Trying to gather some ideas on the placement of particular bodyparts throughout the week. Thought the best approach would be finding out what everyone else does. So what is your bodypart split?
Monday:
vertical pulling (back) and shoulders (barbell BTN for pressing)
Tuesday:
off
Wednesday:
chest/arms
Tursday:
off
Friday:
horizontal pulling (back) and shoulders (dumbbells for pressing)
Saturday or Sunday:
Legs
Calves can be done whenever you want. I do them every other day in school PE. Abs can be done whenever. It’s very versatile.
The routine prioritizes the bodyparts that I need the most different exercises to train. It’s working really well this way. I also think back and shoulders just look badass.
You can add a second leg day on Tuesday if you can fully recover by then.
Monday - Shoulders/Traps and Lower Chest
Tuesday - Legs/ Biceps(doing three weeks on three weeks off for biceps because I’m getting unproportional.)
Wed- Off
Thurs-Chest/Calves
Friday- Back/Tri’s/Traps.
I’ve been following thibs trap routine from one of his recent thibs articles.
So far I’ve seen awesome games.
I don’t do abs anymore, I find them to be a waste of time. I eat 4000+ cals a day, and mysteriously they are still better than ever. When it comes down to a competition ill begin to train them a whiles out.
Mon- chest
Tues- legs
Wed- Biceps- Triceps
Thur- Shoulders
Fri- Back
Sat- Rest
Sun- Rest
I must say making my own day for arms is working for me. Cuts down the time of my other gym days too. Found I couldn’t work my arms well after heavy chest or back routine. Just to blasted.
Why do you specialize in lower chest as opposed to upper, like most people? Also, wouldn’t your bicep training style just make you seesaw?
edit:
@ drzzt
Well, I have done various things.
At the moment it’s
Tuesday: Smolov Jr for the bench (actually InHuman CGBP) 6x6 @ 70% 1RM. Also for calves using hack squat machine.
Wednesday: Squat and DL type movements, at my typical volume. Actually no squats or DL’s per se, but variants such as box squats, bottom range squats, Dimel deadlifts, bottom half deadlifts off a platform, Romanian DL’s.
Thursday: day 2 of Smolov Jr, 5x7 @ 75%. (Or in later weeks, that plus an increment.)
Friday: Lats and midback, at reduced volume but still quite a fair bit
Saturday: day 3 of Smolov Jr, 4x8 @ 80%
Sunday: day 4 of Smolov Jr, 3x10 @ 85%
Monday: Rest
The notation is reps and then sets.
That will be done for 3 weeks, then the four Smolov days will be deadlift (off a 4" platform), there will be no squatting, chest will be reduced volume, shoulders will be reintroduced and on chest day and at normal volume, and lats and midback will be normal volume.
In the next 3 weeks, there will be no Smolov protocol, but lats, midback, and maybe shoulders will be at an emphasized volume. Squatting and DL movements done as usual.
In the final 3 weeks, squatting will receive the Smolov Jr treatment. No deadlifting, chest and shoulders will be at normal high volume, lats and midback will be normal high volume.
If all goes as well as expected, than another round of the same after that.
[quote]Artem wrote:
Why do you specialize in lower chest as opposed to upper, like most people? Also, wouldn’t your bicep training style just make you seesaw?
edit:
@ drzzt[/quote]
I tended to do the upper and middle pec (not inner) presses first, then I would move to lower pec excersises. By the end of the first two excersies I seem to be weaker, thus I don’t think I put much intensity into training the lower pec. Since I’ve given the lower pec a session on its own, I’ve seen pretty good results over the last few months.
Elaborate on “seesaw”. I Just want to understand correctly what you mean so I can respond to your question.
Edit on my post up above: Friday Back/Triceps (For triceps I also do the same 3 weeks on, three weeks off like biceps).
My arms tend to grow faster than anything else, I really have to watch my proportion sometimes.
[quote]Drizzt wrote:
Artem wrote:
Why do you specialize in lower chest as opposed to upper, like most people? Also, wouldn’t your bicep training style just make you seesaw?
edit:
@ drzzt
I tended to do the upper and middle pec (not inner) presses first, then I would move to lower pec excersises. By the end of the first two excersies I seem to be weaker, thus I don’t think I put much intensity into training the lower pec. Since I’ve given the lower pec a session on its own, I’ve seen pretty good results over the last few months.
Elaborate on “seesaw”. I Just want to understand correctly what you mean so I can respond to your question.
Edit on my post up above: Friday Back/Triceps (For triceps I also do the same 3 weeks on, three weeks off like biceps).
My arms tend to grow faster than anything else, I really have to watch my proportion sometimes.[/quote]
I mean that you’ll make gains for 3 weeks, take 3 weeks off and lose most of the progress, then start the 3 weeks where you left 6 weeks ago.
Also, why are you so worried about proportions at this stage? No offense or anything, but you’re still actively trying to gain right? You’re not really “polishing off” the muscles like a lot of pros. I’m just trying to say that I’ve yet to see somebody with arms too big for their bodies that wasn’t using synthol or something. You may be missing out on gaining opportunities.
Also, what do you mean by training the middle pec and stuff? I wasn’t aware there were isolation exercises for that. I just do flat, incline, decline DB bench and incline flys. Everything seems to be worked pretty equally.
mon: deadlift, calves, abs
tues: bench variation, tricep assistance
wed: upper back and shoulders
thurs: squat, calves, abs
fri: arms
pretty much matt k’s split. I like it and have been progressing nicely, keeps my workouts short and focused plus I get to go the gym often.
Your split is definitely something that needs variation. At this point, I am training opposing/antagonist muscle groups together (i.e. chest, back). It is easier in some gyms than others, but I’ve responded well to alternating exercises. Something simple such as throwing in weighted chins between bench sets will make quite a difference in what you can put out in terms of volume/intensity.
[quote]Artem wrote:
Also, why are you so worried about proportions at this stage? No offense or anything, but you’re still actively trying to gain right? You’re not really “polishing off” the muscles like a lot of pros. I’m just trying to say that I’ve yet to see somebody with arms too big for their bodies that wasn’t using synthol or something. You may be missing out on gaining opportunities.
Also, what do you mean by training the middle pec and stuff? I wasn’t aware there were isolation exercises for that. I just do flat, incline, decline DB bench and incline flys. Everything seems to be worked pretty equally.[/quote]
By Upper and Middle pec Im refering to Incline and flat bench sorry. Plus with cutting out the lower pec I can focus more on the flys. I find it useful, maybe its just me.
Due to a shoulder injury in the past, my chest size dropped dramatically. I had 17" arms and a puny chest, It looked awkward. My goal has been to get my chest/shoulders and arms back into proportion. I have 18" arms flexed and unpumped. Im not worried about gains in the arm department. Another month or so and things should be back to normal.
People may not notice the difference or the proportional difference of my chest and arms, but I sure as hell do.
The person who tends to critisize you the most is usually yourself.
[quote]Drizzt wrote:
Artem wrote:
Also, why are you so worried about proportions at this stage? No offense or anything, but you’re still actively trying to gain right? You’re not really “polishing off” the muscles like a lot of pros. I’m just trying to say that I’ve yet to see somebody with arms too big for their bodies that wasn’t using synthol or something. You may be missing out on gaining opportunities.
Also, what do you mean by training the middle pec and stuff? I wasn’t aware there were isolation exercises for that. I just do flat, incline, decline DB bench and incline flys. Everything seems to be worked pretty equally.
By Upper and Middle pec Im refering to Incline and flat bench sorry. Plus with cutting out the lower pec I can focus more on the flys. I find it useful, maybe its just me.
Due to a shoulder injury in the past, my chest size dropped dramatically. I had 17" arms and a puny chest, It looked awkward. My goal has been to get my chest/shoulders and arms back into proportion. I have 18" arms flexed and unpumped. Im not worried about gains in the arm department. Another month or so and things should be back to normal.
People may not notice the difference or the proportional difference of my chest and arms, but I sure as hell do.
The person who tends to critisize you the most is usually yourself.
[/quote]
This is true.
Is your avatar picture accurate to what you look like now? What’s your waist size?
[quote]Artem wrote:
Drizzt wrote:
Artem wrote:
This is true.
Is your avatar picture accurate to what you look like now? What’s your waist size?
[/quote]
No, I really need to update the picture. I’ve actually put on literally about 20 pounds since then, I just needed a pic for my avatar when I signed up for T-Nation.
Waist size then: 32"
Waist size now: 33" Measured as of a minute ago.
side note: the avatar picture was taken when I was getting back into chest/shoulders post shoulder injury.
Still chugging along with the old standby:
Back/biceps
Chest/triceps
rest
Thighs/calves
Delts/traps
rest
rest or repeat
I’m currently trying to bring up biceps and triceps, cuz they both suck and need all the work they can get… so anyways, this is what I’ve been doing for a good 6 months and I like it a lot.
Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest and triceps
Wednesday - Back and biceps
Thursday - Shoulders and traps
Friday - off
Saturday - biceps and triceps
Sunday - off
good luck bud.
I do a typical four-day split at the moment:
Chest and Triceps
Legs and Calves
OFF
Back and Biceps
Shoulders and Traps
OFF
OFF or Repeat depending on how I feel.
I normally do fairly high volume.
monday quads back hamstrings biceps
tuesday chest shoulders triceps calves
wednesday rest
thursday back quads hamstrings biceps
friday chest shoulders triceps calves
Day 1: Shoulders and back (lats)
Day 2: Legs and traps
Day 3: Chest and arms
Rest 1-2 days and repeat. Sets are 3-5 per exercises and 3-8 reps. Get a good mix of compound and spot work. Even dieting I seem to be able to gain strength on it.
[quote]Artem wrote:
Monday:
vertical pulling (back) and shoulders (barbell BTN for pressing)
Tuesday:
off
Wednesday:
chest/arms
Tursday:
off
Friday:
horizontal pulling (back) and shoulders (dumbbells for pressing)
Saturday or Sunday:
Legs
Calves can be done whenever you want. I do them every other day in school PE. Abs can be done whenever. It’s very versatile.
The routine prioritizes the bodyparts that I need the most different exercises to train. It’s working really well this way. I also think back and shoulders just look badass.
You can add a second leg day on Tuesday if you can fully recover by then.[/quote]
That looks really interesting. I like it.