Mon-Fri workout routine?

bryann9182

Does anyone here do a mon-fri workout routine with weekends off? My work schedule on the weekends is often unpredictable, and I can't guarantee that I can get to the gym during those days, so I usually just take them off. Also, weekends are usually the only days where I can see my gf, so that's important too.

I was sitting here thinking today that maybe I am giving my muscles too much rest in between workouts. My current routine looks something like this

M - Shoulders/Traps/Cardio
T - Back/Biceps
W - Chest/Triceps
TR - Legs/Cardio
F - Shoulders/Traps/Cardio
Sat - Off
Sun - Off

As you can see I am getting 6 full days of rest before I hit another body part again (except for shoulders). I'm not sure whether or not this is too much rest and is hindering my muscle gains or not. Any type of adjustments I could make to make sure I am hitting muscle groups more consistently? thanks

grantdumas7

Here is mine:
Mon: upper power/strength- cardio
Tues: Lower power/strength
Wed: Rest
Thurs: upper hypertrophy-cardio
Fri: lower hypertrophy
Sat: optional cardio/jump rope
Sun: Rest

Remember everyone is different what works for one person may not work for another. Some bodybuilding gurus believe natural weight trainers would be better off hitting a muscle group twice per week. This is due to protein synthesis. After a muscle is worked protein synthesis is back to normal after 48 hrs. This doesn't mean you have to work the muscle group again in 48 hrs but you don't want t wait too long. Competitive bodybuilders usually hit a muscle group directly once per week. Of course there will be some overlap. They can hit a muscle group once per week because they are usually on PED or gear. Anabolic steroids keep protein synthesis elevated for a longer period of time.

agirlscamaro

MWF -> New Rules of Lifting for Women
TT->Running and/or a DVD

Sat -> usually one day is gym (treadmill) or dvd
Sun->some non gym activity like cleaning, gardening, yard work etc.

fruitloop2

M/W/F - strong lifts 5x5
T/Th - cardio...usually running on the treadmill doing either HIIT or just a straight run depending on my mood. Sometimes will do a video.

Sat - rest/optional cardio...to I do cardio if I skipped one of my T/Th sessions.
Sun. - rest day

astronomicals

Most people recommend a full body workout to beginners.

Are you a beginner? Also, are you in a caloric deficit? Also, are you seeing gains? need more info

You probably dont have the work capacity to make use of a 5 day body part split. Thats a bodybuilding routine for lifters with experience. Doing a FBW youll hit all those muscles 3X a week instead of once. You do a full body workout because you don't have the capacity to make use of focusing on only one muscle group per day.

Then again, you may have some unrealistic work capacity, but, I highly doubt it. Everyone thinks they are a special snowflake and they almost always are not.

bryann9182

Not a beginner, no. I am also not in a deficit, about a 150-250 calorie surplus depending on if I do a bit of cardio or not

craigmandu

Really need to know if you are new to lifting or if you've been doing it consistently for more than 1-2 years.

It appears to me from that split that you aren't a beginner...or maybe you are and followed a routine on bodybuilding.com or something.

I would personally go with a M/W/F Full body using compound exercises. Maybe throw some cardio in off days if you feel it is needed.

ETA: After seeing your second post, since you aren't a beginner, I would suggest trying to with a 2 or 3-day split instead of the 5 (since your weekends are full)...this will effectively double your workout time for those muscle groups.

you may need to adjust your exercises a bit to match, so that the workouts don't start taking forever.

astronomicals

Strange... I would have thought an experienced lifter would ask at BB.com forums or T-nation or something... You can increase the frequency in which you hit muscle groups and see how it affects your progress, but, I wouldn't unless I was slowing on gains considerably. There is definitely a point of diminishing returns and also a point where it becomes counterproductive and makes you injury prone. I always thought the best advice was to do as little as you need to get the results you want. The way I understand it, if you increase your work capacity prematurely you'll actually end up having to do more work to make the same gains in the long run. Adaption at its finest. Whether or not you choose to believe that is up to you.

Whats your weight gain avg a week? Ever consider upping calories a bit and seeing if that increased your gains?

craigmandu

^^That's a good question. Are you gaining? And how long have you been in your 5-day split?

grantdumas7

I noticed something about your routine. Are the days you work bodyparts set in stone or do you rotate them. The reason why I am asking is you are working shoulders/traps on Monday and Friday. Do you work these bodyparts every Monday and Friday or would you work Back/Bi the following Monday and Legs on Tuesday?

DavPul

M - Shoulders/Traps/Cardio
T - Back/Biceps
W - Chest/Triceps
TR - Legs/Cardio
F - Shoulders/Traps/Cardio
Sat - Off
Sun - Off

This routine is odd. Why are shoulders and traps hit twice but nothing else? And most people tend to have M-F routines for the same reasons you want them so there is an abundance of choices.

Personally I like to hit each group twice per week so I would suggest:

M-chest shoulder triceps
T-legs back biceps
W-rest or metabolic or cardio or whatevs
T-chest shoulder triceps
F-legs back biceps
S-whatevs
S-more whatevs

Note: On the second time around each week, I tend to go lighter with more reps and tend to sub out barbell work with dumbbell work.

21angelic

I've recently gone back to S/W (past couple of weeks) so I reevaluated my exercise routine, in the past it was everyday but I found I started to dislike it and as a consequence stopped doing it all together.
Now providing I get in x3 45mins exercise in each week, it could be any day, I'm happy and more inclined to do it and it does seem to be working for me.

bryann9182

[/quote]

This routine is odd. Why are shoulders and traps hit twice but nothing else? And most people tend to have M-F routines for the same reasons you want them so there is an abundance of choices.

Personally I like to hit each group twice per week so I would suggest:

M-chest shoulder triceps
T-legs back biceps
W-rest or metabolic or cardio or whatevs
T-chest shoulder triceps
F-legs back biceps
S-whatevs
S-more whatevs

Note: On the second time around each week, I tend to go lighter with more reps and tend to sub out barbell work with dumbbell work.
[/quote]

something like this seems better to me, just wasn't sure about the 48 hour rest that's all. I'll give it a try and see how I like it