Strength Training Spacing - To Spread 3 Training Days into 5?

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Justin_7272
Justin_7272 Posts: 341 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently began a progressive dumbbell program that is as follows;

Day 1 (Sunday or Monday)- Squats, Bench, Pullover, Pendlay
Day 2 (Tuesday or Wednesday) - Squats, Overhand Press, Curls, Deadlift
Day 3 (Friday) - Squats, Bench, Pullover, Pendlay, Overhand Press, Curls, Deadlift

Question; What are the potential advantages & disadvantages to spreading Days 1 & 2 across 4 days? E.G.

Day 1 - Squats, Pendlay
Day 2 - Bench, Pullover
Day 3 - Squats, OHP
Day 4 - Curls, Deadlift
Day 5 - Full Workout

Advantages:
I workout at home in the morning before work, so time is limited, thus the idea.
I also psychologically like the idea of training almost everyday.
I'd still allow at least one rest day before the full session (Day 3).

Disadvantage:
Fewer rest days may be inadequate.
Reduced load per session may not be as beneficial.
Day 3 may be harder to accomplish with spread.

Also, if the spread is appropriate, what are your recommendations per day?

Any thoughts/insights are appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    I like the idea of splitting workouts. You are actually giving your body more recovery for certain exercises (squats) because they aren't done every workout. However, do you really only have time for two exercises each day?
    My routine generally consists of squats, bench, ohp, deads, row or pullups, split squats, and sometimes hip thrust or glute Bridges. It's a lot for one workout. So when I split it up, it looks like this:
    1. squat, bench, ohp, deads, pullups, split squat (this routine would take about 45 min)
    2. Deads, ohp, rows, hip thrust or glute Bridges
    3. Squat, bench, pullups, split squats or lunges with bicep curls (this would take about 30min)
    4. One day might be a video with cardio and dumbbells(something like The Firm or 30 Day Shred)
    I try to hit each major lift twice per week. I'm not as worried about accessories, so they are mostly covered with the video.
  • MT1134
    MT1134 Posts: 173 Member
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    You can definitely spread out 3 days to 5 days or even more. try to vary the intensity from one day to the next and perhaps even the tools that you're using.

    You could perhaps add more weight training on one of your days and then another one can be a conditioning day or something like that.

    Something like
    Monday-Weights
    Tuesday-Body weight
    Wednesday-Run
    Thursday-Weights
    Friday-Body weight

  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    If I were to program you I would prefer four days for recovery purposes over five.

    If you were really tight on time and five day was a must I might go with something like this off the top of my head.

    Day 1: Squat, Bench, Curls
    Day 2: DL, OH, Squat variation
    Day 3: Penlay, Curls, Ab wheel
    Day 4: Bench variation, OH variation, Squat variation
    Day 5 DL variation, press variation, RDL or SL

    This is a basic template I would write from the limited info you given with the available slots. I'm not a fan of 5 days in the least for a recovery standpoint, so careful consideration on your load would have to be managed.

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