Hey Guys

Just joined through a recommendation off a friend....

the biggest concern i have about my training is that i may be overtraining...

This is my usual weekly training split.....

Monday Chest and back

Tuesday Shoulders, biceps and triceps

Wednesday Legs and Ab's

Thursday Chest and back

Friday shoulders, biceps and triceps

...i have been told so many different things by so many people...

i am 24 years old, with a very good shape already as i used to be a competitive swimmer, i weigh 13.5st and im very cut so i dont do much cardio work apart from surfing.. i have put on about 2 stone in the 4 years i have been training but that can also be attributed to natural growing anyway...

i feel as if the last two or so years have not yielded great results and im thinking of cutting down to either a 3 day split or a 5 day 1 body part per week programme.... what do you guys think? a, i overtraining? can someone suggest an effective plan for me i want to bulk up a bit more and i know this requires letting my muscles rest but the thought of training my arms only once per week or my chest just makes me think they will shrink

thanks alot guys

joel

Well 'overtraining' is down to alot of variables. That split will not do you any favours in the overtraining deparment though. You are hitting your primary and secondary muscles far too often and so you won't grow. By this I mean triceps (seconday) is being worked the day after chest (primary). Not a great idea as you will be using your triceps quite abit with most chest exercises.

A Pull/Push/Legs split would be much better.

Monday - Back/bi's
Wednesday - Chest/Triceps
Friday - Shoulders/Legs

There are hundreds of splits though. Post up any that take your fancy and people will adivse you from there.

Age - 18
Bench - 95kg (at 63kg)
Deadlift - 120 (at 63kg)
Front Squat - 92.5kg (at 62kg)

ORIGINAL: JoelMorgan



i feel as if the last two or so years have not yielded great results and im thinking of cutting down to either a 3 day split or a 5 day 1 body part per week programme.... what do you guys think? a, i overtraining? can someone suggest an effective plan for me i want to bulk up a bit more and i know this requires letting my muscles rest but the thought of training my arms only once per week or my chest just makes me think they will shrink

Well it won't really shrink, although the muscle will stop growing after 48-72 hours and from it may begin to loose minute size. This is more down to your diet though. Maybe an upper/lower split would be better suited to you if you want to train your chest/arms twice week.

Here's my current upper/lower split. Every muslce is hit twice a week, one session as a primary mover and the next session as a secondary one. Eg, chest is hit with bench on tuesday and then again with Close grip bench (triceps=primary muscle used) as a seconday muscle.

Monday - Lower 1:
Back Squat - 5+ sets with 1-5 reps
Leg press
Hams, Calfs, Abs


Tuesday - Upper 1 (Wide grip compounds:
Bench 5+ sets 1-5 reps
Inc Bench
WG chins
Rows

Wednesday - Off

Thursday - Lower 2
Deadlift 5+ sets 1-5 reps
Front Squat
Calfs, Abs

Friday - Upper 2 (Close grip compounds)
Shoulders - Military Press 5x5, Raises variations
CG Chins 5x5 with pre-exaust curls
CGBP 5x5 with pre-exaust pushdowns

Age - 18
Bench - 95kg (at 63kg)
Deadlift - 120 (at 63kg)
Front Squat - 92.5kg (at 62kg)

Thanks mate thats very helpfull!!!

I will cetainly give that a try it does make sense at the end of the day... what does everyone else suggest? do you guys agree with Jack5r?

thanks

IMO if you are in the habit of going to the gym 5 times per week, it would make more sense to switch to a 5-day split so that you can really concentrate on working each body area thoroughly (rather than repeating aspects of your routine within the same week).

You should definitely not lose any size or strength by only exercising parts once per week, so don't worry about your chest or arms shrinking, they will hopefully grow as you are able to give them a more intense workout when you do train them.

On the other hand though, I am a bit confused about what you say - first you say that you have gained 2 stone in two years (which is a very respectable gain, especially if you have managed to keep the fat down), but then you say that you don't feel you have progressed very much. Perhaps your expectations are too high? Or perhaps you have reached a plateau, in which case it may be that it is your diet that needs adjusting. If you have an aim to be 14.5 stone for example, you need to be eating now as if you were already at that weight in order to build more muscle.

No i have put on 2 stone in the last 4years since i have finished swimming....

i think i do need to work on changing my routine because i do train very hard and i dont think im getting the full results from it, i eat alot and i am very cut, im trying to load pics up but its not working.......i always thought i wasnt getting enough rest or training certain muscles too close together...thats certainly the way i feel when i train any way...

to put it into perspective my programme consits of up to 16-20 sets on chest and back per session so 4 or 5 different exercises for each...this takes me about 1 and a 1/2 hours to complete...

for shoulders i do up to 16 sets and for arms 8-12 for biceps and also triceps sp 2-3 different exercises for each....

i do feel that all sessions are quality sessions and it often makes my weekly programme hard to stick to because often my chest has not recovered enough by thursday to do it again so i switch it with the shoulders,biceps and triceps im meant to do on friday..

20 sets on chest each session 2x a wk equalls 40 sets far to much IMO

yeah up to 40 per week when u look at it like that,,, same goes for back....how much do you suggest?

would this be hindering growth instead of enhancing it then?

ORIGINAL: JoelMorgan

yeah up to 40 per week when u look at it like that,,, same goes for back....how much do you suggest?

would this be hindering growth instead of enhancing it then?

if you want to train each bodypart 2x a wk,for example chest,do 2 exercises day 1,2 exrcises day 2, giving you 4 in total 16 sets,you might find you have more strength and can use more weight.
but as jack said a push pull would be better.

thanks buzzer appreciate the help

n