3-day split, opinions..?

soma

Any opinions on this 3-day split..? I think I've been over-training (typical slim guy, find it difficult to gain weight, you've seen a zillion posts like this blah blah..) so I want to make sure I only train each body part once a week.

Day 1: chest & back (opposing)
Day 2: biceps & triceps (opposing)
Day 3: legs & shoulders.

The only one Im not entirely sure about is Day 3, as I havent seen legs & shoulders recomended together very often. But it seems to make sense to me.. i.e. I'd like to do squats which do involve the shoulders a bit so it seems to make sense to combine them..?

I'd rather not do shoulders on the 'more traditional' same day that I do chest - as I find I can give more intensity to the chest exercises then.

Abs are worked (nothing major) at the end of each training session.

cheers,

irlirishkev

Can you post up your actual routine for each day?
Were you actually overtraining, or just not eating enough?

tribulus

it'd probably be better to change it a bit, as you're only working you're arms on one day(not a major muscle group)

too many people over emphasise arms. I think it was logic. that made a good point that to put on 1inch on your arms you need to gain about 10lbs mass overall.

Maybe this split would suit better:
day1:chest,biceps,side delts
day2:back,triceps
day3:legs

when i say back i include your trapezius and rear delts(which you probably counted in shoulders)
you could include your front delts on day2 or day3 whatever you feel works best
Bear in mind that triceps get worked to some extent by pressing exercises(i.e bench press, military press etc) and biceps by pulling exercises (cable rows, bent over rows etc.)

don't forget to include some work for forearms on one day aswell
hope that helps and rem. there's probably guys here more knowledgable and experienced than me (i'm only 19) that could improve/change the routine i said

Musashi

I used the same split as Tribulus posted when training ,a large and small muscle group each session and a pushing movement with a pulling movement to help the opposing body parts to recover.
For example when benching you involve the triceps to a certain degree,so training biceps helps pump blood around the arm and the tri's to recover for your next bench effort.Your also resting the tris rather than hitting them benching and then directly using them in French press etc.
The only thing I used to do was legs day on the Wednsday so my upper body workouts were as far apart as possible so I could recover fully.Also, doing legs mid week meant I was fresh enough to go hard and still be ok to walk again by the weekend

soma

Thanks alot for that info guys, your posts made me go off and learn what delts are. Tribulus you're right I was thinking of the shoulders as 'one' muscle rather than a collection of (mostly?) independent deltoids.

Ok this isn't a complete plan just yet (I have to sort out number of sets & exact exercises etc..) & there's a few sections I'm hoping you guys can give me some recomendations, but it's basically what Tribulus & Musashi have advocated:

Day 1.

Chest (bench press, dumbbell press, flys)
Biceps/Forearms (dumbbell curls, EZ bar curls, preacher curls, hammer curls)
Side Delts (Lateral Dumbbell Raise - what else works the side delts??)

[actually the above seems like alot of work... I may have to super-set as I do want to keep my workouts short but really intense & difficult - i.e. no more than 40 mins?]

Day 2

Back (pulldowns, close-grip chin up)
Trapezius - I see this is split in upper, middle & lower - any recomendations? Shrugs?
Rear Delt - Bent over rows?
Triceps - Kickbacks, skullcrusher, dips

Day 3

Legs (Squats, leg extension, calf raise, Lying hamstring curl)
Front Delts (Military Press, Front Raise)

I've possibly listed too many exercises in the 3 days above - so I may have to
get some advice on the most important/effective..? thanks!

Easygainer

The best 3 day split IMO is the old push, pull legs one. Simply structure it on Mon Wed Fri like this to give optimal recovery times:

Mon: Chest, Tris, Shoulders
-> only compund movements, no BULL! One big pressing movement for chest and shoulders, skull crushers and dips for tris, and then side raises. 2-3 working sets each.

Wed: Legs
-> don't waste your time with bull movements. Squats, lunges (w/ dumbells walking 12 paces each leg or so), leg extensions, stiff legged dls and leg curls then whatever you like for calves.

Fri: Back/Bis/Rear Delts
->Pullups, Rows (bb, db or cable), Deadlifts, bb curls, hammer curls and some rear delt raises.


This is pretty much based on the type of routines in STuart Mc Roberts' book "Beyond Brawn" which is a great read for hardgainers.

Flex

Id classify myself as a hardgainer too, but best training routine i found is the one im on now.Basically work each muscle group twice a week in these groups; Chest,Tris,Shoulders and then Back,Bis,Legs.Do your abs 3 times a week.Use a weight you max out with after 6-8 reps and take a 60-90 second break between sets.Do as little cardio as possible and dont exercise longer than 60 minutes at a time.i eat about 1.8 grams of protein & carbs for every pound i weigh and as little fat as possible

joc_06

soma wrote:

Thanks alot for that info guys, your posts made me go off and learn what delts are. Tribulus you're right I was thinking of the shoulders as 'one' muscle rather than a collection of (mostly?) independent deltoids.

Ok this isn't a complete plan just yet (I have to sort out number of sets & exact exercises etc..) & there's a few sections I'm hoping you guys can give me some recomendations, but it's basically what Tribulus & Musashi have advocated:

Day 1.

Chest (bench press, dumbbell press, flys)
Biceps/Forearms (dumbbell curls, EZ bar curls, preacher curls, hammer curls)
Side Delts (Lateral Dumbbell Raise - what else works the side delts??)

[actually the above seems like alot of work... I may have to super-set as I do want to keep my workouts short but really intense & difficult - i.e. no more than 40 mins?]

Day 2

Back (pulldowns, close-grip chin up)
Trapezius - I see this is split in upper, middle & lower - any recomendations? Shrugs?
Rear Delt - Bent over rows?
Triceps - Kickbacks, skullcrusher, dips

Day 3

Legs (Squats, leg extension, calf raise, Lying hamstring curl)
Front Delts (Military Press, Front Raise)

I've possibly listed too many exercises in the 3 days above - so I may have to
get some advice on the most important/effective..? thanks!

Hey its good to see someone learning!! Thats the best way to improve and stave off injuries.
Im not recommending anyone follow this but here's how i train:
I would do all of the above exercises in 1 day with loads of situps chinups pushups and dips done too.sometimes i do pushups in the canteen when there's no one around. Tricky if you get caught though!
I do 3 to 4 powerlifting sessions a day incl cleans, deadlifts and snatches. I do jump squats too. Excellent exercise!
I also fit in 2 plyometrics sessions and about 10 miles a week on the treadmill.
A 5 day split with one day off for swimming or massage and hit it again. After about a month of that i have to sleep for 24hrs straight but man i love it.
I've been told this is crazy and it probably is but i just cant stop myself.