Light/Heavy splits

celc5

celc5

Well-known member
I'd like to hear opinions on splits which have a light day and a heavy day for each bodypart.

Any links or advice to point me in the direction to perform more efficient searches would be appreciate :cheers:
 
I was on an upper/lower split a year ago ... maximum effort days (ME) and dynamic effort / varied weights and rep ranges (RE) ... had some decent gains with it ... played around with the exercises moving them to different days until I found something I liked ... below is what I ended up using M/T/R/F with W/Sa/Su off days or cardio:

ME Upper
Incline DB Press
Wide Grip Pulldowns
Standing Military Press
Row variant
Arms

ME Lower A
ATG Squat
Hacks
Iso Leg Curls
Seated Calf Raises
Abs

RE Upper
Flat DB Press
Pull-ups
Shoulder DB Press
Row variant
Arms

ME Lower B
Deadlifts
Leg Press
Leg Ext
Standing Calf Raises
Abs

is this a bit like what you're looking for?
 
Yes, that's the right track. I was thinking of using a light/heavy split for a cut. Last year I ran the alternating PRRS routine but wasn't thrilled about going heavy once every 3 weeks. I felt as though it was very hard on my joints because I wasn't consistently doing the compound power moves.

I thought of alternating just the rep range and shock weeks (without power) but saw some power/hypertrophy splits that caught my attention in similar fashion to your split. So my current ideas combine shock and rep range all into 1 week.

A few questions for you:

1. Why ME for legs twice? Maybe I'm asking because my legs grow just by thinking about squats and others need more?

2. Was there an article or website that influenced your ME/RE split?

3. How long was this split effective for you? I tend to plateau in just about every routine within 4-6 weeks.

Thanks for the response bro :cheers:
 
celc5 said:
Yes, that's the right track. I was thinking of using a light/heavy split for a cut. Last year I ran the alternating PRRS routine but wasn't thrilled about going heavy once every 3 weeks. I felt as though it was very hard on my joints because I wasn't consistently doing the compound power moves.

I thought of alternating just the rep range and shock weeks (without power) but saw some power/hypertrophy splits that caught my attention in similar fashion to your split. So my current ideas combine shock and rep range all into 1 week.

A few questions for you:

1. Why ME for legs twice? Maybe I'm asking because my legs grow just by thinking about squats and others need more?

2. Was there an article or website that influenced your ME/RE split?

3. How long was this split effective for you? I tend to plateau in just about every routine within 4-6 weeks.

Thanks for the response bro :cheers:
Click to expand...

no problem ... happy to contribute to the discussion :type: ... and good questions!!

1. I've got chicken legs, for lack of a better generalization ... wheels are always a weak point for me in terms of size ... the first leg day had squats and hacks so I could try to really overload the quads ... second leg day had deads and leg presses to force the hamstrings to work ... if your legs grow like you say they do (and I envy you for that) then you could put all the big lifts on one ME day and then work light with isolation movements on the RE day that replaces the ME day ... oh and I forgot to mention recovery time played into the shape of the routine (different for everyone and can change in time as people become more in-tune with their body)

2. I had seen some logs on BBdotCOM where people had some great success with a routine of this style ... I was getting bored with my routine at the time and wanted to shock my system ... I was always doing volume training and started realizing that I needed a day or two of maximum effort to really overload the muscles to inhibit some growth (main reason I'm on Max-OT now) and needed some recovery time since this was new to me ... I'm also on the forums at Controlled Labs and Pu has used upper/lower splits with great success ... I think the first upper/lower I read at BBdotCOM was HolaBola's ... I also Google'd upper/lower to see what others said about it

3. The split worked out good for a few months ... if you plateau quickly, you could try switching your ME and RE days so your body is guessing ... maybe four weeks M/R/M/R and then another four of R/M/R/M ... or use a DC methodology where you swap out exercises when you feel you've reached a plateau
 
Ok, i see your logic with the leg split. I'm a big proponent of splitting up quads and hams as well. I tend do so in push/pull splits rather than upper/lower fashion.

Thanks for the usernames. That'll give me a start for some searches.

I'm not a fan of MaxOT. I get strong but fat lifting that style :burger: Neither of which are good for me since I'm lifting purely for appearance and enjoyment rather than strength.

Good point on swapping exercises. I agree. I usually plan each routine with the NEXT routine in mind so I have "room" to have all new lifts freqeuntly. I'm thinking this can be a transition routine for me until I hit up my third round of HST :head:

I'm thinking my split will go like this:

M: Shoulders/Back- Shock
T: Legs/Bis/Core- Shock
W: Off
Th: Shoulders/Back- Hypertrophy
F: Legs/Bis/Core- Hypertrophy
S: Chest/Tris- Hypertrophy
S: Off

*Shock: 15 reps/set, 20min cardio preworkout
*Hypertrophy: 8 then 12 reps per movement respectively, 20 min cardio post workout
*Chest/Tris only once per week due to old injuries requiring substantial recovery time.

Thoughts?
 
celc5 said:
Ok, i see your logic with the leg split. I'm a big proponent of splitting up quads and hams as well. I tend do so in push/pull splits rather than upper/lower fashion.

Thanks for the usernames. That'll give me a start for some searches.

I'm not a fan of MaxOT. I get strong but fat lifting that style :burger: Neither of which are good for me since I'm lifting purely for appearance and enjoyment rather than strength.

Good point on swapping exercises. I agree. I usually plan each routine with the NEXT routine in mind so I have "room" to have all new lifts freqeuntly. I'm thinking this can be a transition routine for me until I hit up my third round of HST :head:

I'm thinking my split will go like this:

M: Shoulders/Back- Shock
T: Legs/Bis/Core- Shock
W: Off
Th: Shoulders/Back- Hypertrophy
F: Legs/Bis/Core- Hypertrophy
S: Chest/Tris- Hypertrophy
S: Off

*Shock: 15 reps/set, 20min cardio preworkout
*Hypertrophy: 8 then 12 reps per movement respectively, 20 min cardio post workout
*Chest/Tris only once per week due to old injuries requiring substantial recovery time.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

another example of how routines can work differently for different people ... I actually lost some fat and built strength and size while on it ... starting a recomp soon to finish trimming off from a not-so-dialed-in diet ... but I digress

I have my personal preferences on cardio pre/post workouts and rep ranges, but you know what works for you and what doesn't ... with that said, the plan looks good to me ... best of luck ... :clean:
 
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