too much for a 3 day split?

[MUSCULARMAYOR]

Hey boys, I recently had to go down to a 3 day split because of school. I really don't want to lose too many sets per muscle but it can be hard to cram em all in to three days. I'm thinking of trying;

mon- off(school)
tues- chest/delts/tri--chest-8 sets/ delts-11 sets/ tri-8-10 sets
weds- legs-- quads-12 sets/ hams- 7-8 sets
thurs- school
fri- back/bi/traps-- back-8-9 sets/ 8-10 sets/ traps-6-7 sets
sat/sun-off/cardio

I get lots of rest and I eat 4-5k cals a day clean. Is this alright for a natural lifter? Thanks as always.
PS. my chest and back need the least work right now, and that's why the sets are lower for them.

[tex]

looks ok to me....but i am a fan of low volume, high intensity.....when i am blasting (dc), I only do 1 exercise per bodypart......and only 1 workset for that exercise......

[L3]

remember to keep your workout time < 60 mins per session and you'll be fine

if i was you id maybe cut out 1 rest day on the weekend.
sat - sun- mon: 3 rest days in a row seems a bit much, but thats just me personally.

the parts of your body you want to grow the most should be getting the MOST complete rest (complete rest as in you do nothing but sleep and eat all day, no workout or cardio)

ps. cardio doesn't count as an "on" day lol

[Josh]

legaliz3: can you explain why it's good to keep workout time less than 60 minutes?

[natenator]

remember to keep your workout time < 60 mins per session and you'll be fine

if i was you id maybe cut out 1 rest day on the weekend.
sat - sun- mon: 3 rest days in a row seems a bit much, but thats just me personally.

the parts of your body you want to grow the most should be getting the MOST complete rest (complete rest as in you do nothing but sleep and eat all day, no workout or cardio)

ps. cardio doesn't count as an "on" day lol
I'd like to know this as well. All my workouts are in the 90-120 min range. covering 25-35 sets per workout not including warm-ups.

17 years in the gym.

Please do tell us why 60 mins should be the max.

[AlladdinSane]

Stats?

Right out of the gate I'd say back off on the number of sets for tris and bump up my sets for chest and do the same for bis and back.

Yes, I did read the last bit, but I'd still change it. Bis and tris are small. They shouldn't be getting more work than a big muscle groups like chest and back, IMO.

[Amoral]

You may want to experiment with switching tris and bis around see how that works for ya. I've done both and find a little more strength increase when throwing tris with back and bis with chest.

[Amoral]

looks ok to me....but i am a fan of low volume, high intensity.....when i am blasting (dc), I only do 1 exercise per bodypart......and only 1 workset for that exercise......

+1 man. If you're only in 3 days a week - make it worth your while and sweat your balls off

[AlbertaBeef]

I do a split similar when coming back after an extended break however,
I would use
-shoulders/back/bis
-legs
-chest/tris/traps

The idea of a chest/shoulder/tri workout bothers me as something is not going to get trained well enough and a day like that would be shoulders.

With all that you still need to add abs, forearms and calves on whatever day you chose.

With this split and only an hour to train it's going to get pretty old fast and gains will be slow.

I would be more inclined to do a 3 day 5X5 split on compound movements only as it would be more productive but still you are lacking time.

[gordi]

How long since you've done whole-body? Maybe try cutting down on the volume per body part and cranking up the frequency. I've been doing really well on a 3 times per week whole-body routine, and I've kept it up by recently switching to a 3-day Upper Body/Lower Body/Whole Body split. I'm basing each workout around one "big" exercise for 5X5, and I'm loving it.

Sometimes making a change can spark growth, and maybe this schedule change is the motivation you need to try a whole new approach to training.

When the higher-frequency stuff eventually stops working for me, I'm thinking of switching to a one-body-part-per-day type high-volume routing to spark renewed progress.

Here's my real-world experience: All programs work... for a while!

[L3]

to answer your question..

training for longer than even 45 minutes is not optimal since your body will release cortisol and therefore put itself into a catabolic state. so while you're pumping that iron, for 120 minutes, your body is slowly eating itself away


17 years in the gym eh, lets see some pics to back that up "big guy"

:pstfu



I'd like to know this as well. All my workouts are in the 90-120 min range. covering 25-35 sets per workout not including warm-ups.

17 years in the gym.

Please do tell us why 60 mins should be the max.

[physique]

to answer your question..

training for longer than even 45 minutes is not optimal since your body will release cortisol and therefore put itself into a catabolic state. so while you're pumping that iron, for 120 minutes, your body is slowly eating itself away



:pstfu

beat me to it. the same goes for cardio.

[AlladdinSane]

High Carb drink + BCAA mix ingested over the length of your workout = Workout as long as you want

(Within reason. Let's not get silly here.)

[Josh]

what if you want to do cardio after you workout? does that have to be included within the 45 minutes too, or can it be done after?

[natenator]

to answer your question..

training for longer than even 45 minutes is not optimal since your body will release cortisol and therefore put itself into a catabolic state. so while you're pumping that iron, for 120 minutes, your body is slowly eating itself away


17 years in the gym eh, lets see some pics to back that up "big guy"

:pstfu

Here you go

[L3]

Here you go

touche...looking jacked


josh - yeah, you should not mix cardio with weight lifting.. you can still do it in the same day tho, just one in the morning one in the late afternoon after your body has some time to recover

[natenator]

touche...looking jacked


josh - yeah, you should not mix cardio with weight lifting.. you can still do it in the same day tho, just one in the morning one in the late afternoon after your body has some time to recover
There are no hard and fast stated rules to working out. It's pretty damn simple actually. But too many people like to complicate it it by encompassing these "rules" around what people should and should not do. Don't train for over 60 mins, don't do cardio and weights in the same session (I know PLENTY of people who do cardio after weights when dieting and come in JUST fine), don't do this, don't do that.

There are many different ways to train and the ONLY rule that one needs to follow is to train with good form.

[L3]

Don't train for over 60 mins, don't do cardio and weights in the same session (I know PLENTY of people who do cardio after weights when dieting and come in JUST fine), don't do this, don't do that.

There are many different ways to train and the ONLY rule that one needs to follow is to train with good form.

i agree completeley with the statement about proper form... but as for doing cardio and working out consecutevely, do you really wana come in "JUST" fine?

call me lazy but id rather get the BEST results from my training in as little amount of time as possible

now, mind you, you have to be CONSISTENT, which is actually just as important if not more than maintaining proper form...but being consistent doesnt mean i have to "waste" an extra hour in the gym, when i know i can push myself to kill it for 45-60 mins and get just the same if not better results

i will concede with what aladdin said about bcaas helping you train for longer periods of time within reason. but from my personal experience, i did saw much MUCH better results when i changed my workouts from 1:30+ hrs to under 1 hr.

[Ritch]

I`d agree you can train longer than one hour, the carb drink and BCAA holds alot of truth, even just the carb drink alows me to do so. When I train legs it takes me 1hour and 20 mins to do so. Chest and triceps will take an hour but then I do 10 minutes of abs I`d say on average it takes me an hour and 15 minutes to train not counting warm ups. The difference it makes taking more time? I can rest longer allowing me to use heavier weights. I always rest 3 minutes on every bodypart exept calves and abs. It`s just what works for me. I`d say another benefit is just not being stressed, I`d always stress the whole "better be out of here in one hour thing..."

[natenator]

i agree completeley with the statement about proper form... but as for doing cardio and working out consecutevely, do you really wana come in "JUST" fine?

call me lazy but id rather get the BEST results from my training in as little amount of time as possible

now, mind you, you have to be CONSISTENT, which is actually just as important if not more than maintaining proper form...but being consistent doesnt mean i have to "waste" an extra hour in the gym, when i know i can push myself to kill it for 45-60 mins and get just the same if not better results

i will concede with what aladdin said about bcaas helping you train for longer periods of time within reason. but from my personal experience, i did saw much MUCH better results when i changed my workouts from 1:30+ hrs to under 1 hr.
Dude... you took the just fine out of conext. When I say just fine? I'm referring to condition enough to win their respective shows.

You cannot say one way is better, for a fact, than another for everyone. It's just not possible. That's like suggesting the same diet for the same person weighing the same weight, being the same height, carrying the same bodyfat and the same amount of LBM can both diet on the same calories/macro breakdown. You can get them both to a certain point but going further will require individual tweaks based on each person's own unique body.

It's all good dude but I really don't want people thinking there are hard and fast rules to training. It is not rocket science and attempting to turn it into a science project makes for some serious wheel spinning.

[Rhinobolt10]

High Carb drink + BCAA mix ingested over the length of your workout = Workout as long as you want

(Within reason. Let's not get silly here.)


works like a charm