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Hi,
I’ve been using a 3day upper / lower split for roughly 6 months and am now wanting to train legs twice, with 4 days in the gym a week instead of three. My goal is hypertrophy/aesthetics and will modify my diet for bulking…
Anyway, here is what I was thinking

Day 1: Hamstrings/Lower Back/Calves

Romanian Deadlift - 3x10
Back Extention - 3x10
Leg Curl - 3x10
Calf Raise - 3xFailure

Day 2: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps/Abs

Incline Dumbbell Bench - 3x10
Flat Bench - 3x10
Dips - 3x6 (still mastering bodyweight…)
Lateral Raises - 3x10
Pushdowns - 3x10
Extentions - 3x10
Swiss Ball Crunches - 3xFailure

Day 3: Off

Day 4: Quads/Calves/Abs

Bulgarian Split Squats - 3x10
Lunges - 3x10
Leg press - 3x10
Extentions - 3x10
Single Leg Calf Raises - 3x10
Leg Raises - 3xFailure

Day 5: Back/Traps/Biceps

Barbell Row - 3x10
Lat Pulldown - 3x10
Cable Row to Chest - 3x10
Shrugs - 3x10
Preacher Curls - 3x10
Reverse Curls - 3x10

Any comments/critiques would be very helpful. I was also wondering if its safe to include deadlifts and romanian deadlifts in the same week (I was thinking of heavy deadlifts for back day…) ((I am also doing core work at the start of each workout…))

Thanks

Yes, it is safe to include romanian deadlifts and regular deadlifts in the same week.

Why are you doing Bulgarian Split Squats AND Lunges? Replace one of them with Squats (3-5 rep range, 5-6 sets) and put squats first in the workout. I’d replace RDLs with regular DLs as well… you will get plenty of hamstring work with regular DL’s.

Where is your shoulder work? 3 sets of lateral raises doesn’t count. Get some overhead pressing (preferably barbell, but DB if your shoulder doesn’t like BB).

Any beginner program needs to have squatting, deadlifting, benching and overhead pressing each once/week IMO. I wouldn’t do a split like that, especially as a beginner (I’d do each bodypart twice/week since you can recover more quickly). But if I did, I’d tweak yours something like this:

Day 1.
Deads - 3-5reps, 5-6 sets
Glute-Ham Raise (5 sets, 6-10 reps), or if you don’t have a GHR platform keep the back extensions/ham curls
Calves - whatever you want

Overhead Press (3-5 rep range)
Bench (3-5 rep range)
Dips
Tricep isolation exercise if you want
Ab work

Squat (3-5 rep range)
Leg Press (3x8-10)
Lunge (3x8-10)
calves if you want

T-bar row (3x8-10)
Chinups (25+ reps, however many sets it takes)
Cable Row and/or Pulldowns
Shrug variation (4 sets)
Curl variation (4-5 sets)

Again, I wouldn’t split it like that, but if you want to I think this would work better.

Thanks a lot!

I would include standard back squats, but my gym doesn’t have a rack (only a smith machine - I’ve read in several places that a Smith is bad for squatting…)

My right shoulder has an odd click/crunch sound and sometimes gives me pain, but I am currently doing the stuff reccommened in two recent T-Articles on the subject. Learning to OHP properly I think will help this a lot!

Would you not reccommend adding standard deads to the back workout day??

Thanks

[quote]MrNLon wrote:
Thanks a lot!

I would include standard back squats, but my gym doesn’t have a rack (only a smith machine - I’ve read in several places that a Smith is bad for squatting…)

My right shoulder has an odd click/crunch sound and sometimes gives me pain, but I am currently doing the stuff reccommened in two recent T-Articles on the subject. Learning to OHP properly I think will help this a lot!

Would you not reccommend adding standard deads to the back workout day??

Thanks[/quote]

Well they can be on leg or back day in general (endless debate on which is better, but you can do either, I’ve done both ways) - but even as far as back goes, they are more lower back than upper.

Get a new gym! Squatting will do more than anything else for leg mass. And I wouldn’t recommend squatting in a smith machine… bar path is very unnatural.

how about a goblet squat in the meantime?

Will give them a try

well I was asking more if a goblet squat was an acceptable alternative to bb squat in the meantime. you’d think it would but I don’t know anymore

@scj119 - why wouldn’t you personally do a split like this one???

All they have at my gym is a smith machine for squatting. I put my feet in the normal squat position (not out in front) to make it feel like a normal squat as much as possible. I’ve been doing it this way for the past 12 weeks on 5/3/1. I just hope when I get to use a free weight squat rack I will be able to stabilize the bar or whatever so I don’t faceplant trying to balance 185 on my back.

What’s so bad about the bar path? I keep my back straight, go all the way down, and keep my feet under me instead of out in front. No problem. I’ve even been testing 1RMs this way before I started doing 5/3/1.

Though I do use a free barbell from the bench press to do my front squats, because it’s a lighter weight and I can clean it onto my shoulders.

Being able to use as much weight as I want on what is pretty much a squat except for bar path is better than being limited to the 100lb dumbbell in my gym’s rack.