Revisiting the Full Body Routine, 3x/week:

[NMOY]

Hello All,

It has been 3 years since I have posted here, and I've gone through all sorts of routines. I've most recently been doing a Push/Pull/Legs split, but have become unsatisfied.

I'm toying with revisiting the a Full Body Routine, 3x a week (M/W/F), one which has 4 variants, so it takes a 2 weeks cycle, keeping things nice and mixed-up. I'm also trying to make sure to get enough calves in.

Anyway, I can't decide whether or not to do a true fullbody, or break it up into legs/push/accessory, legs/pull accessory. (meaning that every other week you would get the push-heavy day twice, and then the pull-heavy day twice.
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Here are the two options I outlined, I'd love some feed back on the perceived pros and cons:

3 Day Full Body Routine:
(2 week cycle, M/W/F)

A:
-Squats
-Barbell Bench Press
-Lunges
-Cable Rows
-Lat Raises & Triceps Extensions
-Farmers Walks/Grip

B:
-Deadlifts
-Pullups/Chinups or Pulldowns
-Pistols (One-legged Squats)
-Dips or Decline Press
-Biceps & Standing Calves
-Crunches

C:
-Leg Press
-DB Bench Press or Pushups
-Single Leg Deadlifts or Step-ups
-Bent DB Row
-Flys & Shrugs
-Plank/Side Plank or Hand Walkout

D:
-Romanian Deadlifts
-Military Press/Arnold Press
-Single Leg DB Split Squat
-Pulldowns or Chinups/Pullups
-Back Extensions & Sitting Calves
-Leg Raises
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OR

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A2:
-Squats
-Barbell Bench Press
-Lunges
-Dips or Decline Press
-Lat Raises & Triceps Extensions
-Farmers Walks/Grip

B2:
-Deadlifts
-Pullups/Chinups or Pulldowns
-Pistols (One-legged Squats)
-Cable Rows
-Biceps & Standing Calves
-Crunches

C2:
-Leg Press
-Military Press/Arnold Press
-Single Leg Deadlifts or Step-ups
-DB Bench Press, Incline, or Pushups
-Flys & Shrugs
-Plank/Side Plank or Hand Walkout

D2:
-Romanian Deadlifts
-Bent DB Row
-Single Leg DB Split Squat
-Pulldowns or Chinups/Pullups
-Back Extensions & Sitting Calves
-Leg Raises
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[NMOY]

PS -- The reason I am conflicted is that I've been doing split routines for so long now, that I am worried that just one Push or Pull movement in any given day might not be enough to promote hypertrophy, which would lean me towards the 2nd variation posted above. Then again, that intuition might be completely misguided.

-Also, I recall that CowPimp's Tutorial mentions doing a quad dominant and hip dominant lower body exercise every day -- but I am concerned that I will be over training my legs if this occurs 3 days a week... Any thoughts would be helpful.

NMOY

 

[CowPimp]

You're not going to shrivel up from doing a full body program. Also, it is my opinion that you shouldn't use 2 week cycles. You kill some of the benefit of training frequently. That is, you are not getting the high frequency of the same movement in there to reap the neural adaptation benefits that provides. One of the better known full body routines around, Bill Starr's 5x5 program, has you squatting 3 times per week.

Also, you don't have to do two lower body movements each time. Try starting with one, and up it to two when you feel like you can recover from that. Keep in mind though, you aren't going to be getting as sore or requiring as much recovery time when only doing one or two movements at a time as opposed to several.

 

[NMOY]

Thanks CowPimp, I appreciate the advice -- I think I've been over-complicating this -- starting with 1 lower exercise, and working up to two should be solid.

In regards to your 'frequency' comment, do you feel that the following simplified version would be taking advantage of the 3x/week frequency benefit, despite the fact that I am mixing up the exercises? (If not, is that to say that you would recommend just sticking with 1 set of the core compound exercises to be performed 3x a week for 2-3 weeks, then changing the exercises up?)

M:
-Back Squats
-Bench Press
-Pull-ups
-Shoulder & Triceps Iso.
-Standing Calf Raises
-Abs/Core/Stability Work


W:
-Wide-Grip Dips
-Bent DB Rows
-Lunges
-Biceps
-Seated Calf Raises
-Abs/Core/Stability Work

F:
-Deadlifts
-Chin-ups
-Military Press
-Flyes
-Standing Calf Raises
-Abs/Core/Stability Work

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Thanks for your time.
NMOY