Prime, How did your return to a "radical" split go?

You posted in late December about going back to a more radical split where each body part gets hit every 4th day but with low volume. I've just completed using this split for 8 weeks:

Mon - Chest
Tues - Legs
Wed - Off
Thur - Shoulders/Tri's
Fri - Back/Bi's
Sat - Off
Sun - Off

I want to start hitting my muscles more than once a week though, I think they don't get enough only 1x/week.

How did it go? I'm thinking of starting a similar routine with low volume but hitting muscles each 4th or 5th day, and also, possibly alternating "light" and "heavy (squats/deadlifts) days" each week.

This is what it looked like for those who might be wondering what exactly i'm talking about:

It was a two on one off split but it revolved around three exercise days. Back, chest and legs. (other bodyparts included in one of the three days). How did this work, well it went like this.

Monday: Back
Tuesday:Chest
wed: off
Thurs: legs
Fri: back
Sat: off
Sun: Chest
Mon:Legs
Tues: Off
Wed:back
Thurs: chest
Fri: off
Sat: legs
Sun:back
Monday: off
Tuesday: chest
Wednesday: legs
Thursday: off
Friday: back:
Saturday Chest and so on.
This meant that in ten days each bodypart would get worked three times.
Well this may look like massive overtraining, but if volume is radically dropped then it worked. Each bodypart gets worked then it gets a three day break and is then worked, it then gets a four day break and is worked as the first musclegroup after a rest day.

I actually renamed it 'The Prime workout" :lol: .
Heres a link http://forums.steroid.com/workout-training/140141-return-my-initial-somewhat-radical-routien-sp.html
It's been working really well for me. I have changed things up a little since that draft. I changed some of the bicep exercises and forarm exercises, i made the 1st leg session mostly unilateral training due to ankle problems limiting the weight i could press on the LP and had to stop performing 1 leg squats due to a change of a equipment at my gym. That workout now consists of Legpress (with my feet up quite high on the plate and close together) i find this burns the quads pretty well. I then do lunges, unilateral seated HS curls and unilateral calf rases, first with resistance then without. I usually finish with 5-10 mins on the running machine at full incline walking (this hurts like nothing else after 30 seconds). None of my workouts are designed to be fully taxing. Youre not supposed to leave the gym absolutley dead, tired and sweaty yes but not dead. This is because you have to train that bodypart again so soon and you want it recovered. I train in the order its in to try and eliminate things like overtraining my lower back or stressing one musclegroup too much. If i need an extra day off ill take one.

Right on man, thanks.

Any signifigant strength or LBM gains using this split as compared to working 1 muscle per week in the past ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HammerCurler

This is what it looked like for those who might be wondering what exactly i'm talking about:

It was a two on one off split but it revolved around three exercise days. Back, chest and legs. (other bodyparts included in one of the three days). How did this work, well it went like this.

Monday: Back
Tuesday:Chest
wed: off
Thurs: legs
Fri: back
Sat: off
Sun: Chest
Mon:Legs
Tues: Off
Wed:back
Thurs: chest
Fri: off
Sat: legs
Sun:back
Monday: off
Tuesday: chest
Wednesday: legs
Thursday: off
Friday: back:
Saturday Chest and so on.
This meant that in ten days each bodypart would get worked three times.
Well this may look like massive overtraining, but if volume is radically dropped then it worked. Each bodypart gets worked then it gets a three day break and is then worked, it then gets a four day break and is worked as the first musclegroup after a rest day.

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No arms or shoulders? :unsure:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AandF6969

No arms or shoulders? :unsure:

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Bi's w/ back, tri's w/ chest

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HammerCurler

Right on man, thanks.

Any signifigant strength or LBM gains using this split as compared to working 1 muscle per week in the past ?

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Well Im at 185 right now and much leaner then ever before (this has more to do with the fact I have been eating cleaner). Hit new pb's last 3 times on flat bench and been getting pb's on incline db press days also. My squat is back up to its best ever and for more reps. My deadlift is also better then ever before (and im comparing to when i used to use straps). almost all my lifts are near any previous bests i may have set. If you are an arm freak who loves training arms you may find this workout a little frustrating as its only 2 sets per workout. I started doing dropsets or supersets on certian exercises as i felt my arms were not really getting worked fully on certian workouts. But this routein is still in its infancy and ill keep tweaking it till i eek out all the bugs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prime

Well Im at 185 right now and much leaner then ever before (this has more to do with the fact I have been eating cleaner). Hit new pb's last 3 times on flat bench and been getting pb's on incline db press days also. My squat is back up to its best ever and for more reps. My deadlift is also better then ever before (and im comparing to when i used to use straps). almost all my lifts are near any previous bests i may have set. If you are an arm freak who loves training arms you may find this workout a little frustrating as its only 2 sets per workout. I started doing dropsets or supersets on certian exercises as i felt my arms were not really getting worked fully on certian workouts. But this routein is still in its infancy and ill keep tweaking it till i eek out all the bugs.

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Sounds good. I'm going to start a routine very similar to yours. I'm not an "arm freak" so no worries there.