Lift 3 or 5 Days?

NJL13500

I would like to know if there is a difference (benefit?) to lifting 5 days per week versus 3 days per week. My old lifting routine was:
Chest/Tri's
Back/Bi's
Legs/Shoulders
Once per week and no cardio on those days.
3 Days of cardio (usually 2 days of HIIT) and one rest day

I signed up to run a half marathon and wanted to have some time to lift and then get some running in so now I do:
Chest/Abs/Cardio (HIIT)
Back
Cardio (long run day)
Shoulders/Cardio (HIIT)
Legs/Cardio
Rest day
Arms (Bi's and Tri's)/Cardio

When my race is over I wanted to know which plan would give me better results toward my goal of building muscle and losing fat. Which would be better-to continue the current 5 day lifting schedule or go back to 3 days but lift each grouping twice per week?

I like to keep some cardio in because it is a good stress relief for me. I try to keep my total time in the gym to an hour except on long run days.

Thanks for your help!

SideSteel

For novice through intermediate level trainees it's generally better to do 3/week full body on non consecutive days. You would get more bang for your buck by hitting everything 3 times per week vs a body part split.

NJL13500

Thanks. Generally speaking how many exercises per body part for a full body workout? I currently do between 2-3 exercises and 4 sets of 8-10 reps as heavy as I can do with good form. I have seen my weights all increase since the beginning of this year....slowly but surely.

SideSteel

Depends on goals.

I'm posting from my phone but good examples would be starting strength, stronglifts, all-pros.

All of these will have you squatting, deadlifting, benching, pressing, and rowing/chin ups/etc

They are built around the big compound lifts.

SS is the lowest in volume at its base. Stronglifts is slightly higher, all-pros is higher volume and skewed towards hypertrophy.

Sarauk2sf

Copying from another thread as it has the links/details for the programs SideSteel mentioned. I would recommend these also:

I would recommend either Stronglifts 5 x 5 or Starting Strength. They are both a 3 x a week full body program, which imo is preferential to start with, especially while on a cut.

Starting Strength:

http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki

Stronglifts 5 x 5:

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/


I also like this one (AllPro) - it's a slightly higher rep range:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843&page=1

A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

Squats
Bench Presses
Bent-Over Rows
Overhead Barbell Presses
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
Barbell Curls
Calf Raises

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.