Body split?

trapsagenius

I'm currently working out 3 days a week.(Monday, Wednesday and Friday)
Workout A is chest, triceps and legs.
Workout B is back, biceps and shoulders.

I alternate between the workouts each day of the week.i.e ABA week 1, BAB week 2 etc.

Now, I'm thinking about changing my workouts to 3 different ones
A-Chest,Triceps
B-Back biceps
C-shoulders, legs

I was just wondering if I was only working out each body part once a week would i still see good growth(muscle-wise)?

BTW, I'm happy with my exercises so I'm not really loking for advice with that regard.

All comments appreciated.Thanks.

cardio,shoot me

if your doing legs on the same day as chest and triceps i guarantee your not working hard enough

imo legs should have their own seperate day as they are usually the most taxing to train.

trapsagenius

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

if your doing legs on the same day as chest and triceps i guarantee your not working hard enough

imo legs should have their own seperate day as they are usually the most taxing to train.

How does that even come close to answering my question?I remember you doing the same thing on a different thread I had.

And I am absolutely positive I'm working hard enough.

cardio,shoot me

sorry ill try to be more specific. one thing id reccomend thats working well for me is 5/3/1 , basically you structure your day around 1 of your main lifts and you train 3-4 days a week
like : military press
deadlift
bench
squat

so you have two upper and two lower days. i train monday tuesday and thursday and friday.

and the reason i may have the said the same thing in another thread is because i firmly believe it.


you could also do something like starting strength which is only 3 days a week

trapsagenius

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

sorry ill try to be more specific. one thing id reccomend thats working well for me is 5/3/1 , basically you structure your day around 1 of your main lifts and you train 3-4 days a week
like : military press
deadlift
bench
squat

so you have two upper and two lower days. i train monday tuesday and thursday and friday.

and the reason i may have the said the same thing in another thread is because i firmly believe it.


you could also do something like starting strength which is only 3 days a week

Fair enough.I can only make it to the gym 3 times a week though.And I'd say I've moved a bit beyond starting strength!
My question was "will i see good growth(muscle-wise) if I'm only training each body part once a week" though?

cardio,shoot me

im not really experienced/knowledgable enough to answer that. one more thing on 5/3/1 tho is. you can adjust it to 3 days
just to military press and bench press on the same day. kevpants did it for while.

BobbyOLeary

trapsagenius wrote: »

And I'd say I've moved a bit beyond starting strength!

I maintain that Rip would have made more cash if he'd have called it Strong Lifts like that other dude, or Get Hooge Quick. That's a book I'd have bought quicker than Starting Strength. Even Practical Programming sounds manlier.

And yes you can gain weight only hitting each body part once per week. Cardio made a good point about hitting up a 3 day version of 5/3/1 if you've moved to intermediate style training.

On that note though, Bench and Shoulder press on the same day? I always wondered about that, does one not reduce the ability of the other? Different movement patterns to be sure but similar enough to fatigue some of the same stuff.

Transform

trapsagenius wrote: »

Fair enough.I can only make it to the gym 3 times a week though.And I'd say I've moved a bit beyond starting strength!
My question was "will i see good growth(muscle-wise) if I'm only training each body part once a week" though?

yes is the simple answer as long as your lifts are going up!

Transform

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

I maintain that Rip would have made more cash if he'd have called it Strong Lifts like that other dude, or Get Hooge Quick. That's a book I'd have bought quicker than Starting Strength. Even Practical Programming sounds manlier.

And yes you can gain weight only hitting each body part once per week. Cardio made a good point about hitting up a 3 day version of 5/3/1 if you've moved to intermediate style training.

On that note though, Bench and Shoulder press on the same day? I always wondered about that, does one not reduce the ability of the other? Different movement patterns to be sure but similar enough to fatigue some of the same stuff.

second bench and SP on same day also

personally i do not feel like i have done a workout unless oly lifts, squats, deadlifts in some form are covered!

cardio,shoot me

yea i agree, i miss powercleans, have to take the rest of the week of just incase i mess up my wrists.

Brian?

Transform wrote: »

second bench and SP on same day also

No benching and OH pressing on the same day? I've always done it that way, time to stop?

Transform

briankeating wrote: »

No benching and OH pressing on the same day? I've always done it that way, time to stop?

limits them really i.e. bench first the the oh press will suffer as the front delts and triceps are used on both.

J-Fit

trapsagenius wrote: »

Fair enough.I can only make it to the gym 3 times a week though.And I'd say I've moved a bit beyond starting strength!
My question was "will i see good growth(muscle-wise) if I'm only training each body part once a week" though?

You can definately do it. That's how bodybuilders have been doing it for years but there are more efficient ways. Basically, muscle growth is dependant on protein sythesis which is elevated for approx. 2/3 days after training. So say you do your arms once per week, thats 3 days in synthesis. If you did your arms again after three days, that 6 days in synthesis. A full body workout keeps a greater % of your muscle mass in synthesis for a greater length of time because you are working the muscle groups concurrently at more regular intervals. Obviously you need to be more efficient with your workouts if you do it this way and you do so by incorporating the multi-joint exercise that the guys above have mentioned. Don't get hung up on htting this muscle from this angle and that muscle from that angle. Lift big stuff with multiple joints on a regular basis and there should be little room for failure. Sorry, I hate to confuse you with an alternative answer.

Brian?

Transform wrote: »

limits them really i.e. bench first the the oh press will suffer as the front delts and triceps are used on both.

The way I was looking at it was that I know OH pressing limit my bench, so I am not worried if my bench is going up slowly. I am primarily looking to bring my OH press up.

When I plateau on my OH press and bench I will look at splitting them, what do you think?

Phil D

Every one is different. Find what works for you. Also be prepared to adapt if you plateau. It’s important to stay motivated for the long haul. This is a lot easier if you enjoy it. If you’re happy with what you’re doing and still seeing gains don’t listen to anyone but your own body.

The Davestator

A good way to achieve extra muscle growth is to change the reps around a bit every second week without changing your body parts.

i.e.
week one - 15 - 12 reps
Week two - 8 - 5 reps (with much heavier weights)

I've seen it work on me and others and it keeps things more interesting.

trapsagenius

Thanks for the responses lads.I might give it a try if (or should that be when?) i hit a plateau which I'm sure will be fairly soon!

Rycn

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

I maintain that Rip would have made more cash if he'd have called it Strong Lifts like that other dude, or Get Hooge Quick. That's a book I'd have bought quicker than Starting Strength. Even Practical Programming sounds manlier.

And yes you can gain weight only hitting each body part once per week. Cardio made a good point about hitting up a 3 day version of 5/3/1 if you've moved to intermediate style training.

On that note though, Bench and Shoulder press on the same day? I always wondered about that, does one not reduce the ability of the other? Different movement patterns to be sure but similar enough to fatigue some of the same stuff.

The front delts would be firing up bigtime alright.