I read what everyone said, and I’m not trying to beat a dead horse here, but I was in the same boat as you 4 years ago when I was into lifting. I was following just about the same scheme and I mean I was getting results…slowly, but I was getting results.
I actually took a few years off and a few months ago, we decided we had the extra money to join the gym…so we did. I started lifting like I used to, then I remembered this site a couple weeks into it. I came on here and asked just like you and realized I was over-training as well. I took the next week off and researched.
Remember…less is more (you should still feel pain no doubt about it, but the good pain). I used to lift back, then the next day biceps…My muscles were still sore, but I pushed myself through it…I was killing my body.
Anyway…I feel a ton better about it now and can really feel my strength growing…and muscles I never had before are starting to appear with a fullness I’ve never had…it’s nice.
Anyway…here’s how I’m doing it (it might seem slow, but when I’m in the gym, I don’t mess around)…
Day 1: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (hit chest hard, shoulders medium, and then I do one set just for triceps).
Day 2: off
Day 3: Legs/Abs/Lower back (I focus on the good stuff like squats, but every now and then I take it easy and do leg curls and so on – I do abs first – I usually throw in a set of those whatever they are for the lower back – they really stretch me out and make me feel good, and they hit the hams too because they’re already sore).
Day 4: Back/Biceps/Forearms (hit the back hard – pullups, rows etc – then I do something like reverse curls because my bi’s are already really sore – then I do forearms…a lot of people don’t do them at all, but I really like to give them a good pump)
Day 5: off
REPEAT
It works really well. I’m doing a ton less ‘strictly tri/bi’ work and my arms have to be a ton bigger than they were before…it’s nice…although sometimes I feel like I’m not doing enough (because of the way I used to feel before from lifting) – but the next day I’m always sore and it feels good.
My chest has always been a tough spot for me. My shoulders dominate my upper body. So I’ve been pre-fatiguing my chest before benching by doing flyes first REALLY slowly, then benching. Of course, you have to leave your ‘macho attitude’ at the door because you’ll be benching less than you were before, but it works great.
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Sorry if I rambled, but you sound like you might be in the same place as I was. Just thought I’d share some of the stuff I picked up while getting back into things. Hope that helps you.