How often do you lift?

kyleekay10

How many days a week do you lift, and what's your breakdown of your workouts (ie; What do you focus on, on what days)?

Just trying to find a routine that works for me, and curious as to what other people do.

spammarino

Before i strained my back i was lifting 3 days a week, insanity and other HIT the other days. I split Bi's and back, chest and tri's, legs and abs. I usually do 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps. It's definitely good to get a gameplan going before hitting the gym because it could be fairly overwhelming.

jeschauvin

I lift every day. (6 days a week) with 30 mins HIIT cardio. My friend and I are currently following the LiveFit Trainer on Bodybuilding.com. This was my first time trying weights so it was very helpful to have each day broken down already for you.

meerkat70

I try to lift x3 a week. More often, sadly it's twice.

I do mostly compound lifts - bench, deadlifts, rows, press. Used to squat, but my knees just can't do it anymore. Tricep pull down. I've had some very amusing goes at the assisted pull up machine.

I love strength training, but it's second to my running, and I make sure I fit that in first.

TrailNurse

5 DAYS A WEEK.

jdm_taco

4 or 5 days

back/abs
shoulders/traps
legs
biceps/abs
chest/triceps

kyleekay10

Thank you everyone for your answers!

4 or 5 days

back/abs
shoulders/traps
legs
biceps/abs
chest/triceps

I like this set up a lot. However, I kind of want to do squats every day... lol. Would it be okay to add squats in every single day I lift, or is that too much?

Mr_Knight

Two days a week.

Day 1: squats, bench press, bent-over rows
Day 2: deadlifts, overhead press, close-grip bench press, curls

All with barbells.

cwolfman13

Currently I'm making great strength progressions with Wendler's 5/3/1 and doing a 2x weekly variation.

Wrkout A:

Squats (heavy), Bench Press (Heavy), Lat Pulls (3x10), back raises (3x12), Dumbbell Bench Press (3x10), Rear Laterals (3x12)

Wrkout B:

Dead-lift (heavy), Overhead Press (heavy), barbell rows (3x10), dips (3x10-12), Good Mornings (3x10), Barbell Curls (3x10)

I was going to switch back to a 3x weekly plan, but this has been working really well for me in RE to my gains and time management. On what would typically be my 3rd lifting day I do some conditioning work like pushing the sled, farmer's carries, some body weight work, etc...and usually go for a 1/2 mile swim to cool down (though with summer coming to a close, that's going to have to change...outdoor only pool at my gym).

With this 2x variation, I find myself a lot more fresh for running and cycling, yet still make my gains. My running season is over until next spring, but I'm trying my hand at cyclocross and start those workouts and practices next week.

iamwilso

liftx3 cardio on off days

spammarino

Thank you everyone for your answers!

4 or 5 days

back/abs
shoulders/traps
legs
biceps/abs
chest/triceps

I like this set up a lot. However, I kind of want to do squats every day... lol. Would it be okay to add squats in every single day I lift, or is that too much?

You'll want some time off the squats so your muscles can recover. At least 24 hrs in between. But thats an awesome attitude!

Mr_Knight

With this 2x variation, I find myself a lot more fresh for running and cycling, yet still make my gains. My running season is over until next spring, but I'm trying my hand at cyclocross and start those workouts and practices next week.

Sounds like we might be in similar places. The 2x a week lifting allows space for 3x running, 4x cycling, and 2x swimming.

MissFuchsia

I'm doing Stronglifts 5 x 5 which is 3 times per week.

hyper_stitch

I had this recommended to me > > http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843&page=1 by some fabulous MFP peeps so far so good :bigsmile:

whitebalance

Re squats every time, that's the foundation of Starting Strength. If you're not lifting every single day, I don't see why you couldn't do squats every time.

I'm transitioning from machines at the gym to free weights at home. Have been a little spastic about it so far, but what I think I've settled on for this stage is 2-3 times a week compound lifts at home (squat, bench, dead lift, press, all four each time) and once a week "accessorize" on gym machines (abs, fly/delt, rows, chin/dip assist, arms). Pretty simple, but I don't feel panicky about the change, like I'm quitting everything that got me this far.

I don't want to split it up among body parts and lift every day (although I did that on the machines) because I'm also starting to run and I'd like to keep the activities separate as I wean myself onto heavier lifting. If I find that I'm still making comparable progress on the machines with only one visit a week, that will tell me the compound lifts are doing the whole job and I don't need to continue with machines. Then I'll put that day toward learning the power clean and other compound lifts that scare me.

Unknown

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Erica_theRedhead

I only lift 2x per week now because I'm training for a marathon, but after that's over, I'm going back to 3x per week. I always do deadlifts and squats paired with some arm/back movements like strict press or bench. My third component is usually 1 leg, and 1 arm at the end. For example:

Day 1:
back squat/benchpress (5 each) / 12 assisted pullups x 5 rounds
deadlift/strict press (5 each) / 12 walking lunges

Day 2:
deadlift/bench press (5 each) / 15 kettlebell swings x 5 rounds
back squat/strict press (5 each) / 12 dips x 5 rounds

jdm_taco

I wouldn't do squats everday