams, as are good mornings and Romanian deadlifts.

Shoulders - have a look at my shoulder module.

Squats and deadlifts are smth I don't do due to my knee,back problems

What kind of back and knee problems do you have?

I might have juvenile rheumatism and some low-back problem.To be honest I haven't seen a doc. 'cus it's not that bad,yet.But I will soon

Get your thyroid checked while you're there. Have him check for Hashimoto's.

I did a blood test a few weeks ago and everything was fine

Here's one I like:

Pull:
Rack pulls or Deadlifts: 3 x 3-6
Bent over Rows: 3 x 4-6
Weighted Chins: 2-3 x 4-6
Close Grip seated rows: 2-3 x 4-6
Barbell Curls: 2 x 4-6

Push:
Bench Press: 3 x 4-6
Incline Bench: 3 x 4-6
Military Press: 2-3 x 4-6
Weighted Dips: 2 x 4-6
Close Grip Bench : 2 x 4-6

Legs :
Squats: 3 x 4-6
Single Leg Extension: 2 x 4-6
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 2-3 x 4-6
Leg Curl: 3 x 4-6
Standing Calf Raise: 2-3 x 4-6

Squats and Deads (done correctly) will actually help most lower back pain in my experience.