A Strange Split- do yOu think it'll work?

[Cowlifter]

Hey guys,

I've been trying quite a few different exercise programs that I have developed.

Basically what I have found is- working out a muscle one a week doesn't work for me. I need to work them out at least twice a week.

Now trying to get in enough exercises to workout the whole body out at least twice via a split in one week though, really wears me out. I work on a dairy farm which means early mornings, and late night- at most I can get is 6-7 hrs of sleep, 8 is impossible most days.

so trying to workout the whole body twice a week using splits and working on a dairy farm is very impractible for me. I start getting sick because my immune system fails real fast, and a don't get any muscle growth. I experience overtraining almost immediatly.


so here is what I'm thinking.

say I do 12 week split. Basically first 12 weeks is focused on the upper body using a split system like push twice a week pull once a week then pull twice a week and push once a week. So I end up working out 3 times a week.

then then next 12 weeks I focus on legs so it could be upper legs twice a week lower legs once a week then lower legs twice a week and upper legs once a week so I workout for 3 times a week.

If I did this ,while I focused on doing upper body, or legs for 12 weeks, with the other part not being worked out for 12 weeks suffer a lot- like basically would all my work in those 12 weeks disapear? Does this seem like a worthwhile split?

And if you do think that while neglecting the upper body or legs while focusing on the other is not worthwhile of a split, if say I added one extra day a week or every two weeks as a maintaince workout for the off muscles do you think that would then make it worth it- would that be enough to keep those muscles from losing mass?

Any help is gratefull, I really need find something that works well and doesn't give me overtraining. I'm losing mass like crazy so I really need to start pumping iron again.

[Cowlifter]

Is there anybody who can tell me if this sounds good.

[Gottapumpit]

You might keep some size/strength after 12 weeks but I doubt it. If you want to do a ridiculous split like that I'd think every other week would make more sense. Like upper one week then lower the next. All you can do is try it though. I still haven't found a workout that's right for me, but I'm pretty sure that not training a body part for 3 months isn't correct.

[hijameschung]

12 weeks seems excessive. Maybe try 4-6 weeks? 12 weeks is too long of a resting period and too long to be focused on half the body only. Your training split is sort of over training however because of the extended rest, it could be decent. However, I wouldn't try this workout for very long, maybe do 2 cycles of it and then rest for a while and go back to some other training regimen. If I were to use your regimen, I would probably do a 2-3 weeks split, giving my trained body parts enough time to recover before hitting them again.

[Cowlifter]

Thanks guys for the imput. That makes more sense. I think I will try it out at 2-3 weeks instead of 12.

Thanks again.

[jgreystoke]

You are already biggish, but have you considered fullbody?

At least up to the 1980s, even already advanced guys considered that a surefire way to get bigger and stronger was to cut everything back to a fullbody or simple upper/lower split. And drop everything except the big basic barbell moves in your profile above your goals.

The huge drop in overall volume, lots of which would have been little stuff anyway, allowed them to make significant poundage progression. Getting stronger helped them get bigger which helped them......

Here's just such a program from Robert Kennedy's(Now honcho at Ironman) great book "Reps!"from the 1980s:

BULK ROUTINE:

2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK

FULLBODY OR ALTERNATE UPPER/LOWER

BENCH

SQUAT

PRESS

(he says behind the neck, but military is safer unless you have the mutant shoulder flexiblity of a gymnast or olympic weightlifter)

ROW

CURLS

Thats it!

You could do all that on the same day if you wanted.

I'd throw in deadlifts of some kind, ideally stiff leg or roumanians, or goodmornings, possibly alternating them with the squat days, or doing them after squats. You should cherish a strong back, and it will make your squats much safer, since your lumbars will be strong enough to maintain back angle when you are coming up from the hole with a big weight on your traps.

You could alternate

squat, bench, row one day,

with clean and press, dead and curl the other day


Or you could do

Squat, roumanians/SLDs/good mornings one day(hell you could throw in calves after)

with

Bench, row, press, curl the other day.

Cleaning the weight before every set of presses is very beneficial, and actually primes your back and midsection before the press. Also warms your back up for the deads after.

He suggested rep ranges to promote power and strength, with high reppers after to hammer endurance and size.

Thus 3 sets of 3-5 reps or thereabouts with 2 sets of 10-12 after for size.

Typical sequence for say bench

1 x 10, 3 x 3, 2 x 10

The 3 sets of 3 would be near 90% of your one rep max. That is sufficient intensity to give rapid strength gains. The 2 sets of 10 might be at only 70% of your top three sets.

I'd throw in ramping singles after the warmup with 10 reps, to bring me to at least 90% of the top three in those warmups.

Thus if you were going to lift 100kilos in your work sets of some lift,

I'd do something like

40 x 10, 50 x 1, 60 x 1, 70 x 1, 80 x 1, 90 x 1, 100 x 3 x 3, 65 x 2sets x 10 reps.

Some people would warmup with just 70 x 10, but I couldn't do that.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

[Cowlifter]

Originally Posted by jgreystoke

You are already biggish, but have you considered fullbody?

At least up to the 1980s, even already advanced guys considered that a surefire way to get bigger and stronger was to cut everything back to a fullbody or simple upper/lower split. And drop everything except the big basic barbell moves in your profile above your goals.

The huge drop in overall volume, lots of which would have been little stuff anyway, allowed them to make significant poundage progression. Getting stronger helped them get bigger which helped them......

Here's just such a program from Robert Kennedy's(Now honcho at Ironman) great book "Reps!"from the 1980s:

BULK ROUTINE:

2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK

FULLBODY OR ALTERNATE UPPER/LOWER

BENCH

SQUAT

PRESS

(he says behind the neck, but military is safer unless you have the mutant shoulder flexiblity of a gymnast or olympic weightlifter)

ROW

CURLS

Thats it!

You could do all that on the same day if you wanted.

I'd throw in deadlifts of some kind, ideally stiff leg or roumanians, or goodmornings, possibly alternating them with the squat days, or doing them after squats. You should cherish a strong back, and it will make your squats much safer, since your lumbars will be strong enough to maintain back angle when you are coming up from the hole with a big weight on your traps.

You could alternate

squat, bench, row one day,

with clean and press, dead and curl the other day


Or you could do

Squat, roumanians/SLDs/good mornings one day(hell you could throw in calves after)

with

Bench, row, press, curl the other day.

Cleaning the weight before every set of presses is very beneficial, and actually primes your back and midsection before the press. Also warms your back up for the deads after.

He suggested rep ranges to promote power and strength, with high reppers after to hammer endurance and size.

Thus 3 sets of 3-5 reps or thereabouts with 2 sets of 10-12 after for size.

Typical sequence for say bench

1 x 10, 3 x 3, 2 x 10

The 3 sets of 3 would be near 90% of your one rep max. That is sufficient intensity to give rapid strength gains. The 2 sets of 10 might be at only 70% of your top three sets.

I'd throw in ramping singles after the warmup with 10 reps, to bring me to at least 90% of the top three in those warmups.

Thus if you were going to lift 100kilos in your work sets of some lift,

I'd do something like

40 x 10, 50 x 1, 60 x 1, 70 x 1, 80 x 1, 90 x 1, 100 x 3 x 3, 65 x 2sets x 10 reps.

Some people would warmup with just 70 x 10, but I couldn't do that.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

Wow, man thanks, this is great info. Reps for you for sure. I've never had anybody dedicate so much time to write out a long post like this for me. THansk a lot, and happy lifting,

[jgreystoke]

Originally Posted by Cowlifter

Wow, man thanks, this is great info. Reps for you for sure. I've never had anybody dedicate so much time to write out a long post like this for me. THansk a lot, and happy lifting,

You are welcome, bro.

Anyone who really loves the iron game will help out a brother bodybuilder/lifter.