Hitting Chest Twice a week@!#!

**Godson** · 09-09-2007, 09:58 PM

I have a workout partner...and him and i have seen gains in our previous routine, it was amateurs routine when we first started

day1-chest\tri
day2- bi\back
day3-shoulders\traps
day4- off
day5- start at day 1 all over

slowly we became more educated, and realized we had to work in abs and legs to get a full body workout...our goals were to improve strength, gain more muscle mass, get bulky pretty much...
we then changed our routine to
day1-chest\tri
day2-legs
day3-off
day4-back bis
day5-shoulders\traps
6 and 7 off

now since we seen so much rapid improvement in strength with the 3 day split probably because we were working out chest every 4 days ....and now we switched to basically every 7 days...my friend wants to do this split now
day1-chest\tri
day2-legs
day3-off
day4-back bis
day5-chest light chest workout
day6-shoulders\traps
day7-off

he wants to work chest twice a week, and rest of muscles once a week...he claims that the bench works out chest, tris, lats...therefore it works all upper body and our strength in the bench press will suffer if we only hit it once a week...
i try to tell him less is more, and we should work out all muscles equally... but he is stubborn on the issue, bench press is like squats because it works all other muscles when you do it, so would you guys recommend keeping this routine with chest twice a week or, it's definitely not a good idea ??

**taiboxa** · 09-09-2007, 10:01 PM

i do a 2 on 1 off type of training
legs/bi
chest/tri
off
back/bi
shoulders/tri
off
repeat.
my shit is very very high volume and for arms i only do 1 excercise 3-4 sets (more elbow rehab)
this has worked really well for me but keep in mind i do very HIGH VOLUME training and its all because i kant train heavy anymore due to boatloads of injuries.

**kaberle_15** · 09-09-2007, 10:40 PM

You do not need to do what your workout partner does. That routine may work for him and might not for you, it's all about trial and error. If you are interested in it then do it for a couple weeks and see how you feel, you will know after a few workouts if the new routine will suit you or not. Me personally I train everything once per week but not everyone is like me so give it a shot and see if you like it.

**BWhitaker** · 09-09-2007, 11:46 PM

There is definetely a large school of thought that advocates hitting a muscle group twice per week over a traditional once per week view.

A few things to keep in mind:

Many people will do a heavy day, and a light day

Adjust volume accordingly...your heavy day/s should not be as intense as you would if you were hitting it once a week.

According to your workout, while you are technically doing chest twice per week, you are hitting it 3 times in 8 days...i would recommend adjusting your split to accomodate it 3 times per 10-12 days

**Godson** · 09-10-2007, 12:02 AM

Bwhitaker thats a great point that we're hitting it 3 days in 8 days...thanks for pointing that out, i'm going to attempt to adjust that ...

**Stabone** · 09-10-2007, 04:21 PM

Why do you always put that shit at the end of your thread topic?

**taiboxa** · 09-10-2007, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by Godson

Bwhitaker thats a great point that we're hitting it 3 days in 8 days...thanks for pointing that out, i'm going to attempt to adjust that ...

i would never train a muscle more than 2x in a 9 day span regardless of intensity/volume

**RANA** · 09-10-2007, 04:41 PM

I do 3 days on and 1 off. I hit each body part twice a week. I works for me.

**taiboxa** · 09-10-2007, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by rana173

I do 3 days on and 1 off. I hit each body part twice a week. I works for me.

yeah thats all that matters..

bout how long did it take you to learn your body and what it responds well too?

**RANA** · 09-10-2007, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by taiboxa

yeah thats all that matters..

bout how long did it take you to learn your body and what it responds well too?

only about 15 years, yes I know it took me forever. I always thought it was taboo to do a body part twice a week, but now I know better.

**Godson** · 09-11-2007, 01:00 AM

Originally Posted by Stabone

Why do you always put that shit at the end of your thread topic?

i think it sticks out to people and gets them to click on it...most of time some threads are over looked

**Godson** · 09-11-2007, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by rana173

I do 3 days on and 1 off. I hit each body part twice a week. I works for me.

its funny you mention that, because that was my old routine, but my partner and i decided to attempt to take working out serious and join this thread we realized legs was just as important as even our favorite muscles like chest..so we werent able to keep doing 3 days on 1 day off...
but i noticed results on that routine to be honest...my strength improved greatly and i even did cardio before my workout...i ran 3.0 miles every single day before my weight lifting workout ...which i learned wasnt the best idea

i still have much to learn, i read the thread about improving your squat and 12 steps to a strong bench press...i mean these guys are like benching 400+ is they're program really going to work for me ??
and it just seems crazy only benching 2 reps for 10 sets...of only 60% of my max..

for example my max is 225 right now, 60% would be 135...and thats like a feather right now, i was just wondering if i really should do that at this stage of lifting where i have much to improve just staying on a regular program...
it seems that, that program is for people who reach their potiental and need help getting over the hump ????