3 day split advice?

serenityfrye

Can anyone recommend a good 3 day split that focuses more on muscle balance than on weight progression? I know a lot of people talk about dividing between push/pull or upper/lower but I'm not sure how to divide those over a 3 day period (or even what precisely falls into each category). I'm sure there are plenty of discussions on this somewhere but my initial search didn't yield much if anyone can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

IsaackGMOON

• New Rules of Lifting For Women
• Strong Curves
• ICF 5x5
• StrongLifts 5x5
• Starting Strength

Each program is a 3 day split. While it does focus on weight progression, the compound movements also help with stability a lot.

I'd recommend StrongLifts 5x5 as a beginner program and maybe progress onto ICF 5x5 if you want more accessory work.

Sam_I_Am77

serenityfrye wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good 3 day split that focuses more on muscle balance than on weight progression? I know a lot of people talk about dividing between push/pull or upper/lower but I'm not sure how to divide those over a 3 day period (or even what precisely falls into each category). I'm sure there are plenty of discussions on this somewhere but my initial search didn't yield much if anyone can point me in the right direction. Thanks!

What do you mean by "muscle balance" and what is your expectation? Weight progression is part of any GOOD strength training program; if you don't progress your weights conservatively over time, then you might as well not do it. Strength training is about progressive overload, not stagnation.

DavPul

Muscle balance?

arditarose

What exactly is your goal...?

The programs above are good. You need a progressive overload because like Sam said, what's the point?

serenityfrye

I guess what I mean is that I have occasional autoimmune related joint pain flare ups that cause me to have to back way off on weight at random intervals which makes a program with specified weights harder to follow (like when looking at strong lifts it had heavier days and lighter days but my weight is primarily determined by my pain level any given day). I'm mostly looking to make sure that I'm training all parts of my body otherwise I have a tendency to focus too much on my back and totally ignore chest for example. Does that make sense?

LisaAnn642015

I'm not sure why you would want to do a 3 day split, maybe just put your cardio and strength training together such as The Firm Dvds they combine both and have modified movements for days you don't feel good ( I have psoriasis arthritis so I understand where you're coming from) other than that maybe check for advice from web md online that recommend the right workouts for you.

arditarose

serenityfrye wrote: »

I guess what I mean is that I have occasional autoimmune related joint pain flare ups that cause me to have to back way off on weight at random intervals which makes a program with specified weights harder to follow (like when looking at strong lifts it had heavier days and lighter days but my weight is primarily determined by my pain level any given day). I'm mostly looking to make sure that I'm training all parts of my body otherwise I have a tendency to focus too much on my back and totally ignore chest for example. Does that make sense?

Ah, got ya. You can pick one of those programs and do what you can do that day.

jemhh

serenityfrye wrote: »

I guess what I mean is that I have occasional autoimmune related joint pain flare ups that cause me to have to back way off on weight at random intervals which makes a program with specified weights harder to follow (like when looking at strong lifts it had heavier days and lighter days but my weight is primarily determined by my pain level any given day). I'm mostly looking to make sure that I'm training all parts of my body otherwise I have a tendency to focus too much on my back and totally ignore chest for example. Does that make sense?

Any good established program will be balanced and all of the programs mentioned above are good. They all have you adding weight progressively but if you are having a bad day and need to scale it back, you can absolutely do that. Do what you can on that day and on your next lifting day, or the next week, or whenever you can, move back up as best you can.

serenityfrye

Thanks I'll check them out