How do you breakdown your lifting through the week?

iorahkwano
iorahkwano Posts: 709 Member
I've been lifting a few years now and have tried different workouts like basic weight training rules I learned in college, Stronglifts, Wendlers's and making up my own.

Do you divide your days by a different group of muscles per day? Or alternate upper & lower body days? Overall body workouts? Right now I'm doing:

Mon- Legs & abs
Tues- Chest & triceps
Wed - Bicep & forearm
Thurs - Legs & abs
Fri - Shoulders & back

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't do body part splits. I do full body 3x weekly using a push/pull split.

    A:
    Snatches
    Plyo Work (i.e. box jumps, etc)
    Horizontal Push
    Horizontal Pull
    Squat Variations
    Single Leg Work (i.e. step ups, etc)
    Triceps work
    Core

    B:
    Cleans
    Plyo Work
    Vertical Push
    Vertical Pull
    Dead Lift Variations
    Lunge Variations
    Biceps Work
    Core

    Monday - A
    Wednesday - B
    Saturday - A
    Monday - B
    Wednesday - A
    Saturday - B

    and so on and so fourth.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    Upper/lower push/pull split four days a week.

    Simple and effective for me
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Upper/lower push/pull split four days a week.

    Simple and effective for me

    Similar set up for me.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    iorahkwano wrote: »
    I've been lifting a few years now and have tried different workouts like basic weight training rules I learned in college, Stronglifts, Wendlers's and making up my own.

    Do you divide your days by a different group of muscles per day? Or alternate upper & lower body days? Overall body workouts? Right now I'm doing:

    Mon- Legs & abs
    Tues- Chest & triceps
    Wed - Bicep & forearm
    Thurs - Legs & abs
    Fri - Shoulders & back

    I find it interesting that you have an arm accessory day immediately after a chest and tricep day. That doesn't seem like an effective use of that day seeing as how you only hit chest once during the week. I've also never seen anyone focus on forearms since they get hit with nearly every pulling movement.
  • jacklifts
    jacklifts Posts: 396 Member
    edited November 2015
    I train main movements, then add limb accessories. Progression depends on the movement.
    Mon - Overhead press, Back squats, upper back and leg accessories
    Wed - Deadlift, Pull-ups, Rows, arm accessories
    Frid - Flat press, Front squats, leg and arm accessories
  • memo1974
    memo1974 Posts: 57 Member
    Your training routine will depend on your personal goal. As you, I have tried many systems in my life, now in my early 40's I found that lifting heavy 3 times a week, and doing cardio 2 times a week is working out perfect form me. I do a total body workout, but I do emphasize some body parts on each workout.
    Monday: emphasis is on Chest, Back, Quads.
    Wednesday: emphasis is on Shoulders, Arms.
    Friday: is a high reps day all over.
    Tuesday and Thursday I ride my bicycle for 45 minutes, or play soccer, or jog.
    Checkout bodybuilding dot com, in my opinion, the best site to learn about training and nutrition.
    Cheers.
  • djeffreys10
    djeffreys10 Posts: 2,312 Member
    Depends on how many days I will be able to fit into my schedule that week, but typically something along the lines of:

    Monday: quads/calves/abductors
    Tuesday: Chest
    Wednesday: back/shoulders
    Thursday: hams/glutes/calves
    Friday: bis/tris/forearms
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    edited November 2015
    After looking at a ton of programs, I have decided to go with PHUL (thank you @njd1967 ).

    Day 1 - Power Upper
    Day 2 - Power Lower
    Day 3 - I sub in HIIT/Flexiblity training & abs (PHUL calls this a rest day)
    Day 4 - Hypertrophy Upper
    Day 5 - Hypertrophy Lower
    Day 6 - HIIT/Flexibility & abs
    Day 7 - Rest
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Tuesday: Heavy Squats
    Wednesday: Heavy Bench
    Thursday: Deadlift

    Saturday: Light Squats plus Rows
    Sunday: Light Bench plus Lats

    Friday and Monday off
  • Kimo159
    Kimo159 Posts: 508 Member
    5 day splits:
    Monday - Chest
    Tuesday - Back
    Wednesday - Arms
    Thursday - Shoulders
    Friday - Legs
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,519 Member
    Squat/OHP/Deadlift/Bench/Hip Thrusts; following 5/3/1 and added a "butt day."
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    iorahkwano wrote: »
    I've been lifting a few years now and have tried different workouts like basic weight training rules I learned in college, Stronglifts, Wendlers's and making up my own.

    Do you divide your days by a different group of muscles per day? Or alternate upper & lower body days? Overall body workouts? Right now I'm doing:

    Mon- Legs & abs
    Tues- Chest & triceps
    Wed - Bicep & forearm
    Thurs - Legs & abs
    Fri - Shoulders & back

    I will just point out that both forearm and biceps are small muscle groups and in now way should be a hole day on their own. Since you do triceps (which is a bigger group than biceps) why not do biceps with Back? Or better yet follow a tried, tested and true program instead of running one such as you put forth.

    Most that you find for non advance will be 3 day full body, 4 day split either broken down by upper / lower or Push / pull. I would consider any of these or Wendler again with whatever accessory you desire.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    After looking at a ton of programs, I have decided to go with PHUL (thank you @njd1967 ).

    Day 1 - Power Upper
    Day 2 - Power Lower
    Day 3 - I sub in HIIT/Flexiblity training (PHUL calls this a rest day)
    Day 4 - Hypertrophy Upper
    Day 5 - Hypertrophy Lower
    Day 6 - HIIT/Flexibility
    Day 7 - Rest

    I see you are running PHUL now, nice!

    OP - I would suggest following a structured lifting regimen rather then creating one on your own...
  • TheUnbroken
    TheUnbroken Posts: 24 Member
    Push
    Pull
    Legs
    Rest
    Repeat
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    When I was doing a split, typical breakdown for me looked something like this:
    Mon: Glutes
    Tues: Chest/Shoulders/Tris
    Wed: Glutes/Quads
    Thurs: Back/Bis
    Sat: Glutes/Hams

  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
    Currently...

    Day 1 - Max Effort Lower
    Day 2 - Assistance
    Day 3 - Max Effort Upper
    Day 4 - Off/Assistance
    Day 5 - Dynamic Lower
    Day 6 - Dynamic Upper
    Day 7 - Off/Assistance
  • _Bropollo_
    _Bropollo_ Posts: 168 Member
    Upper/Lower split

    Usually try to aim for rest every 5th day. Goal is to stimulate the muscles roughly every 48 hrs to maintain optimal protein synthesis levels, and taking a rest day every so often to give the joints/muscles/tendons a break. I alternate between strength (higher weight, lower reps) and hypertrophy (lower weight/higher reps) days as well: https://muscleandstrength.com/articles/protein-synthesis-muscle-growth-training-frequency

    OP, your program looks pretty good, honestly you could wrap the upper body days into one doing a couple of big compound movements that work multiple muscles at a time. I usually have Bench, Pull-ups, Rows, and OHP (I will switch between barbell and dumbbell variations of applicable lifts) as the meat of my upper body days, and sprinkle maybe 3-4 supplement lifts in after.
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    When I was doing a split, typical breakdown for me looked something like this:
    Mon: Glutes
    Tues: Chest/Shoulders/Tris
    Wed: Glutes/Quads
    Thurs: Back/Bis
    Sat: Glutes/Hams

    Exact same as this. Before this I was on full body 3 days a week. If I were to try another program next, it would likely be PHUL.
  • stephxo1
    stephxo1 Posts: 191 Member
    I also follow PHUL so

    Upper Power
    Lower Power
    A day of HIIT like tyre flips, battle ropes, one arm carries, prowler work etc
    Rest Day
    Upper Hypertrophy
    Lower Hypertrophy
    Rest Day

    I work shifts so the days I train varies but it's a 5 day training week, 4 day one if I'm extra fatigued from throwing in different HIIT exercises. Overall, it's about progression so as long as you're uppng weight and/or reps/sets as well as monitoring and adjusting your calories then you'll continue to grow. No need to complicate things.
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