[dawaro]

Originally Posted by msucurt

Im not 35, im only 34, but i am in the best shape of my life, physically and mentally. I switched to a fullbody routine in august, and it is the best thing IMO I have ever done. It is first of all FUN, pretty fast, exciting, keeps me interested , and challenging at the same time. Nothing but core for the most part. Here u go...

MON, WED, FRI : (PICK 1 EXERCISE, AND DO 3 SETS OF 6-8reps)

CHEST - incl. db press or weighted dips
BACK - pullups or BB row
TRI's - weighted dips or CG bench press
BI's - incl db curl or seated db curl
LEGS - front squat or back squat
SHOULDERS - arnold press or front/side lat raises

For instance, I do 3 sets of incline db press @ 8 reps. Im done till wednesday. Then I do the same wed, and fri. The next week, i would probably do weighted dips that week, and then alternate.

I am 36 and made the same change this year to full body 3x a week. I started with 8 weeks of 5x5 and now I am starting 8 weeks of a modified GVT (10x10 & 6X10) to keep things from getting stagnant and try to achieve both strength and growth phases.
Rather than taking a full week of I do an active recovery week at reduced weights and reps. Just something to keep me active and keep the blood flowing. While I dont make any gains that week I also havent lost pace with where I was at and it gives me a chance to refresh mentally.

[msucurt]

Originally Posted by dawaro

I am 36 and made the same change this year to full body 3x a week. I started with 8 weeks of 5x5 and now I am starting 8 weeks of a modified GVT (10x10 & 6X10) to keep things from getting stagnant and try to achieve both strength and growth phases.
Rather than taking a full week of I do an active recovery week at reduced weights and reps. Just something to keep me active and keep the blood flowing. While I dont make any gains that week I also havent lost pace with where I was at and it gives me a chance to refresh mentally.

Yea, ive been doing my fullbody for quite some time now. I am thinking about switching to something else to keep me fresh. I have looked at various fullbody / upper,lower splits, etc , but i just havent decided on anything yet. Still searching

[EasyEJL]

i'm pondering squeezing my entire workout into 2 days a week, taking the other 5 off

[msucurt]

Originally Posted by EasyEJL

i'm pondering squeezing my entire workout into 2 days a week, taking the other 5 off

i tried that, and just didnt work well at all for a few reasons...

1) i felt like i had too much volume per workout
2) i felt like i was cheating myself in a sense only working out 2x a week. Minimum is 3days a week in my book.

Just my opinion though

[EasyEJL]

well, i'm still looking at it spreading as 4 workouts over those 2 days. I work from home frequently, and have a serious home gym setup. so doing a morning evening split 2 days may work. may not

[dawaro]

Originally Posted by msucurt

Yea, ive been doing my fullbody for quite some time now. I am thinking about switching to something else to keep me fresh. I have looked at various fullbody / upper,lower splits, etc , but i just havent decided on anything yet. Still searching

Here is the modified GVT I am starting, weight is 60%1RM:
Monday-
Bench - 10x10
Squat - 10x10
Row - 10x10
(bench, squat, row tri-sets with 90 sec rest between sets)
Chin-ups - 10x10 or failure

Wednesday -
Deadlifts - 10x10
OH Press - 10x10
(deadlifts and press supersets with 90 sec rest between sets)
Pull-ups - 10x10 or failure

Friday -
Bench - 6x10
Squat - 6x10
Row - 6x10
(bench, squat, row tri-sets with 90 sec rest between sets)
Dips - 10x10 or failure

Each workout I try to increase the weight by 5 pounds but only after getting all reps. I make three attempts to get the reps and if I am not succesful I decrease the weight by 10% and work back up.
This is a routine developed at the Eclipse Gym. I have just started on this phase so I dont have any valid comments on it at this point. I am going to run it and see how it goes. Plan is to run it for 6 weeks, take an active recovery week and then start another 5x5 phase, rinse and repeat.

[DreamWeaver]

You can once in a while do 2 days a week but you need to do compound exercises. I have a couple routines that can be converted this way.

Just remember everything works just not for very long. You should be doing a wide variety of different routines for varying purposes. I switch every 4 weeks not only the exercises but the basic phylosophy of each routine. That way I don't lift too much heavy, I get my higher rep work in, I can mix and match between power, intensity and volume. I judge what is most appropriate for the time. I am not always right sometimes I lift too much power. Periodization is very important and the other is progression, plan on how your going to increase your lifts during the cylce. I am lucky my partner had 30 years of really good experience (he is world class came 2nd) and I have just added my 20 years onto that making adjustments based on what I experience. Know thyself.

[dawaro]

Originally Posted by DreamWeaver

You can once in a while do 2 days a week but you need to do compound exercises. I have a couple routines that can be converted this way.

Just remember everything works just not for very long. You should be doing a wide variety of different routines for varying purposes. I switch every 4 weeks not only the exercises but the basic phylosophy of each routine.

I have read that variations of your routine to keep results coming can be done by changing the order the exercises are performed in the routine and by changing the reps. It suggested the changing the exercises was not always neccessary. I have a lot of interest in this since I focus on maily compound lifts. When you arent doing isolation the variety is a little more limited. With your experience would you agree or disagree with this?

[DreamWeaver]

I would disagree. I think the more you can change the better and the more you have to work from. I guess there is some degree of truth to that way of thinking but you'd do much better having a much better arsenal to draw from.

Compound lifting is the superior way to add mass and strength nobody is disputing that. I think you can use isolation lifts in a manner where you can almost equal the intensity of compound lifts though. Super sets and drop sets used in conjunction can be very effective. Isolated movements are also a lot easier on the joints and will allow you to rest up the joints in between heavy cycles.

And what about combining different types of lifts, I know this can be very effective as well. The more you can change the better is the bottom line. Your nervous system will adjust to certain movements becoming more effecient but this takes away a lot of the load on the muscles.

[dawaro]

Originally Posted by DreamWeaver

I would disagree. I think the more you can change the better and the more you have to work from. I guess there is some degree of truth to that way of thinking but you'd do much better having a much better arsenal to draw from.

Compound lifting is the superior way to add mass and strength nobody is disputing that. I think you can use isolation lifts in a manner where you can almost equal the intensity of compound lifts though. Super sets and drop sets used in conjunction can be very effective. Isolated movements are also a lot easier on the joints and will allow you to rest up the joints in between heavy cycles.

And what about combining different types of lifts, I know this can be very effective as well. The more you can change the better is the bottom line. Your nervous system will adjust to certain movements becoming more effecient but this takes away a lot of the load on the muscles.

Thanks for the input!

[hardknock]

what is the idea behind stacking all wo in two days? is that for more progress or for limited time or better time for recovery?

[EasyEJL]

kind of a combination, plus time availability, as well as possibly the pulsing of anabolics with the workouts

I can easily manage to put in 4 workouts over saturday and sunday if I want to, and that leaves me the week free

[DreamWeaver]

I would still space the workouts out, a lot of heavy lifting you need to rest in between workouts.

[EasyEJL]

yeah, its just an idea really, working out every other day with hitting all groups between 2 workouts seems ok, sort of like the body for life workout scheme