muscleboy schedule

[muscleboy88]

ok guys i want to here what you think of my schedule:



monday-heavy chest,light shoulders, and light bicep.

tuesday-legs,abs.

wednesday-bicep,tricep,forearms.

thursday-heavy shoulder,light chest,abs.

friday-back,light tricep.




any advice if my mixup is good.
i think it gives each bodypart a decent amount of time to rest.

 

[El Freako]

Legs and back only once per week? You're hitting every other body part twice, why do legs and back get left out? They're your 2 biggest muscle groups. You can't build a house on chopsticks you know, and a huge back is a true sign of strength (Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, etc).

To be frank your split is pretty shit.

Try this: (sticking with the heavy light system)

monday-heavy chest, light back

tuesday-heavy legs, abs

wednesday-heavy back, light chest

thursday-shoulders, light legs, abs

friday-bis, tris, forearms, calves

 

[PistolPete]

I don't agree with either of you. If that's your in your Avi, it looks like you are a 100% classic ectomorph. You need to train heavy, and progressively. Train to get stronger, with great form, and a mind muscle connection when you work out. You should be training 3-4 times a week. No light days, just heavy days with adequete rest inbetween.

I could talk your head off about training as an ectomorph, because I am one. But based on your thread, (training split) I'll just leave it at that.

 

[El Freako]

I don't agree with either of you. If that's your in your Avi, it looks like you are a 100% classic ectomorph. You need to train heavy, and progressively. Train to get stronger, with great form, and a mind muscle connection when you work out. You should be training 3-4 times a week. No light days, just heavy days with adequete rest inbetween.

I agree with you 100% on that. I only left his split heavy/light because that's the way he was training.

A good program for beginners is Rippetoes Starting Strength.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=712752

Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength Routine:

*note the dip/chin isnt in the original program

Here is a routine from Mark Rippetoe’s book called “Starting Strength”. You can buy the book at www.startingstrength.com. It includes endless useful info that all beginners should learn. But as for the program he suggests, his clients that he gives it to on AVERAGE gain 30-40 pounds in about 6 months or so which is amazing gains.

The program is as follows:

You alternate Workout A and Workout B every other day, 3 times a week. So you could either do Mon, Wed, Fri or Tues, Thurs. and Sat. Depending on what works best for you.

Example:

Week 1:

Monday - Workout A
Wednesday -Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:

Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

Etc.

For the actual workouts read below:

Note: This doesn’t include warm-up sets

**Means this is OPTIONAL**

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
**2x8 Dips (if you cant do these or no assist machine then do Decline Dumbbell Bench Press with your hands Facing each other)

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Pendlay or Bent Rows (or power cleans)
**2x8 Chin-ups (recommended mainly if doing the cleans)

Assistance work:

Most people cant get it through there head that compound lifts also work your arms PLENTY and always INSIST on direct arm work. As quoted by Madcow2, “Don't **** with this. Every bodybuilder seems to have Attention Deficit Disorder and an overwhelming desire to customize everything.” If you are one of these people note that you have the option of doing the dips and chins which give PLENTY of arm work. Abdominal work is fine to do also if needed.

I recommend weighted decline sit-ups and/or Hanging Leg Raises at 2x8-10.

Weight:

As for the weight, make sure that you use the SAME weight throughout the sets. For example if I do the first set if Squats with 200lbs then I do the other 2 sets of squats with 200lbs.

Every week make it a goal to increase each of your lifts by 2.5%. Meaning if I lifted 100lbs for my Bench Week 1 then Week 2 I would try for 102.5lbs. If I did 200lb Squats Week 1 I would try for 205lbs in Week 2. Sometimes you will be able to do more but don’t mess with your form just to lift more.

If you do want to do direct arm work then do 3 x 10 of one exercise for bis and tris each. Do abs each day.

 

[TJ]

Everyone needs to train heavy on the basic lifts. Smaller lifts should be done with less intensity making sure all the reps are smooth(no straining) and with good form. Do your basic lifts and then do a few smaller movements. No reason to do anything for shoulders since they play a role in rowing and pushing movements. As always make sure form is spot on and never let yourself shy away from good form. Form takes a while to accomplish to the point where it's automatic so don't get too frustrated if you have technique issues. Either way, technique should always come before weight.

 

[muscleboy88]

i dont train legs and back twice per week because when i hit them i hit them hard. i stay sore for days for both parts. so it would be really hard for me to train them twice. and also is it just me or do you guys always feel light headed and like puking after a legs workout?

 

[El Freako]

Train them more often and they will get used to it.

Most important question: do you squat and deadlift?

 

[muscleboy88]

those are a staple to my routine.

never go once with out doing them

 

[tim290280]

I don't agree with either of you. If that's your in your Avi, it looks like you are a 100% classic ectomorph. You need to train heavy, and progressively. Train to get stronger, with great form, and a mind muscle connection when you work out. You should be training 3-4 times a week. No light days, just heavy days with adequete rest inbetween.

I could talk your head off about training as an ectomorph, because I am one. But based on your thread, (training split) I'll just leave it at that.

I have found a cure for all ectomorphs. It works really well.

Several large doses of iron every week + lots of good quality food.

Works everytime in converting an ecto into a meso.

Frequency and progression are the keys to growth. If you aren't hitting the largest muscles in you body several times a week like the rest of your body you are severely limiting your growth potential. Plus this extra work will encourage your appetite.

 

[muscleboy88]

i would do back with biceps but by the time im done with back my bi's are tired and im not able to give it my all.


my old schedule was:

mon-chest,tri's

tues-biceps,back

wed-legs

thurs-shoulders,chest

fri-back,bi's


do you think it was better than the current one?

 

[tim290280]

^^ Biceps and triceps are little muscles. They aren't meant to need heaps of work. Do your back then do a couple of sets of curls or something to finish off the bi's.

Some choose to train the chest, bi and back, tri in order to add more volume to the arms.

But as I said above; back and legs are far more important than arms or chest or shoulders. If anything back and legs should get more training than the rest of the body.

 

[muscleboy88]

how much times a week do you train them?

 

[tim290280]

I do an upper/lower split and train my legs twice a week and upper body twice as well.

I operate in a push/pull manner so that I do one set of pressing (so chest, quads, shoulders, tris) followed by the angonist pull (back, hammys, traps, bis). Check my log in the link in my sig.

The trick isn't to work until you are guarunteed DOMS. You work to stimulate not annhilate. Plus as your work capacity improves you'll find you're able to do more work. This is both good for fitness but also strength endurance. This in turn feeds your metabolism and will help with appetite and lean gains.

 

[muscleboy88]

have you ever done any competitions? and if so did you win?

 

[tim290280]

^^ I won a local weightlifting meet (which wasn't hard) but had to pull out of the state event after I injured my hand. Haven't competed in BBing as yet (there are only a couple of local comps, and I don't count the ones at the local gym as real comps). Plus I played football (AFL) for a few of the years.

So competed, yes. But not in a thong and protan.

Creator, Braaq, Dridz, Tunen, Turk have all had competition threads. Turk's is a must read, he and Flex really know their competition prep.

But bear in mind that competition prep is completely different from adding muscle and getting stronger (as the two are linked). I was thinking about when I first started training legs and how I couldn't walk down the stairs at the gym afterwards. Never added anywhere near the mass as I did after training them 2x a week. Hell I'm toying with a new program to train 5x a week like the weightlifters do.

 

[miamiracing]

i think all this light and heavy days are messed up and causes overtraining..

do each body part once a week and hit it super hard. stick to the basic leg/back/chest builders and take it easy on the arm stuff..

 

[tim290280]

^^ Who said anything about a light day??

It would only cause overtraining if you are creating DOMS, like you would be trying to achieve with a once a week schedule. My main issue with once a week is that you essentially overtrain the muscle once a week and give it a week to recover. But some areas will become imbalanced using the traditional split approach (sore shoulders anyone? little hammys?) But there are plenty of ways to skin a cat.

In fact by training more regularly you actually get less neural fatigue as you don't overtax it. You are regularly performing submaximal lifts to a point before fatigue and failure. So you actually get better at lifting making you better at recruiting muscles, especially the fast twitch ones responsible for growth.

 

[muscleboy88]

^^ Who said anything about a light day??

It would only cause overtraining if you are creating DOMS, like you would be trying to achieve with a once a week schedule. My main issue with once a week is that you essentially overtrain the muscle once a week and give it a week to recover. But some areas will become imbalanced using the traditional split approach (sore shoulders anyone? little hammys?) But there are plenty of ways to skin a cat.

In fact by training more regularly you actually get less neural fatigue as you don't overtax it. You are regularly performing submaximal lifts to a point before fatigue and failure. So you actually get better at lifting making you better at recruiting muscles, especially the fast twitch ones responsible for growth.

makes sense man...ill try to hit legs twice a week...if im not sore.

 

[El Freako]

Try squatting 3x a week, it'll put some man-size on you.

Either way, keep up your log so we can see exactly how you're training.

 

[PrinceVegeta]

^ 3x times a week squat=suicide

Hit the 5x5 routine man, strength gains and size will certainly come if u eat and sleep right!