Designing A Six Day Per Week Weight Training Program. Help and Suggestions needed
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Spadesheart
Posts: 463 Member
With my current work schedule, I am finding the 4 day upper/Lower split I've been doing very difficult to fit in, and I believe it's hindering adherence. I feel like I may have greater success with shorter workouts (4-5 movements or movements I can easily superset) more often.
Fortunately, I was relatively well prepared for the covid situation. I was able to get 350ish pounds of weights that had been rusting in my parents basement, I have one long straight bar, one tricep bar, and 2 18 inch dumbbells. I have improvised a close grip pull-up bar from the keyboard mount of an old desk that I was able to attach to the outside of my balcony that's just a few feet off the ground, and can easily do dips on the balcony. I've actually been able to improvise ways to do a lot of exercises; on the whole I've been quite pleased. It's just feels impossible to fit in sometimes when I have like 2.5 hours total of commute on full work days with worsening traffic.
I was thinking of doing something like a full body/upper/lower, rest and then repeat with variations. That would give things like (dumbbell and light) deadlifts a natural place, and would let me hit upper and lower body 4 times a week each. To keep it short, I would have to rely on compound exercises. I would also like for it to be sustainable as I am very tall and would be doing it 6 days a week, so I would be avoiding things like heavy barbell deadlifts, but doing extra lower back work to compensate.
What I am looking for are good "bang for buck" additions that I could easily do based on what I have.
So far, this is what I am thinking:
Full Body A
-Heavy Dumbbell deadlifts (fantastic- easier on lower back, and I've been able to load my Dumbbell near 300 pounds so far)
-Dumbell calf raises
-Barbell Good mornings
-Weighted Planks
Upper A
-Dumbbell floor press
-Dumbbell one arm row
-Dumbbell concentration curl+ seated dumbbell tricep press (superset)
-Probably a barbell military press (I'm finding dumbbell shoulder presses to cause rotator cuff pain)
-Dips
Lower A
-Barbell hip thrusts
-Barbell hack squat
-Barbell calf raise
-Weighted Planks
Full Body B
-Light barbell deadlift with high rep range (like 135 to high 20s for a few sets)
-Light barbell calf raise with high rep range
-????
-????
-Maybe some cardio?
Upper B
-Pullups (weather permitting)
-Tricep bar bent over rows
-Tricep Bar Curls+ tricep bar military press (both together as one rep, this has hit forearms and shoulders surprisingly well and is a great time saver)
-Tricep bar standing tricep extension + barbell curl (superset)
-Dips with more chest focus
Lower B
-Light barbell Hack squat with high rep range
-????
-????
-????
-Maybe some cardio?
So yeah, if you have any suggestions to fill in the gaps here, or omissions that you believe are well worth the time, please let me know. I find worthwhile leg work at home to be challenging. I'm open to anything I can do. By the nature of my work, I don't think I'm going back to a gym any time soon. Just gotta make it work.
Fortunately, I was relatively well prepared for the covid situation. I was able to get 350ish pounds of weights that had been rusting in my parents basement, I have one long straight bar, one tricep bar, and 2 18 inch dumbbells. I have improvised a close grip pull-up bar from the keyboard mount of an old desk that I was able to attach to the outside of my balcony that's just a few feet off the ground, and can easily do dips on the balcony. I've actually been able to improvise ways to do a lot of exercises; on the whole I've been quite pleased. It's just feels impossible to fit in sometimes when I have like 2.5 hours total of commute on full work days with worsening traffic.
I was thinking of doing something like a full body/upper/lower, rest and then repeat with variations. That would give things like (dumbbell and light) deadlifts a natural place, and would let me hit upper and lower body 4 times a week each. To keep it short, I would have to rely on compound exercises. I would also like for it to be sustainable as I am very tall and would be doing it 6 days a week, so I would be avoiding things like heavy barbell deadlifts, but doing extra lower back work to compensate.
What I am looking for are good "bang for buck" additions that I could easily do based on what I have.
So far, this is what I am thinking:
Full Body A
-Heavy Dumbbell deadlifts (fantastic- easier on lower back, and I've been able to load my Dumbbell near 300 pounds so far)
-Dumbell calf raises
-Barbell Good mornings
-Weighted Planks
Upper A
-Dumbbell floor press
-Dumbbell one arm row
-Dumbbell concentration curl+ seated dumbbell tricep press (superset)
-Probably a barbell military press (I'm finding dumbbell shoulder presses to cause rotator cuff pain)
-Dips
Lower A
-Barbell hip thrusts
-Barbell hack squat
-Barbell calf raise
-Weighted Planks
Full Body B
-Light barbell deadlift with high rep range (like 135 to high 20s for a few sets)
-Light barbell calf raise with high rep range
-????
-????
-Maybe some cardio?
Upper B
-Pullups (weather permitting)
-Tricep bar bent over rows
-Tricep Bar Curls+ tricep bar military press (both together as one rep, this has hit forearms and shoulders surprisingly well and is a great time saver)
-Tricep bar standing tricep extension + barbell curl (superset)
-Dips with more chest focus
Lower B
-Light barbell Hack squat with high rep range
-????
-????
-????
-Maybe some cardio?
So yeah, if you have any suggestions to fill in the gaps here, or omissions that you believe are well worth the time, please let me know. I find worthwhile leg work at home to be challenging. I'm open to anything I can do. By the nature of my work, I don't think I'm going back to a gym any time soon. Just gotta make it work.
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Calling @Chieflrg as an expert to help! You’re doing an awesome job @Spadesheart, always training, so keep it up!1
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The 4 day split is kind of what I'm trying to avoid, for shorter sessions more times per week.0 -
What's nice with those templates is you can pick only the number of lifts you have time for.
Like a 2 day split could be done 3 x weekly - but that covers a lot of lifts and much would be missed on a brief time.
But say Push/Legs/Pull from the 3 day split.
That link may show Workouts with many potential and optional lifts, but only 4-5 base ones, and even there 1-2 could be left off as similar.
3-4 lifts in each one isn't out of question.
That would be short.
https://exrx.net/Workouts/Workout3PPL
chest general
chest upper
deltoid front
tricep
dead lift
quad
ham
back lats
back general
deltoid side
bicep
1 -
What's nice with those templates is you can pick only the number of lifts you have time for.
Like a 2 day split could be done 3 x weekly - but that covers a lot of lifts and much would be missed on a brief time.
But say Push/Legs/Pull from the 3 day split.
That link may show Workouts with many potential and optional lifts, but only 4-5 base ones, and even there 1-2 could be left off as similar.
3-4 lifts in each one isn't out of question.
That would be short.
https://exrx.net/Workouts/Workout3PPL
chest general
chest upper
deltoid front
tricep
dead lift
quad
ham
back lats
back general
deltoid side
bicep
Oh awesome, so this is a list of good suggestions.
Is there a benefit to push/pull/legs Vs the way I wanted to program it? I don't actually know where I would stack up in regards to being a beginner or intermediate at this point, I was under the impression that full upper was better until a certain point, and then it is better to further specialize.0 -
Upper lends itself to separation for pushing and pulling action, so you don't have what should be a recovery day using the same muscles again.
This would give you full upper body 2 x weekly, as well as lower.
The only kicker here is within the workout time, full upper would allow you to alternate push & pull lifts, to allow some recovery before you came back around to same/close muscle group again.
But push one day does not.
So triceps may not need isolation at end of say upper push.
And what you want to focus on could lead to different order, like:
overhead press (for deltoid front)
bench press (for chest general)
incline bench (for chest upper)
tri ext for time and strength remaining
That's why those templates links you to general muscle groups, those links lead to specific lifts hitting them, and there you can select bar, machine, dumbbell - whatever you got available.
It's just not getting into the load training sets & reps & rests.
Your reference to specialize is when you see beginners doing the program of 1 muscle group per day. And that means only 1 x weekly.
3 x weekly would be better for beginner, 2 x decent enough, but if limited on time still better than 1 x weekly.
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