Days Per Week

[balin]

This may be better geared towards those over 50...like me. How many days per week do you guys train per week? And how many times do you train a body part in a weeks time? Thanks.

[bartman314]

i'm 52, and currently run a 4 day split with one day off. i'm on cycle. here's the detail:

day1: Shoulders/traps
day2: back/bi
day3: rest
day4: chest/tri
day5: legs

sometimes i'll swap day2 and day3.

without the rest day i am definitely overtraining. with one rest day, i'm ok. i've experimented with 2 days rest, but have a hard time doing it for mental reasons - i feel like i'm losing mass/strength. joints seem to be able to tolerate my current protocol.

my workouts are HIT oriented. 6-8 exercises/workout, 2 working double drop sets per exercise. done in less than 1.25 hour. cardio is about 3-4 days/week for 30 minutes post lifting.

i think workouts are very person dependent at 50 and over; we all have various issues and our rate of recoveries can vary widely. so... try one or more of the responses here and then adjust for what works sustainably for you.

[DROY]

I am 58 years old, 6 foot tall and about 225lbs, around 17 or 18% body fat. I train 4 times per week with an upper/lower split. Monday and thursday I do lower body, tuesday and Friday I do upper body. When I get enthusiastic I go wednesday and Saturday for cardio and stretching.

[Kinkarada]

I'm 48, been training this time around for just on 3 years (natural). Made great gains in the first two years but the last 12 months has been a real battle to just to maintain where I was at 1 year ago...not fully sure why. At times I have thought it was overtraining, but at other times when I see the number of sets other guys are doing I wonder if it is under training. I've just about had a gut full of that and seriously thinking of trying a cycle...I just put way too much time and effort into my diet and training for the gains I am making. Having said that, ultimately I am quite pleased with the way I look for my age.

But to answer your question, I currently train a 5 day cycle:

Day 1: Biceps, back, calves.
Day 2: Shoulders, chest, triceps.
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Upper legs
Day 5: Rest
Then back to day one.

Sometimes I need to take an extra day's rest due to work commitments. I used to do it without the Day 3 rest (making it a 4 day cycle), but at the moment I feel the extra day's rest is worth it, as I have to get up quite early to train.

My training tends to be more of a high intensity style (search some Dorian Yates You Tube videos) rather than high volume of sets. I basically do 9 sets in total per muscle group. I have experimented with different amounts of reps (as low as 4), but basically I feel that my body responds better to the 8-12 range. However, I think this is very personal, I know a couple of guys who swear they respond best to sets as low as 2-5! Occasionally I do sets as low as 5, just for variation.

[APIs]

Pushing 50 here & training daily for over 10 years. I train 5 days per week and only do a muscle group once per week. I vary reps/weight etc. based on how I feel on a given day which helps me avoid injuries. I also like to throw in HIT for a month+ at a time, there's a good thread in the Lounge on this started by Marcus.

[vdiesel]

Pushing 50 here & training daily for over 10 years. I train 5 days per week and only do a muscle group once per week. I vary reps/weight etc. based on how I feel on a given day which helps me avoid injuries. I also like to throw in HIT for a month+ at a time, there's a good thread in the Lounge on this started by Marcus.

Just turned 41. Looking for more gains. Tried switching up my workout but I keep going back to the same routine

[vdiesel]

[QUOTE="vdiesel"] Just turned 41. Looking for more gains. Tried switching up my workout but I keep going back to the same routine.
Chest- biceps
Back - triceps
Shoulders- legs

[APIs]

Just turned 41. Looking for more gains. Tried switching up my workout but I keep going back to the same routine

IDK, I think the need to continually change routines is based on the individual. I do pretty well strength & size wise being consistent. I just alter reps/weight etc., but follow the same basic day/exercise/muscle-group format every week...

[Proximal]

Great thread, thanks. I'm 57 and doing 3-4 days on and one day off, essentially a six day split. Have lifted since my teens and aware of how my body responds.

Since initiating TRT 4 months ago, I've bumped up my volume of sets per body part and now am incorporating some drop sets, as well as more cardio, thinking the test will improve recovery, which I believe it has. Don't think I'm overtraining in that respect as I have consistently gained muscle and lost fat.

However finding myself more and more sore when I'm trying to sleep and that has been interfering with sleep and I've been using NSAIDs a bit more at night to ease the soreness, which I am taking as a sign I'm overdoing - so might back off a bit.

[ryobi1]

58...go four times a week
mon...chest..maybe some shoulders
tues...arms..maybe some shoulders
wed...rest...trt shot
thurs...2chest..2 arms..some shoulders
fri....legs and shoulders...
shoulders are my week point so friday i hit them hard,,

ride to and from work each day fairly hard for cardio
legs are a week point as well, but theynever get a rest
except weekends

[Charlie67]

43, 4 days a week

Sat: legs
Sun: chest/bi
Tues: back/abs
Thurs: shoulders/traps

I don't do any strenuous cardio, but I walk a couple days a week with the dog/wife/kids.

I usually stick to one program for about 12 weeks, then change it up, but it's always a 4 day split. I need the rest days or I'll start half-assing things.

[Mr.BB]

4 days per week

Arms
Hams-shoulders
Chest- back
Calves-quads

[Phillygymrat]

I'm 42 and I have been training 6 days per week for several years. I do a 3 day split and hit each body part twice. I change up the exercises from session to session but typically do 4 sets for major muscles and two sets for the smaller ones. I also superset everything with minimal rest.

Chest/Bi's/abs
Back/tri's/shoulders
Legs (superset glutes and hammies and superset compounds (i.e. squats,leg presses) with calves)

[Chicagotarsier]

5 days a week except for 6 weeks in this winter and 6 in the summer where it swaps to two days a week CNS GVT to bump one of the Big 3 maximum weight rep.

[oldnsedentary]

Not quite 50 but close, 5 days on, one day off, unless life gets in the way, and I might miss another day.

[T-boner]

Day 1 chest and back
Day 2 legs
Day 3 rest
Day 4 bi's and tri's
Start over
I have shoulder problems so I can't do much lifting with shoulders. I usually throw in shrugs on leg day.