5 day split?

[Julian]

Any suggestions on a 5 day split?

Im thinking of doing something like this.


Mon - chest
tues - legs
wed- bicep/forearm
thursday- tricep/shoulder
friday - back.

or would it make more sense to put shoulder on backday?

Is a day of rest inbetween necassary? or can i just have those set as the weekend?

Also what do you guys think about 3 day splits like this...

legs/shoulder

chest/bi

back/tri/

im trying to switch things up, so lemme know what you think.

lates

 

[Warboss Alex]

Why switch things up? What's your current split? Has it stopped working or are you just bored?

And no, I wouldn't recommend a 5 day split.

 

[silverwex]

And no, I wouldn't recommend a 5 day split.

Why not alex?

I was thinking of changing my 3 day split to a 5 day to concentrate more on each muscle group - oh yeah and ive also reached a plateau so i wanna mix things up.

 

[Double]

are you finished with cutting silver? would be exaggerated to expect gains while cutting

 

[Warboss Alex]

5 day split means you're in the gym five intense days a week - unless you're an advanced lifter who knows his own body pretty well the potential to overtrain is substantial. That's my opinion anyway, if you don't push your limits and beyond each session then maybe you could get away with it.

If you've plateau'd then make sure your diet is in check; I'd also change exercises instead of the whole split. How do you mean you've plateau'd, exactly, or are you just bored with the current split?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Originally posted by Double
are you finished with cutting silver? would be exaggerated to expect gains while cutting

The way you guys do it, possibly.

 

[EFFORT]

Stay away from 5 day splits man, like alex said those are for advanced lifters that really know there body and are probably on something and have good genetics. Even a lot of advanced guys stay away from these.




If you want to change your workout i'd switch it up to a 2day modified wsb split, those are working great for people.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Originally posted by EFFORT
Stay away from 5 day splits man, like alex said those are for advanced lifters that really know there body and are probably on something and have good genetics. Even a lot of advanced guys stay away from these.

If you want to change your workout i'd switch it up to a 2day modified wsb split, those are working great for people.

WSB is all well and good, but the question is, have the guys really plateau'd on their current schemes or if they think they have.. maybe swapping some exercises or taking a week off might help - remember that gains aren't week in, week out, they're monitored over months. If you gain/lose absolutely no weight (in inches rather than the scale) in a month then yeah, something is likely to be wrong - but it might be a small component like a coupla exercises or you need to up the protein/carbs or whatever.

I'm not in favour of people totally abandoning a routine just because it appears to have slowed down; this is not a linear science and we can't expect linear progress all the time.

Changing a routine should only really take place once you've milked your current regime for the absolute last ounce of muscle gain/fat burned/both and are 100000% certain you can't do anything more with it.

A core 3-day or 2-day split concentrated around compound movements should net you gains for a very, very long time - exercises will need to be swapped yes from time to time, diet will need to be tinkered with to accommodate extra muscle mass, cardio will have to be upped as your body adapts to it and your fitness improves, sometimes after two weeks sometimes after two years, but the split itself is unlikely to be at fault, exhaust all other possibilities before doing something drastic.

 

[Julian]

If you've plateau'd then make sure your diet is in check; I'd also change exercises instead of the whole split. How do you mean you've plateau'd, exactly, or are you just bored with the current split?

I really like being at the gym. I feel alot better (confidence/self esteem/general well being) on days that i train. I feel as if i eat better, intake more protein and sleep better on days i train as well. So i figured, a 5 day split would suit me well.

I dont have a job or any other obligations besides sleeping/eating/training/music/whatever i feel like doing so i would hope i could handle a 5 day split without overtraining.

Ive been making good gains on my current 3 day split. So if you guys think a 5 day split would not be beneficial i would probably just stick to the 3 day.

And for the 2nd part, what do you guys think about splitting the 3 day like i mentioned above?

ive read some things about doing chest/bi, back/tri instead of the traditional chest/tri, back/bi.

Where would shoulders fit into that scheme? On leg day? Id prefer to have shoulder one of the other days as i like to isolate legs.

 

[Warboss Alex]

You're making good gains on a 3day split - then stick with it.

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Back/Biceps/Forearms
Legs/Abs if you want

There, that should do you.

It's not so much the lack of rest on a 5day split that will overtrain you, it's the actual musclework. Just because you can apparently handle it doesn't mean that your body can - if you get my meaning.

If you like being at the gym do some cardio there! Don't see the point meself but if it's a social thing you really could just walk the treadmill and chat up the girls.

 

[MindOverMatter]

if you're gonna do a 5 day split, do shoulders (delts + traps) on a seperate day, and do bis + tris together.

don't bother isolating your forearms, they get worked out enough through deadlifts / shrugs.

I find I grow best with 5 day splits when I get to focus on one group at the time, and I also have more fun working out this way (rather then mixing groups).

Mine is:

day 1 - chest
day 2 - back
day 3 - legs
day 4 - arms
day 5 - shoulders

 

[silverwex]

double: no, not even near getting to my target of 14% BF yet! lets give it about 3 months anyway! lol

alex: yeah i think i have totally plateaued on my routine (def have to start eating more too). heres what i do:

mon: tri/chest/shoulder
wed: back/bi
fri: legs

been doing that sort of split for nearly a year now!

 

[vanwilder]

chest / back / shoulders

legs

arms

legs

chest / back / shoulders

i personally like it, everyone is goign to bash it because they cant tollerate hitting anythign 2x a week. im on this right now, i do all heavy weight low reps, and not many sets compared to my other work outs. i made great gains on this.

 

[Julian]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
if you're gonna do a 5 day split, do shoulders (delts + traps) on a seperate day, and do bis + tris together.

don't bother isolating your forearms, they get worked out enough through deadlifts / shrugs.

I find I grow best with 5 day splits when I get to focus on one group at the time, and I also have more fun working out this way (rather then mixing groups).

Mine is:

day 1 - chest
day 2 - back
day 3 - legs
day 4 - arms
day 5 - shoulders

thanks Mind i knew you'd come through with some solid advice. I will give this a try this week and see how it goes.

I feel like ill have more fun as well with a split like this. Also, should this be done straight through mon-fri? Or would you recommend a day of rest inbetween (like on a wed). or is that not even necassary?

 

[MindOverMatter]

yeah, sometimes I like to do:

day 1: chest
day 2: back
day 3: rest
day 4: legs
day 5: arms
day 6: shoulders
day 7: rest

it's up to you, you have 2 days of rest, listen to your body, and arrange them how you will.

 

[vanwilder]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
yeah, sometimes I like to do:

day 1: chest
day 2: back
day 3: rest
day 4: legs
day 5: arms
day 6: shoulders
day 7: rest

it's up to you, you have 2 days of rest, listen to your body, and arrange them how you will.

i really dont think you should be doing shoulders after arms, you will not have your 100% to do your shoulders because your arms are tired from the previous day. switch the two around. and by doing this youll give it an extra day to heal over for your chest workout which indirectly needs shoulders.

 

[MindOverMatter]

I have no idea what you just said, my arms recover just fine with my diet / supplementation and have yet to have a bad follow-up shoulder workout. Besides, the only exercise the really requires a lot of arm work on shoulder days is military press, and that's only if you extend your arms all the way and overinvolve the triceps (which I don't do anyway).

Anyway, thanks for the advice but I tend to listen to my body first before anyone else, so it really wasn't necessery.

 

[Julian]

Update - I think i strained the outer area of my right pec last week when i was doing weighted dips, going down too low with bad form, who knows.

When i was doing flys/flat db presses there was a pain and it felt sort of tight, i noticed this last week and worked through it (dumb possibly) and i figured it would be healed by this week.

It wasnt quite as bad, but still uncomfortable. So i stopped after a couple sets of db presses.

I think my body was due for a rest anyway, ive been going to the gym nonstop for the last 10 weeks so im resting up the rest of this week and starting the 5 day split on monday.

however, for maximum healing time im thinking of switching up the order. Do you think i could get away with doing chest on friday instead of monday?

 

[MindOverMatter]

feel free to take 2 weeks of rest if you have to, it's better to spend an extra week resting, then it is to go back, get injured, and have to spend 3-6 months out of the gym. it's better to be safe then sorry when it comes to this stuff. listen to your body

and yeah you can train chest on friday. that's all personal preferrence.

 

[vanwilder]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
I have no idea what you just said, my arms recover just fine with my diet / supplementation and have yet to have a bad follow-up shoulder workout. Besides, the only exercise the really requires a lot of arm work on shoulder days is military press, and that's only if you extend your arms all the way and overinvolve the triceps (which I don't do anyway).

Anyway, thanks for the advice but I tend to listen to my body first before anyone else, so it really wasn't necessery.

how can you have no idea waht i said. pressing motions require tricep strength and by working it out the day before your obviously not going to perform as well with shoulder exercises in comparison to when you didnt. and then obviously your not hitting your arms hard enough that day either. next of all with the chest thing i said, becuase your CHEST EXERCISES ARE PUSH AS WELL< AND REQUIRE SHOULDER STRENGTH, working your shoulders out so close to your chest day will obviously take away the intensity from that workout.

and btw it was a suggestion for the other guy not you. you apparently know it all anyways so i wouldnt bother trying to help you.

o and btw to the other guy, this is apparently going to be a quote from the arnold book because that ius the only place where i get my information from.