The problems with typical bodybuilding splits

[Nekrawulf]

I always Feel that legs is too overinclusive. I.e. many people send one day for the entire lower body, core included. I choose to label legs as "hips" as the hips are the primary driving force in all compound leg movements.

The wonderful thing is you can break these mechanic however you want.

say..

push
pull
core
extremeties
hips
work
speed
agility
balance

however you choose. Its really flexible... unlike the typical chest/arms/back/shoulder/legs split

[The_Grinder]

Damn I can sense that this thread might help me, but its dern confusing. I have a few questions.

-Is there any way to have set days of the week for each workout? E.g. Monday is always this, Tuesday is always that, and so on. The catch is I would still love to be in the gym 5 days a week. 4 days a week just makes me feel like I'm wasting my life.

-Does deadlift go with legs or pull??? I just bought new straps so I am deadlifting damit!

-And I know you change up lifts a lot, but do you need to do it every week or can you keep the same routine for 3 or 4 weeks at a time???

This really sounds like a great idea to change things up but like others I am confused as balls...

[THE BOUNCER]

well i did this today. i gotta be honest, nothing felt right about it. but maybe thats because its new. i will stick to it and give it a fair try.

[The_Grinder]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

well i did this today. i gotta be honest, nothing felt right about it. but maybe thats because its new. i will stick to it and give it a fair try.

What exactly do you mean nothing felt right about it? Did you feel like you didn't get as hard of a workout as you usually do? Was the usual intensity not there?

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by The_Grinder

What exactly do you mean nothing felt right about it? Did you feel like you didn't get as hard of a workout as you usually do? Was the usual intensity not there?

the workout was as hard and the intensity was there. i am just so used to working muscles in groups that it felt odd to to train different muscle groups together and think of them as push/pull groups instead of arms, back, chest, etc.. hope that makes sense.

[Control]

Originally Posted by The_Grinder

Damn I can sense that this thread might help me, but its dern confusing. I have a few questions.

-Is there any way to have set days of the week for each workout? E.g. Monday is always this, Tuesday is always that, and so on. The catch is I would still love to be in the gym 5 days a week. 4 days a week just makes me feel like I'm wasting my life.

-Does deadlift go with legs or pull??? I just bought new straps so I am deadlifting damit!

-And I know you change up lifts a lot, but do you need to do it every week or can you keep the same routine for 3 or 4 weeks at a time???

This really sounds like a great idea to change things up but like others I am confused as balls...

I do rack pulls on back day and romanian deadlifts on leg day. If you were to do regular deads I would do those on back day.

[Control]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

the workout was as hard and the intensity was there. i am just so used to working muscles in groups that it felt odd to to train different muscle groups together and think of them as push/pull groups instead of arms, back, chest, etc.. hope that makes sense.

I know what you mean, it takes awhile to get used to something different. I tried doing a push/Pull/legs/ arms routine for awhile just to change things up and it felt weird doing biceps and triceps in the same workout. Are you doing my routine or nekrawolfs?

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by Control

I know what you mean, it takes awhile to get used to something different. I tried doing a push/Pull/legs/ arms routine for awhile just to change things up and it felt weird doing biceps and triceps in the same workout. Are you doing my routine or nekrawolfs?

i am doing a mix really. i took both of your info and made it into my own. one thing i am not doing is a day for hips. i feel that makes things to complicated.

[Nekrawulf]

haha,

I know what you mean bouncer.

This is why I dont discuss my programming with clients, because often I get that Deer in headlights look.

I just train them, and they like the immense variety of workouts.

For instance today we are doing a push day/weight centric with an emphasis on strength and transference of power. todays workout looks like this.

shoulder press: Near 1 rep max - 1 rep - 1 rep - 1 rep - 1 rep - 1 rep
push press: Near 3 rep max - 3 reps - 3 reps - 3 reps - 3 reps - 3 reps
push jerk: Near 5 rep max - 5 reps - 5 reps - 5 reps - 5 reps - 5 reps


Im about to get out there and do this one myself..

woot

[Nekrawulf]

Originally Posted by The_Grinder

Damn I can sense that this thread might help me, but its dern confusing. I have a few questions.

-Is there any way to have set days of the week for each workout? E.g. Monday is always this, Tuesday is always that, and so on. The catch is I would still love to be in the gym 5 days a week. 4 days a week just makes me feel like I'm wasting my life.

-Does deadlift go with legs or pull??? I just bought new straps so I am deadlifting damit!

-And I know you change up lifts a lot, but do you need to do it every week or can you keep the same routine for 3 or 4 weeks at a time???

This really sounds like a great idea to change things up but like others I am confused as balls...

If you have a set day of the week for each workout, your body WILL adapt, and gains will slow. You can try a 4 days on 1 day kind of split... or possibly 5 on 2 off, rest days and workout days must cycle.

I count deadlift usually as core, and this is my reasoning. primary muscular functions for this exercise are in the glutes and hams (core).

[The_Grinder]

Originally Posted by Nekrawulf

If you have a set day of the week for each workout, your body WILL adapt, and gains will slow.

Yeah thats what I figured. I thought about it last night and I'm just gonna say screw it. I'll put in the extra effort and go 2 on 1 off. Damn if only a week had 9 days!

[The_Grinder]

Well, I thought about it some more. Originally I was going to do 2 on 1 off because I wanted to separate deads and squats as much as possible. But I think I am going to do 3 on 1 off. During each cycle of 3, I will alternate whether I do Deadlifts or Squats. For example say I do deads on the first pull day. Then I would just do leg presses that leg day instead of squats. The next pull day that comes up I will skip deads so I can do squats that leg day. That sound good???

I think I am going to make a Microsoft Word Document and write down my workout every day before I go to the gym. That way I will have access to what I did in past workouts so I don't repeat myself.

So let me see if I got this down... Every push day I want to get two presses in. Does it matter which ones go with which? I figure I have 4 main presses to do with either DB's or BB's: flat bench, incline bench, shoulder press and weighted dips. Can any of those go with any of the other ones as long as I don't do the same one two push days in a row??? As for the secondary excercises I have various flyes, front/lateral raises, and tricep movements. Would my body adapt too quick if I did one of each of these every push workout??

The pull and legs days seem a little more straight forward its just the push day I am still confused about.

[The_Grinder]

so this is what I came up with for the first push day....


M 2/25/08
-Flat Bench 4x10
-DB Shoulder Press 4x10
-Pec Dec 3x10
-One Arm Lateral Raises 2x10 (each arm)
-Seated DB Extensions behind the head 3x10

this ok??

[Nekrawulf]

Originally Posted by The_Grinder

so this is what I came up with for the first push day....


M 2/25/08
-Flat Bench 4x10
-DB Shoulder Press 4x10
-Pec Dec 3x10
-One Arm Lateral Raises 2x10 (each arm)
-Seated DB Extensions behind the head 3x10

this ok??

You tell me.....

Your only limited by your imagination.
=-D

[The_Grinder]

Originally Posted by Nekrawulf

You tell me.....

Your only limited by your imagination.
=-D

We will see after today. If its longer than an hour im gonna cut it down.

[Control]

Originally Posted by The_Grinder

so this is what I came up with for the first push day....


M 2/25/08
-Flat Bench 4x10
-DB Shoulder Press 4x10
-Pec Dec 3x10
-One Arm Lateral Raises 2x10 (each arm)
-Seated DB Extensions behind the head 3x10

this ok??

That's fine, that shouldn't take more than 45 minutes or so.

[THE BOUNCER]

control, wouldn't pec dec be considered a pull movement? ^

[Nekrawulf]

When you do a pench press, are your pecs not pulling your shoulders forward?


OH THE MYSTERY =-D


Yeah some exercises are diffifult to place.

[THE BOUNCER]

no, i would definitly consider bench a push movement. but flys or pec deck to me would be a pull. it certainly isnt a push.

[Control]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

control, wouldn't pec dec be considered a pull movement? ^

I never really thought about it but I would definitely do them on push day.