I've put together this split

[Blaz Kavlic]

Rightio, so i've got my diet dialled and the next thing now is getting a good split going. I've been going hard in the gym for 2 years now and its time to spruce things up a bit. I'm cautious of overtraining and think the below split will allow for sufficient recovery.

Stats are:

30 years old
5'11"
93kg (205lbs)
Bf% around 14

Split is as follows:

Mon - chest, back
Tues - legs
Wed - arms
Thurs - off
Fri - chest, back

I've got 2x chest/back routines on the Mon and Fri. In the second week i'll switch the chest/back with arms so the following week will look like this:

Mon - arms
Tues - legs
Wed - chest, back
Thurs - off
Fri - arms

Gym isnt open on the weekend so cardio will be done on Sat/Sun. I'll alternate between these 2 routines week by week.

What do you guys think of this split? Please post comments.

Cheers
BK

[devildog1967]

I would not do chest and back on the same day as they are big muscles.. i think one or the other will suffer badly.And i take it your arm day is tri bi and shoulders ? really you need a 4 day spilt so each muscle is hit hard once a week., dont forget you use your tris and shoulders with your chest. same as back you use your biceps .

I would go with!!

chest triceps
back biceps
legs
shoulders

[Blaz Kavlic]

I would not do chest and back on the same day as they are big muscles.. i think one or the other will suffer badly.And i take it your arm day is tri bi and shoulders ? really you need a 4 day spilt so each muscle is hit hard once a week., dont forget you use your tris and shoulders with your chest. same as back you use your biceps .

I would go with!!

chest triceps
back biceps
legs
shoulders

Cheers mate. I like this recommendation.

Is it ok to do chest/tri and then back/bi the day after?

[devildog1967]

Yes mate thats what i do and it works for me..Its working opposite muscles .

[gmantheman]

Another suggestion that would work and the one I am doing is.
Mon: Shoulders/Arms
Tues: Legs
Wed: Off
Thurs: Chest
Fri: Back
That way the three big muscle groups get their own day.

[M302_Imola]

I would not do chest and back on the same day as they are big muscles.. i think one or the other will suffer badly.And i take it your arm day is tri bi and shoulders ? really you need a 4 day spilt so each muscle is hit hard once a week., dont forget you use your tris and shoulders with your chest. same as back you use your biceps .

I would go with!!

chest triceps
back biceps
legs
shoulders

I like this, looks just like my split.

Mon. Back and Bi's
Tue. Chest and Tri's
Wed. Legs
Thur. Off
Fri. Shoulders and Traps

This is a good split that gives each muscle group some recovery time.

[Blaz Kavlic]

Great advice lads, thanks for the input. I've had a day off and today i'm gonna start this new split. I've been using the reverse pyramid system as well which has been working sweet.

[Blaz Kavlic]

Rightio I did my workout today at 2pm when the gym was empty. Simply love it when there's no-one else in sight except me and the cute blond that works on the desk. I did chest and tris today and got the most insane pump! Totally into it. I'm doing a reverse pyramid system at the moment, starting with my max on set 1 and working downwards. Looking forward to working with this split over the next couple of weeks and cheers to you boys for sharing your wisdom and suggestions.

BK

[devildog1967]

Reverse pyramid is excellent as you are using max weight before you deplete your muscles. I do one set of warm ups .. about 50reps just with 20k bar(DONT FORGET A GOOD STRETCH) then im g2g. cant see the point in messing around with low weights when you know your max, plus you max will improve .

warm up 1set 50 reps
2 sets max
2 sets 80%
finish off with 20 reps very light weight .

[M302_Imola]

Rightio I did my workout today at 2pm when the gym was empty. Simply love it when there's no-one else in site except me and the cute blond that works on the desk. I did chest and tris today and got the most insane pump! Totally into it. I'm doing a reverse pyramid system at the moment, starting with my max on set 1 and working downwards. Looking forward to working with this split over the next couple of weeks and cheers to you boys for sharing your wisdom and suggestions.

BK

Good deal bro! Like devildog said I see nothing wrong with reverse pyramid just make sure you warm-up thoroughly to avoid injury!

[Blaz Kavlic]

Reverse pyramid is excellent as you are using max weight before you deplete your muscles. I do one set of warm ups .. about 50reps just with 20k bar(DONT FORGET A GOOD STRETCH) then im g2g. cant see the point in messing around with low weights when you know your max, plus you max will improve .

warm up 1set 50 reps
2 sets max
2 sets 80%
finish off with 20 reps very light weight .

Good deal bro! Like devildog said I see nothing wrong with reverse pyramid just make sure you warm-up thoroughly to avoid injury!

Good advice guys.

What you've listed there devil is almost exactly like what I was doing today. Its a choice routine and left me feeling pretty crazy when I left the gym.

[devildog1967]

Give that routine 4-6 weeks then switch it to say supersets. you have to keep shocking the body into growth as it adjusts way to quickly and thinks this again i can do this easy. Again keep the split the same tho

good luck

[dec11]

Reverse pyramid is excellent as you are using max weight before you deplete your muscles. I do one set of warm ups .. about 50reps just with 20k bar(DONT FORGET A GOOD STRETCH) then im g2g. cant see the point in messing around with low weights when you know your max, plus you max will improve .

warm up 1set 50 reps
2 sets max
2 sets 80%
finish off with 20 reps very light weight .

you cant be lifting much in that case

[devildog1967]

you cant be lifting much in that case

Its not all about volume its about training smart to build muscle and not over train muscle . How much work do you think each body part needs ?

I.E my max @ 43 year old on bench press is 160kg for 8reps natural , so volume works well? I.E lets say you do 20 sets of various exercises for one body part . To me thats catabolic .

Muscle builds better working it hard with a max weight rather than burning it out with high volume . Unless you are cutting up then sense tells you you have to work with higher volume, as you train with lighter weights and do the shaper exercises as your not trying to build then .

[dec11]

Its not all about volume its about training smart to build muscle and not over train muscle . How much work do you think each body part needs ?

I.E my max @ 43 year old on bench press is 160kg for 8reps natural , so volume works well? I.E lets say you do 20 sets of various exercises for one body part . To me thats catabolic .

Muscle builds better working it hard with a max weight rather than burning it out with high volume . Unless you are cutting up then sense tells you you have to work with higher volume, as you train with lighter weights and do the shaper exercises as your not trying to build then .

explain the bold?

shocking the body with a maximal like that is asking for injury, sure you can pump the bar to get blood in the working muscles but i wouldnt jump straight into maximals after it, you dont need to go crazy on reps, if you go up in 2-3 rep increments for afew sets ascending to your max you wont shock your your cns and tendons as badly.

ive competed plifting for 16yrs (all naturally) and i sure as hell wouldnt be able to warm up with 60kgs and then go straight to 250kgs for trebles. when i was comp peaking my deads would go 2-3 reps each set until i hit my big singles thus volume is cut away down from what it'd be off season where i'd pull no less than 6reps each set.

i dont agree with your cutting volume theory, diet iand cardio are the decisive factors there.

i know you and i have had a spat, but credit due, thats impressive bench repping, 160kg for 8

[dec11]

I would not do chest and back on the same day as they are big muscles.. i think one or the other will suffer badly.And i take it your arm day is tri bi and shoulders ? really you need a 4 day spilt so each muscle is hit hard once a week., dont forget you use your tris and shoulders with your chest. same as back you use your biceps .

I would go with!!

chest triceps
back biceps
legs
shoulders

agreed, although i hit shoulders on the chest day and only do a 3day split

[devildog1967]

explain the bold?

shocking the body with a maximal like that is asking for injury, sure you can pump the bar to get blood in the working muscles but i wouldnt jump straight into maximals after it, you dont need to go crazy on reps, if you go up in 2-3 rep increments for afew sets ascending to your max you wont shock your your cns and tendons as badly.

ive competed plifting for 16yrs (all naturally) and i sure as hell wouldnt be able to warm up with 60kgs and then go straight to 250kgs for trebles. when i was comp peaking my deads would go 2-3 reps each set until i hit my big singles thus volume is cut away down from what it'd be off season where i'd pull no less than 6reps each set.

i dont agree with your cutting volume theory, diet iand cardio are the decisive factors there.

i know you and i have had a spat, but credit due, thats impressive bench repping, 160kg for 8

Catabolic....If you train a body part with high volume you would start to break that muscle down too much and deplete the energy stores in it. In the 20 plus years iv been lifting and i have done my training alot with that style i have never injured myself as the muscle is warm enough . surly if you competed with deads like that you would not be able to work up from a small weight to your max(AS THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TIME)i might be wrong as i dont compete... .Cutting! yes of course you would be dieting and cardio but you also would be doing the shaper exercises with higher rep and lower weight .

I train alot of people with the same style for many years and not one complaint . Yes agreed i use the other method as well it called keeping the body from going stale .
Everyone trains diff and that good as you get info and different techniques which is invaluable to us lifters.

I cant train chest and shoulders together as one would suffer badly .

Impressive deads by the way mines only 210kg for 10reps one set and i only do that once a month.. But saying that im not a power lifter .

Yes we had a spat but thats passed i hope

[dec11]

Catabolic....If you train a body part with high volume you would start to break that muscle down too much and deplete the energy stores in it. In the 20 plus years iv been lifting and i have done my training alot with that style i have never injured myself as the muscle is warm enough . surly if you competed with deads like that you would not be able to work up from a small weight to your max(AS THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH TIME)i might be wrong as i dont compete... .Cutting! yes of course you would be dieting and cardio but you also would be doing the shaper exercises with higher rep and lower weight .

I train alot of people with the same style for many years and not one complaint . Yes agreed i use the other method as well it called keeping the body from going stale .
Everyone trains diff and that good as you get info and different techniques which is invaluable to us lifters.

I cant train chest and shoulders together as one would suffer badly .

Impressive deads by the way mines only 210kg for 10reps one set and i only do that once a month.. But saying that im not a power lifter .

Yes we had a spat but thats passed i hope

i would say thats diet and workout fuelling dependant, we want to breakdown the muscle tissue than repair it via diet