How many workouts per bodypart?

[mikey24]

I just started a 10 day split, and wanted to know what is the optimal amount of exercises to perform Per body part? For example day 1 I'm working chest n bi's. I have been doing 2 separate exercises per body part. I do 1st warm up set of 10-12 reps, 2nd warm up set 8-10 reps,3rd warm up go heavier something I would normally use for a work set about 80% of max but only do 2-3 reps, then I do 1 main work set try for as many reps as possible, set the weight down for 10 seconds then grind out a few more reps as possible. Then quit and move on to the next exercise. I will be starting My second full round tomorrow, I have been sore as hell, so I know it's working. I just want to make sure I'm doing enough, and would like some opinions.

[TOkidd]

Personally, I like to give large muscle groups like pecs, lats, shoulders, legs their own day so that my basic split looks something like this:

Monday: Chest (12 sets, not including warm-ups)
Tuesday: Bi's and Tri's (9 sets each)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Legs (13 sets for upper legs, 6-9 for calves)
Friday: Shoulders (*because the deltoid has so many heads to work, thje set count is abnormally high - 5 sets of heavy presses (including 1 warm-up set), 3 sets heavy upright rows, superset 5 sets of lateral flys, 5 sets shrugs)
Saturday: Back (6-8 sets of wide-grip chins alternating each week with narrow-grip, 3 sets heavy barbell rows, 3 sets one-armed dumbell rows, 5 sets deadlifts)
Sunday: Rest

Depending on how I feel, I may take Monday off as well, pushing my schedule forward by one day. If I'm really sore on a particular day, I might opt to take that day off and wait until I'm not so sore, especially if I'm using the same muscles, i.e. my bi's are really sore on back day. However, because of my schedule, I mostly avoid this problem. This is an approximation of my split during the 2-months of high-volume work I do every three months. After I complete these two high-volume months, I do one lower volume month where I don't go lower than 8 reps per set, concentrate on sculpting exercises and reduce my sets slightly.

TOkidd

[Windex]

I just started a 10 day split, and wanted to know what is the optimal amount of exercises to perform Per body part? For example day 1 I'm working chest n bi's. I have been doing 2 separate exercises per body part. I do 1st warm up set of 10-12 reps, 2nd warm up set 8-10 reps,3rd warm up go heavier something I would normally use for a work set about 80% of max but only do 2-3 reps, then I do 1 main work set try for as many reps as possible, set the weight down for 10 seconds then grind out a few more reps as possible. Then quit and move on to the next exercise. I will be starting My second full round tomorrow, I have been sore as hell, so I know it's working. I just want to make sure I'm doing enough, and would like some opinions.

There is no magic number for how many reps or sets you need to do. Everybody's body is built differently, that's why you never see two people with the exact same routine. What works for you might be a disaster for me, and vise-versa. In addition, just because your sore doesn't meant what your doing is correct. Being sore the next morning can also mean you aren't lifting properly and creating an injury-prone scenario. The most important concepts in my opinion that are universal to training are as follows:

(1) Give yourself atleast 1 rest day, although 2 would be great. - Your muscles don't grow in the gym, they do so when your resting
(2) Get to the gym, do what you've planned, and get out. You can be social all you want, but avoid trying out half of a buddy's routine or a random exercise here and there.
(3) Lift with proper technique
(4) Make every second of every rep of every set count.
(5) Don't worry too much about numbers. If you plan to do 8 reps, but on that 8th rep you can still do another 1-3, then do them. Otherwise your just selling yourself short.
(6) Do the Big 3 : Bench Press / Deadlift / Squat.

In summary, concentrate on how your body responds and see what works. If there was an optimal number for sets/reps/exercises then gyms would only have X different machines and everyone would be doing the same thing. This is obviously not the case.

[stpete]

^^^^Exactly.