3 or 5 days working out?

Scott277
Scott277 Posts: 63
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,

Basically, as of next week my girlfriend is coming home, im starting back uni, im moving from 2days a week to 3days a week part time work.

So not much time to fit in my workouts and I need a change of workout anyway as im coming to the end of an 6-8week cycle.

Currently i do:

Mon - Biceps Tues - Legs Wed - Triceps Thurs - Chest/Back Fri - Full Body

I am wondering if I should compact this into 3 days instead of 5 in order to make it more sustainable and enjoyable. So maybe.....

Tues -Triceps and Chest Wed - Biceps and Back Fri - Legs and Full Body (This idea combines tri's with chest etc as alot of these are similar movements)

or

Tues - Triceps and Back Wed - Biceps and Chest Fri - Legs and Full Body (This is the opposite and works contrasting elements such as Biceps and Chest which dont use the same muscle groups for moves eg. push ups)


Can I please have some opinions? Should I try one of these, or just stick to my 5days? Im worried I wont see the results as much if I cut down the days, although I will no doubt make each day longer if I cut to 3.

Replies

  • T34418l3angel
    T34418l3angel Posts: 474 Member
    If it were me id do: Tuesday arms (triceps and biceps), Wednesday legs and back, Friday full body and chest. this would make the most sense to me but I'm pretty new to all this so I may be wrong...
  • T34418l3angel
    T34418l3angel Posts: 474 Member
    Bump for more responses!
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    Hmmm yeh i guess arms all in one day is sensible too. Any of them could work I guess.

    Im just wondering becuase im not spreading it out as much and specifying all my work towards a certain area each day will I see the same gains?

    I prefer Arms, Chest and Back, Legs if I was to do that. My full body day is **** anyway haha
  • provin1327
    provin1327 Posts: 9
    Don't do full body workouts!!! You need to let your body rest and recover. A 3 or 4 day split is pretty common and effective way to hit every muscle group and at the same time getting optimal rest. My split looks like this

    Tue: Chest + Triceps + Abs

    Thurs: Back + Biceps

    Friday: Legs

    Sunday: Shoulders + Abs

    If you have fewer days to devote to lifting you can combine legs and shoulders but legs are such a big muscle group I think they need their own day. I don't do any cardio. It's counterproductive to building muscle. To build you must be at a caloric surplus, all cardio does is burn even more calories.
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
    I chose do to top one day, and bottom another, and cardio another. But if I were you would go with this. But everyone's body is different:

    Back & Chest

    Bicep and Triceps

    Legs, cardio
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    You do an entire day dedicated solely to biceps?

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
    Don't do full body workouts!!! You need to let your body rest and recover. A 3 or 4 day split is pretty common and effective way to hit every muscle group and at the same time getting optimal rest. My split looks like this

    Tue: Chest + Triceps + Abs

    Thurs: Back + Biceps

    Friday: Legs

    Sunday: Shoulders + Abs

    If you have fewer days to devote to lifting you can combine legs and shoulders but legs are such a big muscle group I think they need their own day. I don't do any cardio. It's counterproductive to building muscle. To build you must be at a caloric surplus, all cardio does is burn even more calories.

    I agree with OP. I do very little cardio as well. I've seen better results with a 4-day split compared to my old 3-day full-body routine. Seriously, I've made more progress in 8 weeks of an upper/lower split.
  • provin1327
    provin1327 Posts: 9
    You do an entire day dedicated solely to biceps?

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html

    Why does that guy think they a 4 day split can only be effective if you are on steroids? The point of hitting each group once a week and letting it rest is to get the most amount of muscle damage and repair in the shortest amount of time. If you do a full body workout 3 or 4 times a week your body won't recover between workouts. No recovery = no muscle gain
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    You do an entire day dedicated solely to biceps?

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html

    Why does that guy think they a 4 day split can only be effective if you are on steroids? The point of hitting each group once a week and letting it rest is to get the most amount of muscle damage and repair in the shortest amount of time. If you do a full body workout 3 or 4 times a week your body won't recover between workouts. No recovery = no muscle gain

    "That guy" is Lyle McDonald. A very respected trainer / coach / expert in the bodybuilding industry.

    He says if you spend an entire workout doing biceps you are actually hurting your recovery.
    Naturals who do endless sets in a given workout (which is not only allowed but usually mandated by low frequency training) not only aren’t stimulating better growth, they end up cutting into their recovery with excessive volume.

    Few bodyparts in my experience need more than two exercises (back is possibly an exception) in the first place and being able to do a zillion overlapping and redundant exercises is usually pointless for most trainees anyhow.

    He advises lower/upper splits (NOT full body) because of recovery issues you mentioned.
  • sassafrasy
    sassafrasy Posts: 113
    focus on legs one day, focus on arms one day, focus on cardio one day....just my thoughts. and i would hit the core whenever you can....500 crunches a couple nights a week or more! never can go wrong with core work. you can get a good core work in 10 minutes if you really hit it! just my opinion, no genius here! LOL
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    Right okay, I should have been clearer.

    I dont do any cardio, i have 2 rest days a week. That isnt over training.

    Yes i do full day biceps. It doesnt take long. Thats what I am saying, should I combine? But will the muscle growth spread and not concentrate on that one area as it would be therefore not getting as good gains? (that is a question lol)

    And also my "full body" day is just like double abs exercises and some leg/triceps as these are the areas I want to gain most in.

    Are you saying its pointless doing this fullbody day really? and I would be better allowing my body to recover?
  • mstifb
    mstifb Posts: 230
    Bump - I'm just starting strength training so any suggestions will be welcomed.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Right okay, I should have been clearer.

    I dont do any cardio, i have 2 rest days a week. That isnt over training.

    Yes i do full day biceps. It doesnt take long. Thats what I am saying, should I combine? But will the muscle growth spread and not concentrate on that one area as it would be therefore not getting as good gains? (that is a question lol)

    And also my "full body" day is just like double abs exercises and some leg/triceps as these are the areas I want to gain most in.

    Are you saying its pointless doing this fullbody day really? and I would be better allowing my body to recover?

    Lyle McDonalds recommends upper/lower splits 3-5 days a week.
  • provin1327
    provin1327 Posts: 9
    Are you saying its pointless doing this fullbody day really? and I would be better allowing my body to recover?

    Yes. Use that day to go do something productive outside of the gym :) How many sets are you doing for your biceps? The beauty of combining back and biceps together is that your biceps will be in most of your back exercises (pull ups, rows, etc) My back and bi workout looks like this

    4 sets reverse grip pull downs (palms toward you)

    4 sets seated cable row

    4 sets lat pull downs

    3 sets curls

    3 sets hammer curls

    Every set performed in the 8-12 rep range
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    So u meen Rae, arms/legs/chest and back? for example
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    So u meen Rae, arms/legs/chest and back? for example

    I did this last winter.

    Upper (2 exercises each):
    Chest
    Back
    Shoulders
    Arms

    Lower:
    Squats or deads
    lunge or step-ups
    hamstrings (good mornings or stiff legged deadlifts)
    calves
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    Yeh provin,

    Thats what im talking about. It seems the sensible option, so I can cut it to 3-4 days of biceps/back, triceps/chest and legs

    Even split tri's and chest onto two seperate days.

    Yeh i already have two rest days mate I guess but thats the two days I work at the moment part time. I am getting moved to 3days a week so I wont have time to workout really on those days with uni work needing done at night too!
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    Rae,

    yeh I can see why this would work as the leg is such a big muscle to work so working it more often is therefore alright.

    Might give it a shot, because all your "Lower" are leg exercises, obv you can do "upper lower, eg. quads/ham" one day and "lower lower" lol another eg calves
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    So by upper/lower split u meen........for me, i think i will just do 3days.

    I would do Tuesday Upper: Chest and Tricep
    Wednesday Lower: Legs (obv hah)
    Friday Upper: Back and Bicep

    Thats what im thinking of doing at the moment. Maybe even throw in an extra leg day or even some light cardio on sat/sun?
  • Scott277
    Scott277 Posts: 63
    bump

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