ONCE-PER-WEEK Workout Routine.. ANY OUT THERE?!?!

[Nakata6]

Hi guys,

Need some advise.. I used to have a 3 day daily workout , ever since i got my new job, I have been unable to train as by the time i knock off work, they gym will be close to their closing time.

Anyway, I was wondering what routine can anyone advise for a Once-Per-Week workout routine as the only time I'm able to workout is on the weekend. Looking at doing a Full Complete Body workout..

Hope some can advise..

Cheers

[Alexi]

Why do you have to be in the gym to get a workout in? Why not do bodyweight stuff, every night do push-ups/crunches and if you have a pull-up bar available do those and dips between 2 chairs. Then on the weekend do a full body workout.

[Nakata6]

Yeah, I have started to do push up and sit up during my weekdays. Have also been using an exercise ball to increase the intensity of the workout.

Actaully my mind concerned was , will i be able to still build good muscles if I just workout once per week.. although i still miss having a 3 day routine..

cheers

[un4]

I was once given this program by a personal trainer at Golds Gym.. its called "exhaustion" and its rather good.. Works the whole body in about 1 hour tops.

Its actually really simple: You do 2 exercises per muscle , 2 sets of 15-20reps per exercise.. And you do ALL MUSCLES

For instance:

Chest: Bench 2 x 15-20 and Incline dumbelss 2 x 15-20 reps.
Back: Lat pull downs 2x 15-20 then rowing 2x 15-20
Tris: etc etc
Biceps.......
Legs
Shoulders
Abbs....

The idea is to make sure that u fail before you reach 20 but not before 15. Ie fail between 15-20
Make sure you keep changing the 2 exercises each time.
Ie: Do bench and incline on one day, the next time u go do flies and dips for instance... But dont repeat the same things over and over otherwise u will end up abandonning some muscles.

It cuts rather well, and makes sure you get out the gym feeling u r exhausted (hence the name exhaustion..).

Make sure you keep doing some exercises at home though... unfortunately muscles tend to shrink too quickly: Just as though they have no respect for the time we invest in them.. Ie you spend 5 years wokring out, u stop 2 months and it looks like you're a beginner... lol

Good luck!

[Alexi]

Look at military guys, who just do bodyweight stuff 5 days a week and are they in great shape and ripped? If your goals are becoming a bodybuilder and being really huge then yes just doing that one workout a week is going to be like impossible. But if you just want to be overall fit and nice body with nice lean muscle then doing bodyweight stuff 5 days a week plus your weekend workout should work perfectly fine. Just lift heavy on your weekend workout and make sure its full body, then sunday just rest.

[geriatricmuscle]

Hi guys,



Anyway, I was wondering what routine can anyone advise for a Once-Per-Week workout routine as the only time I'm able to workout is on the weekend.

Hope some can advise..

Cheers

The weekend is two days. Upper body on Saturday and lower on Sunday. Or there are probably a dozen combinations that will work. Squats, deads and bench with ab work on Sat. Military press, shrugs, close grip press, barbell curls and calve work on Sun.

gm

[Awnold79]

Workout A.
Deadlifts: 1 X 6-10
Dips: 1 X 6-10

Workout B.
Squat: 1 X 12-15
CG palms in lat pulldown: 1 X 6-10


Take about 5-10 minutes to warm up properly. Each work set is taken to total failure.

An example rotation:

Sunday Septmeber 4: Workout A.
Sunday September 11: Workout B.
Sunday September 18: Workout A. etc......

You will be using very heavy weights and maximum intensity. Keep up a proper diet and this will be a great program that suits your needs.

[Mr Lee]

Hi guys,

Need some advise.. I used to have a 3 day daily workout , ever since i got my new job, I have been unable to train as by the time i knock off work, they gym will be close to their closing time.

Anyway, I was wondering what routine can anyone advise for a Once-Per-Week workout routine as the only time I'm able to workout is on the weekend. Looking at doing a Full Complete Body workout..

Hope some can advise..

Cheers

Yeah its pretty simple stuff, do a squat/deadlift, a press and a pull.

[Nakata6]

Cheers guys.. Great valuable advises there. At the moment, dont wish to get into bodybuilding as such.. But looking for a fitter and leaner body

Guess with so many examples given.. I'm sure my weekend @ the gym will be great..

Tks guys

Cheers

[un4]

No worries dude, give that exhaustion program a test... it sure as heck got me lean..

[Hoosten23]

I was going to post this exact same question.

Basically with my new job (lots of on-call, night work etc) I can only make the gym around every 5-7 days. In the past I've always trained 3x/week: programs like 5x5, HST. My goals are a mix of strength and hypertrophy, not one or the other.

I'm guessing that these are the 2 main principles to make sure I can still make some gains:

1) Big compound lifts
2) Full body workouts

But I'm not sure about number of sets, rep ranges and training to failure. Given that I would be training so infrequently it would be hard to justify experimenting too much. I want to start with a program that would most likely be successful.

Option 1:
3/4 big compounds (deadlift, press, pullup), light warmup and maximum effort last set to failure (6-10). Alternating exercises each week (e.g squat, dips, pulldowns).

Option 2:
Higher reps e.g.
2x15 squats
2x15 incline DB bench
2x15 pulldowns
2x15 dips
With different exercises the next week

Option 3:
Typical full body workout:
3x8-10 squats
3x8-10 db incline
3x8-10 pullups
3x8-10 dips
With different exercises the next week

What do you think?