3 days a week lifting enough to make progress?

[CATCH17]

My schedule may be getting tighter and I was wondering if I could still make quality progress and take off 3 days in a row?

Monday Chest

Tuesday Shoulder

Wednesday Rest

Thursday Split Back and Legs

Fri Sat Sun Rest



I really don't want to lift Friday evenings but would if I had to. I'd like to be a lump on Saturdays as well.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

[matman1813]

Only training each bodypart once per week is far from optimal if you are natural.

[Serpentarius]

Only training each bodypart once per week is far from optimal if you are natural.

this.
Unless you are training every set to failure, or are doing strength training, do a full body routine.
Also chest, shoulders, and triceps all work together in most exercises, no need to do it again the next day. Look on exrx at the list of exercises and see what the target muscle is, syngergist, etc...if you dont understand what is doing what

[CATCH17]

I'm on a cut but now I'm confused..

Hitting each body part once a week isn't optimal?

Do you have any examples of what an optimal routine is?

[dmacdonal9]

I'm on a cut but now I'm confused..

Hitting each body part once a week isn't optimal?

Do you have any examples of what an optimal routine is?

For a beginner, a full body 3 days/week or a 5x5 like these:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=148036063

Starting Strength.

Why not your own routine? Read this.

[Revolutionize]

I'm on a cut but now I'm confused..

Hitting each body part once a week isn't optimal?

Do you have any examples of what an optimal routine is?

I agree with Serpentarius that a full body workout is optimal. Try to spread them out a bit more, too. For example, M/W/F. You could also do an upper/lower/full body - e.g., M-upper, W-lower, F-full body. That way, you're hitting everything two to three times per week. I currently do Sat-upper, Sun-Lower, Weds-full body.

Also, I try to pick big compound movements for the most part, with some smaller movements thrown in. Something like this:

Upper - BP x 5 sets, one arm db rows x 5 sets, standing shoulder presses x 4 sets, curls x 3 sets, lying tricep extensions x 3 sets, shrugs x 3 sets.

Lower - Squats x 5 sets, SLDLs x 5 sets, Calf raises x 5 sets followed by a widowmaker, weighted cruncthes, DB sidebends.

Full body - Stair walks with heavy dumbells, lunges, seated calf raises, crunches, twists, incline presses, lateral raises, hammer curls, tri extensions, pull ups.

If you are a beginner and don't really know what works best for you, pick a program like starting strength, etc.

[CATCH17]

Am I missing something here?

I need to do a fullbody lift on Monday.. 48 hours later come back and do it again?

It takes me 4 or 5 days to recover from a leg routine and takes me at least 3 days to recover from a chest and shoulder and I need to be hitting them 3 times a week?

[dmacdonal9]

Am I missing something here?

I need to do a fullbody lift on Monday.. 48 hours later come back and do it again?

It takes me 4 or 5 days to recover from a leg routine and takes me at least 3 days to recover from a chest and shoulder and I need to be hitting them 3 times a week?

DOMS is different from recovery. How long have you been training?

[CATCH17]

DOMS is different from recovery. How long have you been training?

2 years doing it in the format I posted above.

I've done stuff in highschool and such but haven't taken it serious until a couple of years ago.


I don't do deads or squats because I do have a bulging disc in my back so unfortanetely im stuck with leg presses, extension, ham curls, and calf raises.


I'd like to get on a program but it just seems rediculous to do squats 3 times a week.

BTW i've been cutting for the last 2 years so my muscle is minimal. I've lost 65 lbs and I still have about 20 to go before I get to single digit fat.

I'd like to get to 7 or 8 % BF and then clean bulk.

[Serpentarius]

2 years doing it in the format I posted above.

I've done stuff in highschool and such but haven't taken it serious until a couple of years ago.


I don't do deads or squats because I do have a bulging disc in my back so unfortanetely im stuck with leg presses, extension, ham curls, and calf raises.


I'd like to get on a program but it just seems rediculous to do squats 3 times a week.

BTW i've been cutting for the last 2 years so my muscle is minimal. I've lost 65 lbs and I still have about 20 to go before I get to single digit fat.

I'd like to get to 7 or 8 % BF and then clean bulk.

then dont squat or deadlift. THere are lots of leg exercises you can do other than those that wont hurt your back or give spinal compression, you just gotta see what there is.

cutting for two years? were you 800 pounds?
If it took you two years to lose 65 pounds...you need to reevaluate your priorities and effort into this stuff. At that rate you are only losing half a pound a week over two years, i mean losing slow is fine but that is TOO slow. You should have been done with that in half a year tops.

[iNerd]

If it took you two years to lose 65 pounds...you need to reevaluate your priorities and effort into this stuff. At that rate you are only losing half a pound a week over two years, i mean losing slow is fine but that is TOO slow. You should have been done with that in half a year tops.

Hey now, some people have relapses in their diet and workout programs or other things that go wrong while trying to better themselves. we are only human. I myself have only lost about 85 lbs in 2 years due to getting in a motorcycle wreck a little over a year ago and not being very mobile at all. it happens man.

Good job on the loss and getting yourself in better shape though OP.

[CATCH17]

Hey now, some people have relapses in their diet and workout programs or other things that go wrong while trying to better themselves. we are only human. I myself have only lost about 85 lbs in 2 years due to getting in a motorcycle wreck a little over a year ago and not being very mobile at all. it happens man.

Good job on the loss and getting yourself in better shape though OP.

Yeah i've had some bad weekends that have screwed me up. I should've had it done a long time ago. I've never slacked at the gym but i've slacked on the eating and it slowed my progress.

I just climb back on the horse every monday and now im in a position to where im sprinting to the finish line so I can get this mess over and start a bulk.

I've actually lost 110 total but over the last 2 years it was 65.

[dbh332]

No biceps triceps?

[CATCH17]

No biceps triceps?

I do dem on Shoulder day.

[Rnewms]

Once per week isnt optimal because your actual muscles only take about 48 hours to recover. Only hitting each muscle group once per week is leaving some degree of time for the muscle to become a little detrained when it is usually ready to be hit again.
Your cns and joints/tendons take longer than a few days to "fully" recover and fatigue is generally built up over time. However, that is why most programs for size and strength have scheduled deloads to refresh your neural system and prevent stalling. If youre not an advanced lifter then you dont need the large amount of volume in a workout that would require a week of recovery. Not to mention ive made my best squat progress by far by doing them 3x per week on a 3x5 routine.

[stingray72]

I used to train m w f full body for years and got good results.

[tniemuth95]

Of course you can make progress on a 3 day split. Will you gain the most ammount of muscle possible? No, but if your not a body builder and just looking to gain some strength or lose fat then a 3 day split will be great. I break mine into Push, Pull, and Legs. I tend to focus on lower reps but thats because I am training for strength. If your looking to lose fat then do more reps with less weight.
Push:
-Shoulders
-Chest
-Triceps
Pull:
-Back (Lats and lower back)
-Biceps
-Traps
Legs:
-Thighs (hammys, quads, and gluts)
-Calfs

Do 2-3 exercises for each body part, include at least one compound lift each day, i usually do 2. (bench, shoulder press, squat, dead lift, bent over rows, t-bar rows)
You won't gain a ton of mass but you will lose fat, and gain strength, without spending your life in the gym (some might disagree with this concept).

There ya go, best of luck to you, and remember: don't fix what isn't broken.

[dmacdonal9]

Of course you can make progress on a 3 day split. Will you gain the most ammount of muscle possible? No, but if your not a body builder and just looking to gain some strength or lose fat then a 3 day split will be great.

But why train in a suboptimal way when you can train in an optimal way? I'm not sure what defines a "bodybuilder" as you put it in this context, but I think anyone that trains wants to make the most progress possible for a given amount of effort?

If I only had three days to lift, push/pull/legs would be my last choice. In fact, that particular split would only make sense to me in a 6 day rotation.

As to fixing what isn't broken, I'd suggest it is in fact broken, and warrants some "fixing" in the ways described above.

OP may have issues recovering from a fill day of leg training (because I suspect he's doing far too many redundant exercises with too much volume on that day, most people do), but recovering from a single full body workout is a different situation.