Training Frequency Specific Bodypart

i think if you respond well to a higher frequency training that your schedule will be fine and you should make some good gains

Day 1 - AM Horizontal Pull / PM Horizontal Push
Day 2 - AM Hip dominant / PM Vertical Pull
Day 3 - AM Vertical push
Day 4 - AM Quad dominant / PM Horizontal Pull
Day 5 - AM Horizontal push / PM Hip dominant
Day 6 - OFF
Day 7 - OFF
Day 8 - AM Vertical Pull / PM Vertical Push
Day 9 - AM Quad dominant / PM Horizontal Pull
Day 10 - AM Horizontal push
Day 11 - AM Hip dominant / PM Vertical Pull
Day 12 - AM Vertical push / PM Quad dominant
Day 13 - OFF
Day 14 - OFF

How do you think this split looks? There arent any specific arms days as I was thinking of tacking arms onto the end of a push or pull workout. On Day 3 (wednesday) there isn’t a PM workout as that evening is set aside for my secret ( and very geeky) other interest.

Again, thanks for any advice.

[quote]Well done on the protein intake, not many manage that lol.

To be honest with you, I found db’s worked up to a certain point, but progress slowed. Went back to bb in the end, except did decline variation instead of flat which was better for my shoulders. Incline’s fine for my shoulders as long as I don’t go too far down. If I were you, I’d still stick to movements where you can progress in load decently (e.g. the machines if not the barbel).

Some people need more work/volume for certain bodyparts and it may be the case for you with chest. I wouldn’t worry too much about doing anything fancy for it other than adding in extra sets/exercises. So, you could do say a range of 8-10 reps, 2-3 working sets (near failure on first 1 or 2 working sets, then failure on the last), and/or do an extra exercise or two for it.

A few extra reps often helps with mind-muscle connection. Learn to control the load more, especially on the negative - if this means taking some load off then so be it. Movement should be piston/smooth like a machine (no jerks/pauses or loss of tension)…in fact, make sure you do all this first, then if still a problem, increase the volume.[/quote]

Yea its not easy all the time eating that kinda protein lol

Think i will do an extra set or so for chest and shoulders then. My current routine for chest is db bench and incline machine (bb incline all shoulders).

I’ll do the extra set on incline i guess :smiley: See how things go from there and maybe add another set on the dbs if needed. Same with shoulder press and hammys i think.

Gota say the widowmaker on quads is just about the hardest hardest thing i have ever done lol. its a love hate thing :slight_smile:

Would you say that doing a widowmaker for chest would be a good idea just to finish off the chest and maybe spark some growth?

[quote]captain slow wrote:

[quote]Well done on the protein intake, not many manage that lol.

To be honest with you, I found db’s worked up to a certain point, but progress slowed. Went back to bb in the end, except did decline variation instead of flat which was better for my shoulders. Incline’s fine for my shoulders as long as I don’t go too far down. If I were you, I’d still stick to movements where you can progress in load decently (e.g. the machines if not the barbel).

Some people need more work/volume for certain bodyparts and it may be the case for you with chest. I wouldn’t worry too much about doing anything fancy for it other than adding in extra sets/exercises. So, you could do say a range of 8-10 reps, 2-3 working sets (near failure on first 1 or 2 working sets, then failure on the last), and/or do an extra exercise or two for it.

A few extra reps often helps with mind-muscle connection. Learn to control the load more, especially on the negative - if this means taking some load off then so be it. Movement should be piston/smooth like a machine (no jerks/pauses or loss of tension)…in fact, make sure you do all this first, then if still a problem, increase the volume.[/quote]

Yea its not easy all the time eating that kinda protein lol

Think i will do an extra set or so for chest and shoulders then. My current routine for chest is db bench and incline machine (bb incline all shoulders).

I’ll do the extra set on incline i guess :smiley: See how things go from there and maybe add another set on the dbs if needed. Same with shoulder press and hammys i think.

Gota say the widowmaker on quads is just about the hardest hardest thing i have ever done lol. its a love hate thing :slight_smile:

Would you say that doing a widowmaker for chest would be a good idea just to finish off the chest and maybe spark some growth?[/quote]

Hmm, not sure about widowmaker for chest (it seems to respond better to medium-lower reps usually). What you can do is make sure that as you are “warming up”, get a good amount of reps in there (e.g. 8-12) with a decent load. So it’s kind of like the reverse of the widowmaker. You get a really good pump going before you do your lower rep max towards the end.

Example incline barbel bench press:

6 Rep max = 225lbs+

Set 1: 12 x 140lbs (just over half of your working weight)
Set 2: 10 x 185lbs
Set 3: 8 x 205lbs
Set 4: 6 x 225lbs
Set 5: 6 x 225lbs

So you get quite a good pump in there, and sets start to become “harder” around set 3. In other words, you’re getting a decent amount of volume in the 6-12 rep range without having to bust your ass until the last set. You can do a drop set if you feel you really need it (e.g. on set 5 take off 25lbs and rep out to around 12 reps).

Do something similar with flat barbel bench press too. Or if you really want to, on the dumbbells (keep most of the sets around 10 for dumbbells while jumping in load about 3-4 times).

For most people, if you’re having trouble stimulating chest with the barbel and are getting shoulder pain, then hand placement and lack of ROM is usually the problem. You are probably gripping the bar too wide. Bring the grip in about 3-4 fingers (should be just outside shoulder width). Bring bar all the way down to the chest to feel a good stretch and a good amount of tension in the pecs. A grip that’s too wide will give you more of a stretch in the shoulders. It also encourages you to flare the elbows too much aswell.

As for shoulders, they respond to a little more rep volume. So with barbel/smith machine shoulder press you may start off with the bar for 15 reps, and keep adding weight (about 5 times) until you get to a max set of 8-10 reps. Dumbbell side raises will probably be like 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps (high reps at the start).

Hey thanks :smiley:

Ill definaltly try doing that then. Id previously been doing CCs recmmended build up of 5, 3 then top set of 3-10 or whatever. Seems to work well for strength but little growth :frowning:

The gym i go to is owned by a guy who insists light weight is the best for bodybuilding and strength is not important…i get hated on alot for training like this lol. I am probably one of the only guys there who uses 20 pltes on a leg press lol

Im progressing well on dbs so ill stick with that for the while :slight_smile: I last did

27.5 x5
37.5 x3
45 x5 (all in kilos and started from 35s for 6 in jan lol)

Currently on the 4th cycle deload so next time do the same sets but for 8 reps in the warm up sets and another top 1 i guess.

Should i be resting 3 minutes or so between top sets as thats what i have been doing?

Thanks again

[quote]captain slow wrote:
Hey thanks :smiley:

Ill definaltly try doing that then. Id previously been doing CCs recmmended build up of 5, 3 then top set of 3-10 or whatever. Seems to work well for strength but little growth :frowning:

The gym i go to is owned by a guy who insists light weight is the best for bodybuilding and strength is not important…i get hated on alot for training like this lol. I am probably one of the only guys there who uses 20 pltes on a leg press lol

Im progressing well on dbs so ill stick with that for the while :slight_smile: I last did

27.5 x5
37.5 x3
45 x5 (all in kilos and started from 35s for 6 in jan lol)

Currently on the 4th cycle deload so next time do the same sets but for 8 reps in the warm up sets and another top 1 i guess.

Should i be resting 3 minutes or so between top sets as thats what i have been doing?

Thanks again[/quote]

You’re welcome

C_C is a cyborg sent from another universe to planet earth for the sole purpose of making fun of all bodybuilders who’ve built impressive arms by using more volume and curling less than 100kgs, or close grip benching less than 220kgs

:wink:

[quote]its_just_me wrote:

[quote]captain slow wrote:
Hey thanks :smiley:

Ill definaltly try doing that then. Id previously been doing CCs recmmended build up of 5, 3 then top set of 3-10 or whatever. Seems to work well for strength but little growth :frowning:

The gym i go to is owned by a guy who insists light weight is the best for bodybuilding and strength is not important…i get hated on alot for training like this lol. I am probably one of the only guys there who uses 20 pltes on a leg press lol

Im progressing well on dbs so ill stick with that for the while :slight_smile: I last did

27.5 x5
37.5 x3
45 x5 (all in kilos and started from 35s for 6 in jan lol)

Currently on the 4th cycle deload so next time do the same sets but for 8 reps in the warm up sets and another top 1 i guess.

Should i be resting 3 minutes or so between top sets as thats what i have been doing?

Thanks again[/quote]

You’re welcome

C_C is a cyborg sent from another universe to planet earth for the sole purpose of making fun of all bodybuilders who’ve built impressive arms by using more volume and curling less than 100kgs, or close grip benching less than 220kgs

;)[/quote]

If you can build impressive arms/size with light weight, count yourself lucky. Imagine what you could do with heavy weight then haha.

You can just add another exercise for ramped sets of 10 up to 15 reps (smaller weight jumps) or 1 warm-up 1-2 work sets or o, or drop sets etc… If you feel like the regular method doesn’t make you big enough. That way, you won’t have to sacrifice strength gains.

All that being said… Gotta be honest with yourself and figure out whether lack of volume is really the issue, or whether strength gains so far have simply not been enough, or, quite likely, whether you are really hitting the target muscle group well with the exercises you are doing.
It’s ok to bench PL style for example as a general pressing strength exercise, but then you’ll need a good amount of DB work and/or Hammerstrength presses to actually make the chest do some work.

Another thing… How much weight have you gained? Protein is very important to keep the strength gains coming smoothly and to allow you to do more volume or intensity stuff etc… But of course overall cals have to be there, too.

If you’re unlucky (or not I guess), then you’re the next Jan Bast haha (weighs 90 kilos or so, benches 280kg or something like that raw, also pretty nice squat and DL… put a shirt on him and you can’t tell that he lifts weights… Then again, he only does the powerlifts I think and is truly one of a kind).
Or the next jeremy hoornstra… Skullcrushers with 365 for reps yet no 23 inch guns :slight_smile:

I have gained a fair bit of weight around 14 lbs or so, unfortunatly it seems to be alot on my waist. Inch and a nearly a half on the legs (WM is hardcore haha)

Will start doing the am cardio and carb cuttoffs next cycle (starts mon or tues) to take care of this. Like i said strength seems to of improved somewhat. 20kgs on my db bench (flat) and erm 20-25kgs on incline machine since january :slight_smile:

It already takes me an hour to perform all 6 exercises on chest and arms day so should i drop an exercise on tris say or continie on? Also would it be better to do a fly or press variation as the extra exercise? (im thinking machine flat bench to finish)

I am a little worried that 6 exercises a week (sometimes) for chest, may be a little hard on recovery, however i feel like my chest is not growing at all even after the gains in strength tbh. I guess its only 1 top set so it shouldnt be too taxing right? I trust your opinions guys :slight_smile:

20-25 Kg on a pressing machine isn’t much of a gain to be honest, you won’t notice much chest growth with that anyway… Do you actually feel the machine exercise in your chest?

You’re using that old yates 3-way, right?

If you are gaining too much fat you are either:

Not getting strong enough overall for the amount of weight you are gaining over that particular timeframe.
That either means you’re eating too much overall (we know you eat enough protein) for your activity level, or something in your training isn’t right, or both.

If you want, put biceps on leg day (after deadlifts or front squats if you do those, otherwise first in the session).
That way you can spend more time on your chest… 1-2 strength moves, some higher rep pump stuff with limited Rom afterwards.

Is your chest the only problem zone (apart from the fat gain), or is your entire upper body lagging?

Hm yea upper body in general i guess :frowning: Chest especially however…I get a pump and the day after i can feel the muscle burn. Arms have gone from 15 to just over 6 inches :slight_smile:

My legs are very strong compared to upper, i would prefer the other way i guess.

Pretty inactive in the day so yeah the 400gs or so of carbs are obviously unneeded. And the 4000kcal or so overall lool.

And yup im using the 3 way dude and the biceps thing makes perfect sense thanks :slight_smile:

What is pump stuff though CC? Should i focus on weight progression on this or just pumping ?

thanks :smiley:

So your arms have shrunk down to almost a third of their starting size ? :slight_smile:

I just call it pump stuff because that’s what you’re going for with it, a pump…

Example, say you’re doing chest:

First you do your strength moves, whatever protocol you use for them
-Flat BB or Incline, or both or whatever

Then you do
-Flat DB
35’sx15 (bottom half reps)
45’sx15
55’sx12

Or so.

You do add weight over time, if you can get 15 or 12 or whatever rep number you want to do per set on your last set, then you can up the weight a bit… Either on that one or on all (i.e. start 5 lbs heavier on all or so, or just widen the gaps a bit).

But adding weight is not the main concern.

Works great with HS machines imo…

Your arm growth sounds pretty nice for a 14 lb gain though esp. considering that you also added fat. Seems that your arm routine is at least working out quite well?

Might just have to give it some time with your upper body in general… How tall are you and how much do you weigh now?

What kind of numbers are you putting up?

I’ll say that training the entire body via high frequency can work great for arms especially, but it’s not the best approach for bringing up other weak areas as far as I can tell.

If your problem persists 30-40 lbs into the future, consider hitting legs once a week and maybe doing either the entire upper body twice, or focusing on specific areas… Say, training only chest twice a week (once heavy, once light and all pump focused) or so and everything else once…

Maxing out everything at once (i.e. frequency for all bodyparts) doesn’t allow for much specialization.

So, routines like the yates 3-way, DC 2-way, BBB etc… Are all more geared towards adding a lot of weight overall… If your legs are a strong point at the beginning, then then a more specialized routine may be the best idea.

Im 5’ 8 inch. squat is 150 x4. leg press about 20 plates. db bench is 45s. rack pulls from knee are 200kg for 8 reps.

Weigh just over 200lbs (15 stone).

I was using 45s on dbs as the main strngth movement along with incline machine second. Do you recommend switching to bb flat? If so how much weight is transfered over to bb (ie what would be a good starting point)?

Have been making decent progress on dbs using the 5,3 then top set of 5-8. I read that on another thread you made on how to build to a top set :slight_smile:

Oh and yeah llol i feel arms are doing ok. Well i have stretch marks on biceps and top of the tris so i take it as a good sign :smiley:

When progressing in weight i do try and own a weight before moving up (if i beat a PR but use shit form i stick with the weight next week and get good reps with it). Its just annoying as my chest is as flat as a pancake lol

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]its_just_me wrote:

[quote]captain slow wrote:
Hey thanks :smiley:

Ill definaltly try doing that then. Id previously been doing CCs recmmended build up of 5, 3 then top set of 3-10 or whatever. Seems to work well for strength but little growth :frowning:

The gym i go to is owned by a guy who insists light weight is the best for bodybuilding and strength is not important…i get hated on alot for training like this lol. I am probably one of the only guys there who uses 20 pltes on a leg press lol

Im progressing well on dbs so ill stick with that for the while :slight_smile: I last did

27.5 x5
37.5 x3
45 x5 (all in kilos and started from 35s for 6 in jan lol)

Currently on the 4th cycle deload so next time do the same sets but for 8 reps in the warm up sets and another top 1 i guess.

Should i be resting 3 minutes or so between top sets as thats what i have been doing?

Thanks again[/quote]

You’re welcome

C_C is a cyborg sent from another universe to planet earth for the sole purpose of making fun of all bodybuilders who’ve built impressive arms by using more volume and curling less than 100kgs, or close grip benching less than 220kgs

;)[/quote]

If you can build impressive arms/size with light weight, count yourself lucky. Imagine what you could do with heavy weight then haha.

You can just add another exercise for ramped sets of 10 up to 15 reps (smaller weight jumps) or 1 warm-up 1-2 work sets or o, or drop sets etc… If you feel like the regular method doesn’t make you big enough. That way, you won’t have to sacrifice strength gains.

All that being said… Gotta be honest with yourself and figure out whether lack of volume is really the issue, or whether strength gains so far have simply not been enough, or, quite likely, whether you are really hitting the target muscle group well with the exercises you are doing.
It’s ok to bench PL style for example as a general pressing strength exercise, but then you’ll need a good amount of DB work and/or Hammerstrength presses to actually make the chest do some work.

Another thing… How much weight have you gained? Protein is very important to keep the strength gains coming smoothly and to allow you to do more volume or intensity stuff etc… But of course overall cals have to be there, too.
[/quote]

Haha, you know I’m only jealous of your strength :stuck_out_tongue:


Captain Slow, I hope not to confuse you. With strength/size, try not to think of it as an either / or situation. You should always aim for strength gains, just while you do it, make sure you’re feeling it really well in the target muscle.

This includes:

Getting enough blood in there (not necessarily all from “light” weight, but slightly more reps/sets with progressively heavier weight on each set). Or like C_C said, do your “power” movement, followed by the “feeler” movement.

Controlling the load especially on the negative.

Getting a full stretch/ROM (something it can be tempting to cheat on for the sake of lifting more weight).

Proper setup (like I said on bench, hand placement)

Constant tension on the target muscle (more-so on things like dumbbells or higher rep sets). Don’t pause - don’t lockout the elbows and don’t be slow with the turnaround point (like when the bar/dumbbells reaches the chest, power it back up straight away)

okok thanks soo much for all your advise guys.

heres what i plan to do then, could you give me your thoughts?..

db bench

27.5 x8
37.5 x6-8
45 x6(approx, to failure)
then
40s xamap (probs 8-10)

incline machine

45 x5
60 x3
80 x5-8 (f)
60 xamap (f)??? is this set needed guys?

chest press

1 pps x12
1 p +5 x10
1 p +10 x8 or whatever (f) is this to failure or just till pumped? (would you rest as long as usual or just keep it short like 1 min or so?)

rest 5mins

cgbp

50x5
70 x3
82.5 x around 8-12 (f)
82.5 xamap (f)

seated press (i like these)

17.5 x8
27.5 x6
37.5 x10 or so (f)

I prefer to do dumbbell work after barbel work (and incline first because upper chest often lags), basically the heaviest first, but I’ll let C_C give you more feedback.

As for amount of sets I go mainly by the feel - it’s hard to explain, but usually when the muscle is feeling proper “bruised” and the pump starts to fade, I’ll call it a day. There is a cut off point between enough work, and too much that’ll just add fluff and lengthen recovery.

yea so i took ur advice and gave flat a go:

bb bench

100 x2
80 x10
60 x13

incline db

22.5 x9
27.5 x6
27.5 x7

close grip machine bench

75 x7 (then rest paused for 5 and 3)

overhead extension press

35 x6 drop set 17.5x12

Anyways i felt i got a decent pump, went too heavy on flat :frowning: haven’t done it in months lol but still a 20 kg PR :slight_smile: Drop down to 90kgs next time for 5-6 reps.

Would of done extra exercise but the owner of the gym was on the incline flye and bench. Looks kinda strange seeing a 25 stone guy training chest with like 20kg on a side stacked up in 2.5s doing forced reps/drop sets and all that so i did 3 on the flat.

Does this look like smething that would work in your opinion then? Id probably do 2 sets on flat next time and add a few pump sets on the end with machine? I got a good pump in tris and a bit of pump in chest aswel. Lol i guess the soreness tommorow will let me know :slight_smile: