Program for hitting each muscle twice a week?

[Kevin M]

Hello all,

I've been lifting with the same program (always mix excercises though) for almost my entire lifting career, where I will hit:

Day 1: Arms
Day 2: Shoulders
Day 3: Legs/Forearms
Day 4: Chest/Back

(abs and light cardio mixed in throughout the week)

I'd like to try something that will hit each muscle group twice a week, but the challenge is doing this with only 4 days of lifting (I'd love to lift more, but its just not a reality for me). Anyone have a program they could recommend to acheive this?

Thanks,

Kevin

[BillabongVolcom]

Monday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Tuesday - Legs/Back/Biceps
Thursday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Friday - Legs/Back/Biceps

[:::JMANN:::]

push/pull
upper/lower

[Chuck L Head]

You either need a 2-day split, which can be pretty tough if you're intensity is as high as it should be, or a combination of the suggestions from JMANN and Billabong.

If you do a 2-day split, then it's a simple:
Day 1 - Split 1
Day 2 - Split 2
Day 3 - Split 1
Day 4 - Split 2

A "combo" approach would be a 3-day split:
Day 1 - Split 1
Day 2 - Split 2
Day 3 - Split 3
Day 4 - Split 1

The 2-day split means that you will work each muscle group twice within the same week. The 3-day split spreads things out just a little bit, but in any 8 day period, 2 muscle groups are hit twice.

The 3-day allows for more intensity per workout, IMO, and keeps the workouts short. A fairly decent 3-day split is:
Split 1: Chest / Shoulders / Tri's
Split 2: Back / Bi's
Split 3: Legs / Abs

Hope this helps.

[DUILEE]

You could try Arnold's Basic routine. Chest&Back/ Shoulders&Arms/ Legs. Over time I've modified the split to only work legs once a week since I cycle (bike) 3-4 times a week and I don't want to be in the gym on saturdays.

[Kevin M]

Monday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Tuesday - Legs/Back/Biceps
Thursday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Friday - Legs/Back/Biceps

Based on that, I created this hypothetical routine. Anyone think 21 sets in a day is too much? Also, I only do cable for chest, as my left shoulder has problems and I try to avoid doing anything that aggrivates it (bench presses, flys).


Day 1 Sets
Chest Cables 3
Chest Cables 3
Shoulder Press 3 Smith Machine (cannot do dumbells, due to shoulder)
Lateral Raise 3
Forearms 3 Barbell Curl
Dips 3 Weighted
Overhead Tricep Press 3 With Dumbell

Total 21

Day 2 Sets
Leg Press 3
Leg Curl 3
Pull Ups 3 alternate wide and hammer grip
Bent Over Rows 3 Barbell
Incline Curls 3
Preacher Curls 3 Ez-Bar
Shruggs 3 Barbell

Total 21

Day 3 Sets
Chest Cables 3
Chest Cables 3
Shoulder Press 3 Parallel Grip (Machine)
Upright Rows 3 Barbell
Forearms 3
Skull Crusher 3
Tricep Pushdown 3 Rope or reverse grip on bar

Total 21

Day 4 Sets
Squats 3
Calves 3
Pull Ups 3 alternate wide and hammer grip
Dead Lifts 3
Incline Curls 3
Sitting Hammer Curls 3
Shruggs 3 Dumbell

Total 21

[Kevin M]

push/pull
upper/lower

Could you elaborate what this type of routine would look like?

[Chuck L Head]

Do dumbbell chest presses bother your shoulder? I've had plenty of shoulder problems and am now doing dumbbell incline and flat bench work. I can control the width of my stretch at the bottom and depth of the lift (how much I lower them), thus eliminating most of the shoulder issues.

Push/Pull - Split the body into 2 groups of Push muscles and Pull muscles.
Split 1 - Push
- Legs (squats; press; calves)
- Chest
- Shoulders
- Tri's

Split 2 - Pull
- Legs (hams)
- Back
- Bi's

Upper/Lower - Split the body into Upper Body muscles and Lower Body muscles.
Split 1 - Upper
- Chest
- Back
- Shoulders
- Arms

Split 2 - Lower
- Legs (all)

Work abs at least once per week.

As for 21 sets, I'd probably run out of steam and intensity after 15 - 18 sets. But, I'm not as young as I used to be!

[Kevin M]

Do dumbbell chest presses bother your shoulder? I've had plenty of shoulder problems and am now doing dumbbell incline and flat bench work. I can control the width of my stretch at the bottom and depth of the lift (how much I lower them), thus eliminating most of the shoulder issues.

Push/Pull - Split the body into 2 groups of Push muscles and Pull muscles.
Split 1 - Push
- Legs (squats; press; calves)
- Chest
- Shoulders
- Tri's

Split 2 - Pull
- Legs (hams)
- Back
- Bi's

Upper/Lower - Split the body into Upper Body muscles and Lower Body muscles.
Split 1 - Upper
- Chest
- Back
- Shoulders
- Arms

Split 2 - Lower
- Legs (all)

Work abs at least once per week.

As for 21 sets, I'd probably run out of steam and intensity after 15 - 18 sets. But, I'm not as young as I used to be!

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, I cannot do dumbell bench press either. My shoulder situation is slowly worsening, and at some point I'd imagine it'll need surgery. I'll nurse it as long as I can. I'm not too concerned about my chest as its naturally bigger than I want.

[bxbombers]

Monday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Tuesday - Legs/Back/Biceps
Thursday - Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Friday - Legs/Back/Biceps

this is what i do, except on the 2nd week i go mon-wed -fri. then back to mon-tues,thurs-fri, back to mon-wed-fri

[Kevin M]

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to start the routine I outlined above, today. Any other thoughts on that routine?