Full body 3x a week enough to gain?

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  • tobefitfifty
    tobefitfifty Posts: 19
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    When I was in my twenties there were books high intensity and super high intensity written by Ellington carder I think. They worked on a full body work out , 3 times/week One set per exercise......so its a yes. Try things that work for you and your lifestyle .
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    Do the routine you enjoy and that keeps you coming back to the gym. Some people like full body, some like high volume, low volume, high intensity, high frequency etc. A lot of variables can cause paralysis by analysis, results really come from effort and consistency. I have seen and heard of people getting results from just about any type of routine you could think of like full body everyday and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, training once every 10-14 days
  • 4theking
    4theking Posts: 1,196 Member
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    In my twenty plus years of lifting I have tried it all and I have settled into 2 times a week full body and it has gotten me stronger than ever. So many variables go into it. Chart your strength and see what works for you.
  • GradatimFerociter
    GradatimFerociter Posts: 296 Member
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    As long as you are making sure you are eating enough and your routine includes some sort of progressive overload then you will probably be fine. You may respond better to something else, but that is a separate question.

    Allpro's beginner routine is a 3x a week full-body workout and many people have had great experiences with it.
  • moya_rargh
    moya_rargh Posts: 1,473 Member
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    Is TDEE better than MFP for calculating daily cals?

    According to Scooby TDEE, with Macros of 35p/45c/20f with 3-5 hours a week of exercise, my daily cals should be 2654.
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
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    Is TDEE better than MFP for calculating daily cals?

    According to Scooby TDEE, with Macros of 35p/45c/20f with 3-5 hours a week of exercise, my daily cals should be 2654.

    At 170 lbs, my TDEE is around 2,500 and I gain 1 lbs. per week at 3,000 cals. Once I hit 180 lbs., I have to go to 3,200-3,300 to continue gaining at a reasonable pace.
  • moya_rargh
    moya_rargh Posts: 1,473 Member
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    Thanks, guys. Would you suggest that I stick with what MFP recommends, or manually override it with my TDEE for daily cals?
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
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    I find using TDEE is much easier because your calories do not vary daily. It's much easier to plan your eating that way.
  • moya_rargh
    moya_rargh Posts: 1,473 Member
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    I find using TDEE is much easier because your calories do not vary daily. It's much easier to plan your eating that way.

    So you just eat however many cals your TDEE recommends, and do your training regardless, instead of the MFP method of Food - Exercise = Net?

    And if I log my exercise on MFP, I should be registering TDEE - exercise cals, as opposed to MFP cals + cals eaten back?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Yep, you eat the same every day. If your workouts are really inconsistent week to week then maybe TDEE isn't the best approach for you. But if you're pretty consistent it can work well. Like others, I like having the exact same intake goal no matter what, even on rest days. It's easier.

    If you log your exercise on MFP and are doing the TDEE method, manually enter "1" in "calories burned": your exercise is already factored into the TDEE intake value and you don't want to muck around with that number (MFP won't let you put "0", "1" is the lowest entry you can do).
  • moya_rargh
    moya_rargh Posts: 1,473 Member
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    Yep, you eat the same every day. If your workouts are really inconsistent week to week then maybe TDEE isn't the best approach for you. But if you're pretty consistent it can work well. Like others, I like having the exact same intake goal no matter what, even on rest days. It's easier.

    If you log your exercise on MFP and are doing the TDEE method, manually enter "1" in "calories burned": your exercise is already factored into the TDEE intake value and you don't want to muck around with that number (MFP won't let you put "0", "1" is the lowest entry you can do).

    Excellent! Many thanks. Far simpler doing it that way, my exercise is pretty regimented.
  • NRBreit
    NRBreit Posts: 319 Member
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    Yep, you eat the same every day. If your workouts are really inconsistent week to week then maybe TDEE isn't the best approach for you. But if you're pretty consistent it can work well. Like others, I like having the exact same intake goal no matter what, even on rest days. It's easier.

    If you log your exercise on MFP and are doing the TDEE method, manually enter "1" in "calories burned": your exercise is already factored into the TDEE intake value and you don't want to muck around with that number (MFP won't let you put "0", "1" is the lowest entry you can do).

    Excellent! Many thanks. Far simpler doing it that way, my exercise is pretty regimented.

    Yep, exactly. I've tried it both ways and it is MUCH easier to use TDEE and set exercise cals to 1.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    Three times a week full body will probably get you better results than a bro split.
    In a typical bro split you are only really hitting each muscle group hard once per week, which means for the other six days it's not really getting much encouragement to grow. Full body three times a week, on the other hand, means that as soon as a muscle is recovered you are hitting it again (if your workout is good).
    If you aren't gaining muscle it is probably down to your calories. Your body may burn off around 2200 calories per day without exercise, but if you are working out 5 times per week then you'll be burning off a few hundred more than that per day, and then you'll need 200-300 more on top of that to build muscle.
    Weigh yourself regularly, and if you're gaining about 0.5lbs every couple of weeks then you are all good. If not, increase your caloric intake by 100, and keep doing so every week or two until you start to see the weight increase that you want.

    /thread
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Three times a week full body will probably get you better results than a bro split.
    In a typical bro split you are only really hitting each muscle group hard once per week, which means for the other six days it's not really getting much encouragement to grow. Full body three times a week, on the other hand, means that as soon as a muscle is recovered you are hitting it again (if your workout is good).
    If you aren't gaining muscle it is probably down to your calories. Your body may burn off around 2200 calories per day without exercise, but if you are working out 5 times per week then you'll be burning off a few hundred more than that per day, and then you'll need 200-300 more on top of that to build muscle.
    Weigh yourself regularly, and if you're gaining about 0.5lbs every couple of weeks then you are all good. If not, increase your caloric intake by 100, and keep doing so every week or two until you start to see the weight increase that you want.
    Bro splits are perfectly fine.
  • stt43
    stt43 Posts: 487
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    Three times a week full body will probably get you better results than a bro split.
    In a typical bro split you are only really hitting each muscle group hard once per week, which means for the other six days it's not really getting much encouragement to grow. Full body three times a week, on the other hand, means that as soon as a muscle is recovered you are hitting it again (if your workout is good).
    If you aren't gaining muscle it is probably down to your calories. Your body may burn off around 2200 calories per day without exercise, but if you are working out 5 times per week then you'll be burning off a few hundred more than that per day, and then you'll need 200-300 more on top of that to build muscle.
    Weigh yourself regularly, and if you're gaining about 0.5lbs every couple of weeks then you are all good. If not, increase your caloric intake by 100, and keep doing so every week or two until you start to see the weight increase that you want.
    Bro splits are perfectly fine.

    I didn't say they weren't.
  • RECowgill
    RECowgill Posts: 881 Member
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    This thread just reinforces what I believe, which is both can work. It all just depends on what you respond to and what motivates you to show up. It is possible that compounds are more effective for building mass and strength overall, but it's also possible that a bro split will prioritize aesthetics giving you that peaked look faster.
  • devodev44
    devodev44 Posts: 50 Member
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    The argument about what works can go on forever, but if 1,6, 12 months from now, can you quantify whatever you thought "worked" or didn't work? In other words, make sure that whatever exercises you're doing, you know exactly whether they are safe (at 39, comes with the territory) and effective. If you're adding weight and the tape measure is moving in the right direction, stick with what's working. If something needs to be tweaked, make one small but measurable change so you don't get caught trying to determine whether you're now growing/not growing from the 5 new exercises, the extra training day, the bro-split, etc.

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