Good day all,
I have a fairly chaotic schedule. I end up working out on seemingly random days, which is the byproduct of working 50hrs/wk and having a busy family.
I usually can get a good 2 hours in the gym per session (1.5hrs lifting followed by 15-30m cardio to loosen up). If I lift more than 1.5hrs, I start crashing the next day which effects my job
However my days in the gym change every week, as does frequency. Some weeks I can get 6 days if I dare, other weeks only 2 days.
I've averaged 3-4 days per week the past few months and this seems to be the pattern to come.
With a nutty, random schedule like this, I feel like I need to be doing 2-day splits so that I can at least get one day per major group in each week.
What would you all do? How would you split it up?
|
-
09-23-2021, 08:53 AM #1
Setting up routine for chaotic schedules
-
09-23-2021, 08:57 AM #2
-
09-23-2021, 09:16 AM #3
-
09-23-2021, 09:19 AM #4"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Old Guy deadlifting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zMrim-0Dks
bench press https://youtu.be/GaRzfueJVJQ
Every workout is GAME DAY!
-
-
09-23-2021, 10:52 AM #5
Understood. That's kinda what I am doing, so I'm glad to hear this suggested.
Glad to hear this, it's roughly what I'm doing.
I actually have a rotation of 4 different upper days and 4 different leg days each with different workouts and emphases. It just sucks sometimes going over a week and a half missing certain exercises that I really like. I love cable Crossover but don't have time to do it every upper-day. So I have 2 days I do various bench exercises, and 2 days I do cable Crossover and dips.
Improvise, adapt, overcome. That's the story of my life right there lol. Although I haven't been handed the sort of adversity that some people have. My biggest struggles in recent years is the constant fixing/repairing of bull**** engineering and poor build quality.
I appreciate your encouragement here.
-
09-23-2021, 11:01 AM #6
-
09-23-2021, 11:08 AM #7
Every upper day has these constantly for me:
Bench, incline, row, lat pull, military press, upright row, side lateral
And every lower plus arms day has squats, leg
Press or front squats, leg ext, leg curls,calf raises, ezcurls , db curls, skull crushers and pushdown
I dont mind mixing up the rest based on interest and timeLast edited by coachcalande; 09-24-2021 at 01:01 AM.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Old Guy deadlifting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zMrim-0Dks
bench press https://youtu.be/GaRzfueJVJQ
Every workout is GAME DAY!
-
09-23-2021, 06:08 PM #8
Every day is different so I can't really say specifically, but today I did 4 different bench press variations, 3 different lat pulldown variations, reverse easybar curls, cable curls, tricep push downs, and finished off with seated dips(machine).
Everything other than the arm Isolations were 4 sets if 8-10 reps using weights heavy enough to be nearly failure. The arm Isolations are lighter weights higher reps b/c they are already fatigued by the compounds.
That's too many lat pull variations but I'm struggling to connect my lats before wrecking my biceps so I'm trying out various methods.
-
-
09-23-2021, 06:18 PM #9
-
09-23-2021, 06:38 PM #10
Yes obviously. What I posted was just today. Tomorrow is leg day. I'm doing two day splits.
I'm cycling through 8 different workouts (day 1 through day 8) that takes me 2-3 weeks to complete. All the even #s are lower and all the odd#s are upper.
I just end up sometimes with nearly a week between two leg days or two upper days, because of life.
-
09-23-2021, 07:12 PM #11
-
09-23-2021, 07:46 PM #12
-
-
09-23-2021, 08:38 PM #13
-
09-24-2021, 05:55 AM #14
I get and agree with your basic idea here, but it's not like that's never called for, either. I've worked out with people who have done it and have done it myself, in 30+ set, high volume and intensity sessions. Maybe that was inefficient but you can't write it off as a waste of time, either.
Bench: 340
Squat: 405
Deadlift: 505
"... But always, there remained, the discipline of steel!"
-
09-24-2021, 06:28 AM #15
-
09-24-2021, 06:32 AM #16
Most of the time, I combine push and pull movements so there's a corresponding 3-4 variations in pulls. Some of the time after that, I do isolations, but not always.
That said, OP might very well be working harder than me. He didn't specify any weights but mine might be lighter. Usually I'm not adversely affected the next day, so I'm thinking maybe so...Bench: 340
Squat: 405
Deadlift: 505
"... But always, there remained, the discipline of steel!"
-
-
09-24-2021, 08:35 AM #17
- Join Date: Sep 2013
- Location: Billings, Montana, United States
- Age: 43
- Posts: 841
- Rep Power: 4082
This is one of the reasons why I love 5/3/1. When my schedule is ridiculous, I can get two workouts in a week and make progress. Hell, I can get ONE workout in if I'm absolutely scrambling: just do my three sets for the Big Four and call it good. During football season (I coach), I rarely have time for more than 2-3 workouts in a week and 5/3/1 fits the bill. I also have an adjustable bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells at home so there are times when I just hit a simple DB workout to get my endorphins up. I crawl home at 3am after a long away game, get a few hours of sleep, really don't feel like dragging myself to the gym so I hammer out a half-hour long full body DB workout.
"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds." -Henry Rollins
-
09-24-2021, 10:19 AM #18
Once you're fairly strong 4 diff variations of chest in a single work out will reck your shoulders. Doing ohp, incline, and flat in one session will eventually become impossible. it's best to rotate lifts. Flat press\incline fly mon, incline press\flat d b press thur. After 3 months rotate variations to help with joints. Quality work plus progressive overload always beats a bunch of junk.
-
10-05-2021, 05:04 AM #19
I've taken a lot of the great advice here to heart.
One of the reasons why I have been doing so many variations is learning what exercises and form makes good connections.
I revamped my schedule based on many of your suggestions. I'm still doing 2-day splits (Chest/Shoulders/Arms.... Legs/Back/Traps). I have 8 days total (4 upper, 4 leg/back) that I cycle through over the course of two-three weeks.
The major change however is that I've removed a LOT of exercises I couldn't connect with well. Also bought some straps for deadlift because my back gets bottlenecked by my grip otherwise. But I'm still working on grip by doing farmers walk and using dumbbells when possible.
To deal with the chaotic schedule, especially the scenario where I only get one or two workouts before a long week, I added a full-body "Day Z" which is almost entirely barbell and landmines that are NOT a part of the normal 8-day cycle. It's also a little more endurance focused rather than power. I did one on Friday and I still feel DOMS from it. When schedule gets odd, I'll do a "Day Z" and then step back into wherever I left off in my 8 day rotation.
Bookmarks