I've heard of all kinds of split routines in weight lifting. I am interested in working out 2 times a day with weight lifting but had a question as to what would be a good split on that? Does anyone here also workout twice a day? (with weights, cardio is separate and I've got that covered)

I tend to like split routines rather than total body workouts. Can anyone help me? Even just telling me what you do in your own routine (if you're working out twice a day)


Thank you in advance

Originally Posted by sweetkajira

I've heard of all kinds of split routines in weight lifting. I am interested in working out 2 times a day with weight lifting but had a question as to what would be a good split on that? Does anyone here also workout twice a day? (with weights, cardio is separate and I've got that covered)

I tend to like split routines rather than total body workouts. Can anyone help me? Even just telling me what you do in your own routine (if you're working out twice a day)


Thank you in advance

I would love to do something like this. I think it would make some splits very effective. It would probably be hard to find a training buddy with as much passion though.....

If you do train 2x a day, it is recommended to do heavy strength training on the 1st round, like 5x5 or lower and in the evening, atleast 4-5 hrs later do more hypertrophy trainin.

I workout twice a day sometimes three, but its not a big deal what I do. I just workout more then once since I get bored on my lunch and the gym is down the street.

Cardio Before work
Abs Lunch break
Whatever the lift is for the day
Or
Pull ups-Abs Lunch break
and whatever it is for the day

I personally think this is overtraining and will lead to CNS issues and gym burnout. All training in the gym accomplishes is muscle damage, when you are outside the gym and resting is when you grow. So to what purpose is it to overtrain?

Originally Posted by crader

I personally think this is overtraining and will lead to CNS issues and gym burnout. All training in the gym accomplishes is muscle damage, when you are outside the gym and resting is when you grow. So to what purpose is it to overtrain?

She does have a point...I'm switching my routine up next week anyway but I will keep my lunch gym time and keep it to just abs.

Originally Posted by WhatsaRoid?

She does have a point...I'm switching my routine up next week anyway but I will keep my lunch gym time and keep it to just abs.

The only time I would condone this is if you are on cycle. But even then if you overtrain you actually lag out muscle growth. Now going back to do cardio only a second time is okay if you need the time.

Originally Posted by crader

The only time I would condone this is if you are on cycle. But even then if you overtrain you actually lag out muscle growth. Now going back to do cardio only a second time is okay if you need the time.

I'll alternate abs and cardio for my lunch workout then, not a big deal I just love the atmosphere at the gym around that time. ose:

Originally Posted by crader

The only time I would condone this is if you are on cycle. But even then if you overtrain you actually lag out muscle growth. Now going back to do cardio only a second time is okay if you need the time.

I was thinking more in the realm of...... say tri/bi day you work tricep morning, then bicep evening. Or back/bi day you work back morning and then bicep evening. Workout twice a day with the same exercises you'd do in 1. This way you can go full force on your 2nd bodypart w/o being drained.

I appreciate the information. I'm certainly not looking to over train. Just find the best mix. I really like the idea of one body part in the morning, and 1 in the evening with cardio each day in between. I think I'll try that.

long response!

i recently started doing this and I believe I will be adding a lot of mass with this type of split. I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't been training and understanding how your body responds for a good amount of time, because overtraining is a possibility. The signs of overtraining are allegedly:

1.) faster heart rate first thing in the morning
2.) shaky hands
3.) inability to get a pump
4.) a noted increase in irritability or depressive symptoms
5.) obviously tiredness

the only one i really try to follow is 1.) because it is a concrete way to determine if something physiologically changed in my body. so far so good, i feel fine.

However, I wouldn't be so afraid of overtraining because my personal opinion is with sufficient calories (bulking) and rest, your body is capable of tremendous things and I believe its capacity of training can improve too. I think a navy seal would have a higher overtraining threshold than an average human being no? Undertraining seems to be en vogue nowadays, but to me I think people OVER-worry about that. I have taken my body to the limits of overtraining in my wrestling days, so I know what that's like. dehydration, limited calorie intake, and 4 hour workouts per-day. And believe me, to this day, I haven't had a single session in the gym, during HIIT cardio, or regular cardio that can even hold a candle to any wrestling workout i've had in my life, so I know as far as training goes we can do a LOT before we burnout.

anyway, when using a two-a-day i do something similar to what steveoph says which is alternate a particular bodypart with hypertrophy session vs. strength session

for instance, for legs I may do something in the 6-8 rep range one day, and then I'd hit it again in the 10-15 rep range the next leg workout. For me it doesn't matter if I do two strength sessions in one day, one of each, or two hypertrophy sessions, I just make sure to alternate it for each body part. Obviously each day I try to pick 3-4 bodyparts that are mutually exclusive, and do 2 in the AM, 2 in the PM.

The reason I do hypertrophy and strength is because I tend to get more sore with hypertrophy sessions. In a two-day, you are able to have incredible frequency so being sore all the tiem is counterproductive. I can recover from a strength session within 48 hours if not less, and then bombard it with a hypertrophy session that may take longer than 48 hours to fully heal. I use soreness as an indicator of how to design the split. And yes, there will come a day when soreness becomes nearly non-existent and I will just have to give the body part a full 48 hours of rest by default.

By the way, Lyle Mcdonald has mentioned that the genetic response to training lasts about 36 hours and then dissipates, so he recommends a type of training that allows you to hit the bodypart within that window, stating that once out of that window you begin to go backwards. The standard pound a bodypart once a week doesn't make sense to me since I will never be sore for 7 days unless I just started from a layoff, or I had a ridiculously intense workout (which would lead to overtraining in and of itself).

Also, two a days allow you to have two post workout insulin spikes, which will help you become more anabolic overall.

hard to mention what my split is since it is always changing and won't ever nicely fall on any day schedule, but below is what i'm doing now:

calves and abs will get 3x / week
other major muscles will get around 2-2.5x / week
if say my back heals fast (which it does), I have no problem hitting it 3x a week alternating strength, and hypertrophy as before

all workouts are about 1 hour, if not under

i tend to pick two mutually exclusive bodyparts and hit them in what seems like a superset fashion, but is not. For example, Chest / bicep will be a chest set, sufficient rest, then a bicep set.

i think two a day/split routine workouts can be very effective. i also think that it can be too much for the body. for the split routine to work i feel that the off time between sessions needs to be spent recuperating, replenishing glycogen stores, getting nec. protein, bcaa's in for your body to refuel and rebuild. also, some time must be allotted for a short 1-2 hour nap. if you have a fulltime job, the split routine inmy opinion, would be way too much. training in the am, rushing to work 8 hours, then back to the gym at night would be counter- productive. now, an am cardio session and pm weight training or vice versa is very effective and won't lead to over training...