thinkng about changing my split

firedoghfd

New member
Look at my routine.....should i make changes???

Right now I am on a 5 Day split. (legs,chest,back,shoulders,arms, 2 days off toss in randomly)

i'm think about moving to a 3 day split. not sure if this would help be gain mass faster or if it would hurt me. I am a hard gainer and have seem my gains slow down the last few weeks. I've been on this program for 5 months.

what do you all think are pro and cons of a 5 day vs a 3 day.

Here is my routine. I make small changes once a month like change up a few of the exercises and order. Everything is 4 sets. I use the highest weight i can and still complete my reps in each sets.

Chest Day
(4 sets each) I change up from Barbell to dumbbell almost weekly
Flat bench 10,8,6,12-15
Incline bench 10,8,6,12-15
Cable Fly 10,8,6,12-15
Dips (10,10,10,10)

Back Day
4 sets each
Wide grip pull-ups 6,6,6,6
Bent Over Two-Arm Long Bar Row 10,8,6,12-15
Seated Cable Row 10,8,6,12-15
Lat pull downs 10,8,6,12-15
Bent Over Barbell Row 10,8,6,12-15
Hyperextensions (Back Extensions) 12,12,12,12

Shoulder Day
4 sets (10,8,6,10-14)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Front Dumbbell Raise
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise
Seated Bent Over Rear Delt Raise
Standing Military Press/ Smith Press
Dumbbell/Barbell Shrug
Upright Barbell Row

Arm Day
4 sets of each (10,8,6,12-15)
Triceps
Skull crushers
Close-Grip Bench Press
Triceps Pushdown - Rope Attachment
Cable Overhead Tricep Extension
Dips

Biceps
Chin-Ups
Dumbbell Bicep Curl
EZ Bar Curl
Preacher Curl

Leg Day
4 sets of 14-16
Lunges
Hack Squat
Leg Press
Leg Extensions
Lying Leg Curls
 
Too many exercises.

3 types of rows? The shoulder day consists of by far too many movements, the smith machine military press isn't needed and I won't even see how that movement is possible seeing it's a seated variation.

Too much isolation to the arms. This looks like a routine a pro bodybuilder would use, are you on that level of training?
 
GymRat7197 said:
Too many exercises.

3 types of rows? The shoulder day consists of by far too many movements, the smith machine military press isn't needed and I won't even see how that movement is possible seeing it's a seated variation.

Too much isolation to the arms. This looks like a routine a pro bodybuilder would use, are you on that level of training?
Click to expand...

:lmao: if by a pro body builder a 5'8 160lb 17% BF then yes..if not not even close.

what would you have me do. I'm up for anything. i want to gain about 20more lbs of muscle. diet seems to be ok.
 
I didn't see your stat's on the side of your username ;-).

If the diet is right, you won't have to worry about gaining a lot of fat, you can stay lean and bulk 20 lbs easy, it's all in the nutrition. The bodyfat, building muscle, etc.

How's this variation?

Day 1- Heavy Push
- Flat Barbell Press: 5 x 5
- Standing Barbell OH Press: 5 x 5
- Weighted Dips: 5 x 5
- Weighted Sit Ups: 3 x 25

Day 3- Light Pull
- Pullup: 1 x F (try to increase the total reps each week)
- Deadlift: 3 x 10
- Barbell/Yates Row: 3 x 10
- Chins, BB Curls or Alternating Dumbell Curls: 3 x 10

Day 4- Light Push
- Flat Barbell Press: 3 x 10
- Incline Barbell Press: 3 x 10
- Decline Barbell Press: 2 x 12
- Hanging Leg Raises: 1 x 15

Day 5- Heavy Pull & Legs
- Pullup: 5 x 5
- Squat: 5 x 5
- Barbell/Yates Row: 5 x 5
- Weighted Chins: 5 x 5

It's a pretty good setup, when I was your size (we're the same height) I gained the most mass on a equivalent routine, push, pull, legs without the light sessions.
 
Less can be more...

I agree with some of the others; there is too much volume. The big thing you have to worry about when training to a lot of volume is your central nervous system. When you're subjecting your body to a high volume of physical stress, your central nervous system essentially goes into overdrive mode. There are way more chemical reactions going on, among other things, and over time your CNS begins to get "tired."

I used to train with 5 day splits, then I went to 4 day splits, training each muscle group once with relatively high volume and now I'm training with a 4 day split that hits each muscle group twice a week with low volume, sticking with compound movements (ex. W1/W2/off/W1/W2/off/off). I'm only doing two exercises per muscle group (always compound for the bigger muscles). Smaller muscles, such as biceps, only get hit once per respective workout with 4 sets. So for instance, that's hitting triceps twice a week for 8 sets, whereas before when I only hit them once a week I couldn't do that many as it would be way too much volume for just triceps (for me). I'm hitting the larger muscle groups with 8 sets per workout, so that's 16 per week, which is more than I was getting in. And I'm going somewhat lighter at the beginning of the week compared to the last two workouts of the week, due to the fact that after the last two workouts I'll two days off as opposed to just one. Personal experience tells me I should be able to handle this much volume, given that I'm getting at least 3 nights sleep between the same workouts, with a small break every once in a while (every 6-8 weeks).
 
How about This

How about this? i have a strange work schedule. I work 24 hours, off 24 hours, work 24 hours, off 5 days. during the 24 hours working i only get about 30min-1hour of sleep.

day 1
pullup 5x5
dead lift 5x5
barbell/yates row or dumbbell rows 5x5
alternating dumbbell curls 3x10

day 2
flat barbell press 5x5
standng barbell OH press 5x5
weighted dips 5x5
lunges 3x10
Abs

day 3
pullups 5x5
squats 5x5
bentover two arm long bar row (T bar) 5x5
bb curls 3x10

day 4
flat barbel press 5x5
incline barbell press 5x5
skull crushers 5x5
lunges 3x10
Abs


Day 5
OFF

Day 6
Cardio
Abs

Day 7
OFF
 
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