Help me figure out my new workout split

TheMrMuscle

TheMrMuscle

Well-known member
Im considering switching up my workout split and would like some input on how you would build it based on the thoughts i have.

Som basic info first.
Im 42 years old and coming up on 30 years in the gym. Have not touched any AAS during my life. So muscle gain has slowed down conciderably over the last years. So what I want to do and am trying to do is focus on weak points. This means structuring the workouts a bit different than whats common.

What I want to focus on now is:
- Back thickness
- Quad size and sweep
- Calves (had a lot of problems with my achilles so they have all but dissapeared)

The split im running now is focused on those weak points with extra sets and exercises, but I still work my whole body twice a week. I train 5 days a week in the AM before work. So I dont want to train more frequently as I need the sleep to recover.
Sunday is my only day off from work so thats usually my hardest workout of the week.

Current split:
- Monday OFF (Get up at 0700am)
- Tuesday CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS AND ABS (Get up at 0500am)
- Wednesday LEGS (Get up at 0500am)
- Thursday BACK, REAR DELTS, BICEPS AND ABS (Get up at 0500am)
- Friday OFF (Get up at 0700am)
- Saturday CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS, QUADS, GLUTES AND CALVES (Get up at 0600am)
- Sunday BACK, REAR DELTS, BICEPS, HAMSTRINGS, CALVES AND ABS (Get up at 0800am)

So its a PPL with full body Push on saturday and full body Pull on sunday.
Its a great split but its really taxing in the long run.
So what im thinking is that I want to try hitting the weak points (Back thickness, quads and calves) twice a week and the other muscle groups once a week. See how that goes.

Now I could make it easy and keep the PPL for the weekdays, then do one back focused and one quad focused workout during the weekend. But thats kinda boring, so give me something a bit more "out there".

Im running a lean bulk with a slight caloric surplus. Im around 5kgs up from my leanest which was in December 2019. Im on top of my nutrition and supplementation and have been running a log on this forum for many years. I dont really feel like gaining more fat so i might try to "main-gain" when i get to 86kgs (another 1,5kg up).

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You look great man. I'm not too experienced to suggest exercise advice but I am curious how often you take breaks. Usually people take a week off after 8 weeks of training or 12 weeks of training to recover. Do you do something similar?
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
You look great man. I'm not too experienced to suggest exercise advice but I am curious how often you take breaks. Usually people take a week off after 8 weeks of training or 12 weeks of training to recover. Do you do something similar?
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Thanks man!

What i do is i deload when i feel its needed. Like with everything its hard to say exactly when its needed. So doing it every 8 weeks might be to often, or not often enough. So instead i try to "read" my body and let it tell me when its time to back off a bit. I also use a couple of fitness trackers the Whoop and Fitbit and try to use the info they provide to predict when extra rest is needed.

Right now i am on a deload because my Whoop was showing sub par recovery stats. So even though i was progressing nicely at the gym i decided to see what would happen if i took a week of lower strain. During all my years of training ive definitely missed a sign or two and gone beyond what i could recover from. Thats usually when an injury occurs or you get sick or the like. Id like to avoid that so i pay extra attention to everything physical and even mentally.

But to be honest its still much of a guessing game, but at least I have a bunch of variables that can help me guess right now and then.
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
Have you considered upper/lower body split program? Like the PHUL program.
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Absolutely a good program for overall size and strength. But it doesnt adress my weak points as much as id like. Im also at that age where i find it smart to keep all my reps over 8 as to minimize potential injuries. Injuries now can mean a long recovery time, potentially giving me ongoing problems.
 
In to hear thoughts. I'm currently looking for a new routine as well, also 5 days a week lifting (+1 dedicated cardio day). Was thinking about a PPL routine.
 
TheMrMuscle said:
Absolutely a good program for overall size and strength. But it doesnt adress my weak points as much as id like. Im also at that age where i find it smart to keep all my reps over 8 as to minimize potential injuries. Injuries now can mean a long recovery time, potentially giving me ongoing problems.
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I guess the best thing would be to list the exercises, sets, and reps you do currently for back thickness, quads, and calves. Maybe someone could help you from there.
 
Cheeky Monkey said:
I guess the best thing would be to list the exercises, sets, and reps you do currently for back thickness, quads, and calves. Maybe someone could help you from there.
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Yeah the exercises, sets and reps is something I can do myself. What im more curious about is what splits people can come up with based on the criterias I have. I did some brainstorming myself and here are some i came up with. The one in bold is the one I am leaning towards the most right now:

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Quads, calves
Wednesday: Chest, shoulders, triceps
Thursday: Back, calves
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Quads, hamstrings, calves
Sunday: Back, rear delts, biceps

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Quads, calves
Wednesday: Back, hamstrings
Thursday: Chest, calves
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Shoulders, Quads
Sunday: Back, biceps, triceps

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Quads, calves
Wednesday: Shoulder, triceps, biceps
Thursday: Back, calves
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Quads, hamstrings
Sunday: Chest, Back

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Quads, calves
Wednesday: Back, biceps
Thursday: Chest, triceps
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Quads, hamstrings, calves
Sunday: Shoulders, Back

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Quads, calves
Wednesday: Back
Thursday: Biceps, triceps, calves
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Quads, hamstrings
Sunday: Shoulders, Back​
 
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Do you want two OFF days in your split? If no you could tag in another day and shuffle around so that you're hitting chest, shoulders, bi/tri twice a week as well?
 
LeanEngineer said:
Do you want two OFF days in your split? If no you could tag in another day and shuffle around so that you're hitting chest, shoulders, bi/tri twice a week as well?
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Yeah for now ill stick to 5 days a week. I did train 6 days a week for years on end, but right now even with more calories it seems my recovery wont support another additional training day.
 
TheMrMuscle said:
Yeah for now ill stick to 5 days a week. I did train 6 days a week for years on end, but right now even with more calories it seems my recovery wont support another additional training day.
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That's true now that you got your whoop you have the data to back it up to :)
 
LeanEngineer said:
That's true now that you got your whoop you have the data to back it up to :)
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I might switch to 6 days a week come fall. But then maybe i will split it even more, so that i can sleep like 45 minutes longer each morning. That would probably make a huge impact on recovery.
 
TheMrMuscle said:
I might switch to 6 days a week come fall. But then maybe i will split it even more, so that i can sleep like 45 minutes longer each morning. That would probably make a huge impact on recovery.
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Agreed. Sleep is king for recovery which i feel is lacking for me :(
 
So this is what i ended up going with. The thought here is to reduce the length of the week day workouts so that I can get another 30 minutes of sleep those days. We will see how it feels after a couple of weeks.

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Chest, Anterior and Medial Delts (maybe a triceps movment)
Wednesday: Quads, Calves and Core
Thursday: Back (including Posterior Delt and Traps (maybe a biceps movment))
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves and Core
Sunday: Back (including Posterior Delts and Traps), Triceps and Biceps


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Only thing I'd add is that if you're looking to add thickness to your back, you might be better off going:

Tuesday - Back
Weds - Chest
Thurs - Legs

That way you'll give your lower back a day off between back and legs if you're doing heavy rows or rack pulls or other stuff that's going to get hit on consecutive days.

Also, I'm not sure what your recovery looks like, but it might be beneficial to use your Saturday/Sunday for more of a pump based workout. Still get a tough workout in and track/pursue progress, but increase volume/lower intensity or decrease density (Sunday when you have the time) so it's a little easier on the system. Just some thoughts.
 
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