Question About Recovery

pull/push/legs 6 times a week vs upper lower 4 times a week?

i will supersett the pull and push day if doing upper lower.

I wont be physically able to lift with as high intensity but i do get 3 days rest a week.

with pull/push/legs/pull/push/legs/rest i will be able to produce more intensity at each exercise, but no rest days except Sunday.

what approach do you think is best for size and strength?

Can you push it 6 days a week or does this depend too much on the individual to give a clear answer? Will i benefit from 3 rest days a week?

On another unrelated note, what is your opinion on cardio? Should lifters do it for general health purposes if they have no need for it otherwise? Does it deserve its own day or should you just do it at the begging of a workout session?

I wouldn’t recommend doing cardio before lifting because it will drain the energy u need for lifting.

If u do it after, u can use it to remove latic acid from the blood and be less sore… so it helps with the recovery.

Cardio isn’t really an issue for us lifters, its the high heart rate that ends up eating ur mass gains. Especially high heart rate on empty stomach or while on a deficit diet. There’s calculators online you can use to figure out ur fat burning heart rate (aerobic) so u don’t end up doing anaerobic cardio and end up burning other than fat.

Cardio is needed if u want to be cut and shredded… just in reasonable doses

if you’re going to do push pull legs I reccomend push/pull/legs/OFF/push/pull/legs/OFF.

okay, my experience with push/pull/legs - I make a lot of progress really fast but also stall/burn out faster, like in less than 8 weeks.

I don’t know how advanced you are but I’ve found at the level I’m at now I need more time for recovery and working out at multiple times a week just doesn’t cut it anymore.

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:

okay, my experience with push/pull/legs - I make a lot of progress really fast but also stall/burn out faster, like in less than 8 weeks.

I don’t know how advanced you are but I’ve found at the level I’m at now I need more time for recovery and working out at multiple times a week just doesn’t cut it anymore.[/quote]

I’ve noticed this exact thing recently as well and I remember Dr. Clay mentioning the same in an article not too long ago. I’m back to training each bodypart once a week on a John Meadows inspired split and it feelsgoodman

I’d do the push/pull/legs if I were you, that’s what I’m doing right now

Interesting topic. Many trainers say that recovery and growth happen within the first 48 to 72 hours. But it would still have to depend on volume and intensity as well as which bodypart you trained.

I am thinking of going back to training a bodypart only once a week. I haven’t done it for years but I have stalled on the “multiple sessions” thing. I don’t know why but this once a week approach just feels wrong for certain muscles.

If you want size and strenght for a while i would suggest you try 6 days, upper/lower split. You can drop many isolations and focus on compounds. This is what i do. I call it a “Chad Waterbury modified”. He suggest 3 full body training weekly but i like training so i do it in 6 days. Each week we train heavy-medium-light. You can do about 3-4 exercises daily, about 10 min. each.

It works fine for me but i have small muscles and i eat clean. If it does not work you will know you need more rest so 4 days of upper/lower or push/pull/legs/rest would be better suited for you. You might get his book at the librairy or search here or visit the articles database here.

For short recovery it is suggested to use control on eccentrics and avoid failure. These 2 (reaching failure, or slow “lowering”/when the muscle get longer) will not permit training 3 times weekly.
About cardio i think Chad suggest about 15 min. fast walk. The diet is a simple way to trim.
All the best !

I’m on push/pull/legs/off - repeat

I do the first series with heavier weight (3-5 reps near max effort) and I do the next series with lighter, hypertrophy focused weight (10-15 reps with 2 reps left “in the tank”).

Have done this for a year. Only stalled a few times slightly. Works great.

" About cardio i think Chad suggest about 15 min. fast walk."
i promise you your conditioning will not improve by only fast walking, you have to get tired. i cycle to the school every day at a comfortable pace for 8-12 min. it has not improved at all.

I am thinking of moving back to the push,pull,legs,rest only this time i wont be doing any cardio so that will be a pure rest day.

but then my cardiovascular system will remain in shit state, maybe do 10 minutes before push and legs workout?

opinions?

[quote]kingbeef323 wrote:

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:

okay, my experience with push/pull/legs - I make a lot of progress really fast but also stall/burn out faster, like in less than 8 weeks.

I don’t know how advanced you are but I’ve found at the level I’m at now I need more time for recovery and working out at multiple times a week just doesn’t cut it anymore.[/quote]

I’ve noticed this exact thing recently as well and I remember Dr. Clay mentioning the same in an article not too long ago. I’m back to training each bodypart once a week on a John Meadows inspired split and it feelsgoodman
[/quote]
Same as the pair of you really.

Last year I used a push/pull/legs split and had some incredible gains muscular and strength wise. Using the heavier weights I use now I can’t recover.

It’s pretty basic stuff though right? The more advanced you get the more recovery you give each muscle.

So a rank beginner could do a total-body fine for a while, then they’d move on to upper/lower then push/pull/legs then maybe a 4 day/way split. 1-2-3-4.

Same amount of sessions a week could be achieved, but with more recovery for individual muscle groups.

[quote]ultralars wrote:
" About cardio i think Chad suggest about 15 min. fast walk."
i promise you your conditioning will not improve by only fast walking, you have to get tired. i cycle to the school every day at a comfortable pace for 8-12 min. it has not improved at all.

I am thinking of moving back to the push,pull,legs,rest only this time i wont be doing any cardio so that will be a pure rest day.

but then my cardiovascular system will remain in shit state, maybe do 10 minutes before push and legs workout?

opinions? [/quote]

If you want to gain a lot of size or strength cardio should not be your main concern, doing too much can hinder your gains.

With that being said I believe that a strong heart means a strong body so you should do some cardio because in the grand scheme running 4-6 miles a week is not going to destroy your physique and might actually help it.

maybe a low intensity jog or bike for 20-30 minutes one day a week and a short 15 minute long HIIT sprint day a week. Or just two low intensity days.