my friend's workout plan, should i try it?

[ward065]

i'm very hesitant to try new things. but there is someone i know in the gym who does a rather unusual lifting routine. unlike most people who do a split in a 7 day period he does his entire split in 10 days. when he works out too he does very high volume, like 4-5 heavy working sets per exercise. i asked him for more details on his training and this is what he told me his split is- he works out pretty long and intense too

day 1-legs
day 2- biceps and triceps
day 3- off
day 4- off
day 5- chest and back
day 6- off
day 7- front delts, traps, calves
day 8- off
day 9- rear and lateral delts, neck, forearms, abs
day 10- off

then he told me he repeats the schedule. it doesn't seem like a lot but i've seen him in the gym before i come in and still be there when i leave. lol. i guess endless sets work for some people. he's one jacked dude: 6 feet tall and he told me his arms are 19.5", i've seen him do preachers with 85lb dumbells for reps!


i'm wondering if i should try this, currently i do a lot less volume per week but am also on a 4 day split (that i repeat each week). i don't know if i could handle 50 sets like he told me he does total on chest and back day.

[decadbal]

i dont like the breaks, ive done the one workout week in an actual week and a half... didnt do much for me... i like the once a week, 5 days in 7 method.. works best for me, and seems to for everyone else..

[ward065]

i dont like the breaks, ive done the one workout week in an actual week and a half... didnt do much for me... i like the once a week, 5 days in 7 method.. works best for me, and seems to for everyone else..

yeah, that's basically what he's doing

as i said it does not sound like a lot but he looks sick. basically his idea is to absolutely kill the muscles (lots of sets), and have a relatively long break before training them again. when he showed me his plan i was like, "oh, this isn't much" at first but when he showed me his sets and reps, i was like "Crap, i do 3 sets of benching with 250-300, not 6 sets with almost 400lbs"

he says when he trains calves that he does 25 sets AFTER warming up. And 25 basically for chest and 25 for back as i mentioned, that is crazy

i just want to maybe change things up, but i think i would be incredibly sore with that much volume

[decadbal]

its kinda like the DC training method... just with a ton of sets... the DC method didnt work for me, ideally his method woujld work, with super intense sessions and then a prolonged rest period, but in my train of thought, its just a method to get hurt, or tear a major tendon... either way you can try it for a month or more and see if u notice anything, it doenst sound like something you can, or should be doing for any long period of time tho

[Blown_SC]

A standard, old-school split works well for most:

1 - Chest/Tri/Shoulders
2 - Back/Bi
3 - Legs

Add abs wherever...

[ward065]

with that much volume, for me personally i think i'd have trouble getting through the workout, lol

well, he's told me that he has been doing it since he was 21, now he's 23, told me in two years he has grown his arms 2.5 inches on doing this program.

i've learned in lifting everyone else has their own method to their madness, mine has been pretty good, i'm a pretty big guy but i am a midget compared to him

[Ejuicer]

That's excessive amounts of volume imo. I also dont like the idea of combing to major muscle groups, like back and chest as you mentioned or the idea of splitting up your different delt heads. Also the workouts would probably be rediculously long...you need to get protein and carbs in there far sooner then you would be able to working out that long.

[C_Bino]

I dunno. I always felt trainin each muscle once per week approx. was perfect. The 3-on 1-off is a great routine I find. for example:
1. Chest \
2. Bi's \
3. Legs /
4. Off /
1. Back \
2. Tri's \
3. Shoulders /
4. Off /

Try is out.

-Bino

[Kärnfysikern]

I dont think that would work any good for most people. I have the oppinion that a workout can only produce a certain growth response and doing endless sets will only tap into recovery without producing a bigger growth response.

Not that I have any evidence for this belife but that is how it seems to work for most people.

[Kärnfysikern]

its kinda like the DC training method... just with a ton of sets... the DC method didnt work for me, ideally his method woujld work, with super intense sessions and then a prolonged rest period, but in my train of thought, its just a method to get hurt, or tear a major tendon... either way you can try it for a month or more and see if u notice anything, it doenst sound like something you can, or should be doing for any long period of time tho

I dont se how its like the DC method at all? I mean dc wants people to work the body through twice in 9 days this dude works his body through once in 10 days. This would be the exact oposit of the DC method imo. Mega volume with long rest periods instead of low volume with short rest periods.

[ward065]

That's excessive amounts of volume imo. I also dont like the idea of combing to major muscle groups, like back and chest as you mentioned or the idea of splitting up your different delt heads. Also the workouts would probably be rediculously long...you need to get protein and carbs in there far sooner then you would be able to working out that long.

they are very long, he pumps for hours virtually nonstop though, doesn't seem to have a problem doing it all!

but with that said, i've seen him grow a lot over time and just was courious on his training methods so i found out exactly what he's doing, as i previously mentioned.


here's something else i found pretty excessive....he told me that in the full 10 day span, he does a total of 49 different exercises for his body. that's quite a bit, as he's really hitting everything pretty intensely.

i also don't know if i would have the time available to plan these really long workouts.

[Kärnfysikern]

I did something similar. A period this spring I trained with someone that likes volume and did something like 40-50 sets for each bodypart. My immune system got tore down so bad that I was sic constantly for almost 3 months.

[zoso428]

too many days off and chest only once every days ????

[tretch187]

Personally, I would prescribe higher frequency than higher volume.

That could just be the HST leftover in my brain talking though

[ward065]

holy crap, basically i tried his back and chest workout today

my lats and chest are having convulsions now they're screamin'! it was a crazy workout.
i did 5 sets of each exercise after warmup

Did 5 sets of seated rows, 5 sets of weighted chins, 5 sets of smith machine barbell rows, 5 sets of incline flies, 5 sets of flat bench, 5 sets of deadlifts, 5 sets of incline dumbell bench presses

i didn't do quite as much volume as he does, but i did do significantly more than i am used to doing. i can tell i really worked the muscles well though. Definetely will take tomorrow off!