[Ppower]

Hey, I was just wondering if I could get some opinions on an Upper/Lower split. I'm thinking it will be a good change from my current 5 days split. My only concern is the total volume of the days.

If anyone has any ideas on helping me set up this program, I am very interested in hearing them.

Thanks
PPower

[T.O]

What is a Upper/Lower split?

[bbdude]

i believe he means upper body one day and lower body one day.... 2 days training a week...

[Ppower]

Thats what I mean, but I would hit each bodypart twice.

Upper
Lower
Off
Upper
Lower
Off
Off

I'm pretty much set on the split. I just havn't decided how to put it all together, and keep my volume on the upper body days reasonable.

Ppower

[T.O]

That would be a good change for a circuit workout. Thats tuff for the upper body. Theres no whey you can hit everything with the same intensity in one workout session. And if you did and lets say you hit everything harcore, I can bet that by the end of your second week you will be overtrained.

[Ppower]

Thats my only concern, the whole over training thing.
But I'm thinking that since I'll be hitting each bodypart twice a week, I can cut the total volume of each workout down.

I'm thinking 2 exercises per bodypart with 3 sets. The last set will be to failure. 1st exercise in the 4-6 rep range, 2nd in the 8-12 rep range.

I think I read somewhere that layne feels people worry to much about over training. And that with good nutrition you can get away with more frequency and volume.

I really hope he voices his opinon on this idea, on what he suggests would be optimum volume.

Ppower

[T.O]

Thats true but in my opinion hitting a muscle frequently but not hard enough is for toning. The main problem with that is that it take a lot to beat the **** out of large muscle like chest and back. Then your going to squeeze in bis, tris, shoulder, traps, forearmes, abs, See what Im talking about. I prefer a good 30 to 40 min workout focus on one muscle a day unless its arems or traps and hit hard where it take a week to fully recover. Hitting it twice a week will not make your muscles bigger. Its the same concept of being in the gym for 2hrs. Does not mean the more or longer, the better.

[Ppower]

"Thats true but in my opinion hitting a muscle frequently but not hard enough is for toning."


I don't think I buy into that. How can you tone a muscle. The tone of a muscle all depends on your bodyfat level.

My reason for the added frequency, is that you would get another chance to grow per week. As long as you can stimulate a muscle, and supply is with nutrients, it should grow.

Also, I dont think that squezing in arms would be to difficult. Seeing your already hitting chest and back, you wont need as many sets for tri's and bi's. That goes for delts also.

I was thinking of trying this. (this is just an example)

Barbell Bench 3x4-6
T-bar Row 3x4-6
Incline DB Bench 3x8-12
Chin Up 3x8-12
Push Press 3x4-6
Side Lateral 3x8-12
Barbell Curl 3x4-6
Close Grip 3x4-6

If I can handle that, I would add in another movement for Bi's and Tri's in the 8-12 rep range.

My other option...is doing one day heavy (4-6) reps, and the other day lighter (8-12) reps.

Teamorbit-i appreciate your input...i like hearing what others are doing and believe. Hopfully others will jump on the topic.

Later

[T.O]

Cool bro, try it out . I am always down to hear new ideas. Keep me posted on how it worked for you.

[captainplanet]

Man back when I first started playing football, we did something like this for awhile..We would do say upper body one day---do barbell bench, incline, military, preacher curls..etc then do lower body the other day doing--squats, front squats, power clings, deads etc..

We would lift 3 days a week and do upper body monday and friday, lower body wed..then the next week do lower body monday and friday and upper wed.. Know what I mean?
It seemed to work fine, didnt seem like we were overtraining at all really, of course we were young and you feel like you can do anything when your 15 lol.
Idk man it's an interesting idea..give it a shot and let me know how it goes

[Tas]

The good thing about doing each part of your body twice a week is that you can hit it with different exercises on each of the days you're working it. I'm trying out a split that I used to follow way back when I started lifting - a 4 day push/pull split.

Monday - Chest / Shoulders / Triceps / Abs
Tuesday - Legs / Back / Biceps / Calves
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Chest / Shoulders / Triceps / Abs
Friday - Legs / Back / Biceps / Calves

The biggy for me is recovery. On Thursday my chest was still hurting from my Monday workout so it was tough to get started but ended up with an insane pump ;D not that a pump has anything to do with growth but we'll see what happens.

I intend to do this for 6 weeks before dropping back to my normal split. I think these sort of routines are good to mix things up and keep the muscles guessing and hopefully growing. Just make sure your protein intake is up and you;re getting plenty of rest.

[Ppower]

What I've decided to do, is start with the volume low, and add sets every couple of weeks, to gauge my recovery.

For the start, it will just be very basic exercises, focusing on getting stronger in the 4-6 rep range, and also in the 8-12 rep range.

I've always been a volume guy, so the change might be hard at first. But I'm interested to see how things go.

Ppower

[strester]

Originally Posted by Ppower

Hey, I was just wondering if I could get some opinions on an Upper/Lower split. I'm thinking it will be a good change from my current 5 days split. My only concern is the total volume of the days.

If anyone has any ideas on helping me set up this program, I am very interested in hearing them.

Thanks
PPower

My recovery is pretty good ... I did the following upper/lower for a while, switched to a 5-day split, and now going back to a modified upper/lower ... below is my original upper/lower and I'm still working on the details of the new one

ME Upper + Cardio: (Monday)
ME Press variant----------3-5RM (Flat/Incline/Decline BB Bench)
Vertical pull variant-------3x8 (Pullups/Pulldowns)
RE Press variant----------3x6-8 (Dips/Military/Shoulder Press Variant/Flat/Incline/Decline DB)
Row variant--------------3x8 (Pendlay/Yates/T-bar)
Triceps------------------3x6-8
***superset***
Biceps-------------------3x6-8
Abs----------------------4x12


ME Lower A: (Tuesday)
ME Squats-----------------5RM (ATG)
Forward Barbell Lunges----3x8-15
Leg curls-----------------3x6-10
***superset***
Seated Calf Raises--------3x15


RE Upper+ Cardio: (Thursday)
RE Press Variant----------3x6-8 (Dips/Military Press Variant/Flat/Incline/Decline DB)
Vertical pull variant-------3x6 (Pullups/Pulldowns)
RE Press Variant----------3x6-8 (Dips/Military/Shoulder Press Variant/Flat/Incline/Decline DB)
Row variant--------------3x8-10 (Pendlay/Yates/T-bar)
Triceps------------------3x6-8
***superset***
Biceps-------------------3x6-8
Abs----------------------4x12


ME Lower B: (Friday)
ME Deadlift---------------5RM (Conventional)
Single leg squats----------3x8-15
Leg extention-------------3x6-10
***superset***
Seated Calf Raises--------3x15
Shrugs--------------------3x15

Cardio: (Saturday/Sunday) ***optional***


Bicep and Tricep Exercises will be picked from any of the following:
DB Curls, DB Hammer Curls, Single Arm Low Cable Curls, Straight Bar Low Cable Curls, CGBP, Overhead DB Extensions, Cable Pressdowns, Skullcrushers

[strester]

here is what I'm currently tweaking (thanks to the help of pt @ Controlled Labs) ... gonna switch to this when I do my next X-Factor cycle in a few weeks

Day 1: Upper + Cardio

*Warmup*
Incline BB Bench - 3x6-8
Incline DB Flye - 3x6-8
Lat Pulldowns - 3x8-12 w/ extreme stretch
Shrugs - 3x6-8 w/ pause
BB Rows - 3x6-8
BB Curls - 3x6-8
CG Bench / Tri's - 3x6-8
*Stretching*

30-60 minutes moderate intensity cardio (NOT part of workout)

Day 2: Lower + Core

*Warmup*
ATG Squats - 3x8-12
Hack Squats - 3x8-12
seated Calves - 3x8-12
Iso Leg Extensions - 3x8-12
Iso Leg Curls - 3x8-12
Hanging Leg Raises - 3x10-20
Crunches 3x10-20
*Stretching*

Day 3: OFF

Day 4: Upper + Cardio

*Warmup*
Flat DB Bench - 3x8-12
Incline DB Bench - 3x8-12
Pullups / Hang - 3x8-12
Dips - 3x8-12
Shrugs - 3x8-12
Arms (Supersets)
Rear Delts - 3x8-12
DB Rows - 3x8-12
*Stretching*

30-60 minutes moderate intensity cardio (NOT part of workout)

Day 5: Lower + Core

*Warmup*
Deads - 3x4-6
Leg Press - 3x6-8
Standing Calves - 3x6-8
*Partials / SCT* Leg Curls - 3x6-8
Leg Extensions - 3x8-12
Abs - 3x10-20
*Stretching*

Day 6: OFF (Cardio / Gripwork / Active recovery optional)

Day 7: OFF (Cardio / Gripwork / Active recovery optional)