How often do you train each body part?

[Realgains]

aurelius....Yes gear is needed if you are going to train with super high intensity and four days out of seven. Hitting each muscle group once every seventh day is good for the natural trainee though.

How do you train bro? If you train with highish volume, more than four days per week, and hit each muscle group more often than once every seventh day, then you will need juice ALL THE MORE

 

[DanielBishop]

Thanks, realgains.... karma for you (well, I will in a moment).

Would you mind taking a look at my routine, with the advice you just gave me in mind? I have a post somewhere here on the training board called "My 2 year bulking commitment or something" which outlines my routine.

I'm very interested in what you said, and maybe you could apply it to the way I normally train.

I'm looking at Workout #3, and thinking based on how many exercises and sets I do for each bodypart, it would probably take me 4 hours to complete.

 

[Jabs]

every four or five days. Soreness usually leaves me about the 3rd day but I give a day or two to make sure its ready for another pounding.

 

[JG1]

I train 3 days per week and make excellent gains off of it.

My split looks like this.

Tuesday:
Chest & Back. Both done in compound sets. 9 sets for each done till failure.

Thursday
Shoulders & Arms. Shoulders gets 7 sets. Arms are done in compound sets, 6 sets each for tri's and bi's. Forearms get 3-4 sets. All sets done to failure.

Saturday
Legs and lower back. Quads and hams get 12 sets total. Calves gets 6 sets. Weighted hyper-extensions for lower back, 3 sets.

 

[Realgains]

Holy Cow Daniel....four hours to complete!! I will look at your routine in a while but I have to go now.

Bro, the way I train workout #3 never takes more than an hour. You should NEVER be in the gym for more than an hour at a time bro. Even high volume guys rarely go over 1.5 to 2 hours.

I recommend that you cut WAY BACK on your sets and up the intensity a lot.

Not a flame bro but have you ever gone balls to the walls on a set of deep 12 squats(upper legs at least parallel to the ground)....you know...where you couldn't do another rep if a gun was pointed to your head? This type of set takes a fairly long time to complete as you refuse to quit. It will do more than 10 sets were you do not go to failure.

Or how about 12 ALL OUT reps in the leg press,(if you don't have the biomechanics to squat well) where your knees touch your chest ...not those half assed quarter reps with 1500 pounds that you see some guys using. That one set will do WAY MORE than five half asses sets.

Here is an example...........

My quad workout consists of two sets of squats, ALL OUT, at 12-15 reps, after a few easy warm ups of 5 reps. Then one set of leg extensions at 12 reps again all out, followed by two sets of DEEP leg presses at 12 reps. I can barely walk after this bro and my legs are sore for days. I used to do 15 sets for quads and high volume for every thing else too. I grew for a while, especially on gear, but then found myself getting nowhere. I switched over to a more condensed high intensity style and my legs blew up like baloons bro, as did the rest of my body.

If you want mass you have to work within your ability to recover. High intensity with few sets and lots of off time works well bro...really well.....if you can take the pain.
Why don't you get Dorian Yates's book " A Warriors's story" as it is very good and will help you a lot!

Be careful with the intensity ie: forced reps and negatives etc even while on juice because too much intensity over too long a time will cause over training too just like high volume and frequent training. Even Yates didn't go all out for more than six weeks at a time before backing off.

Some guys can gain well while training five or six days per week and with 8-20 sets per body part, at moderate intensity, but most guys will not gain best this way, even while on steroids.

Some guys are middle of the road guys....that is, they train with fewish sets but not as few as Yates or me. This seems to work well for many.

Bro if you are going to train four days per wek or more and with more than 4 to 8 sets to failure per body part then you will get nowhere UNLESS #1. you are a very easy gainer(very rare) or you are on steroids! This is what the magazines never tell you bro!!
If you are natural then stick with my spilt that works each body part once every 7th day and do no more than 4 sets to failure for small body parts,and 8 for more complex muscle groups. Don't forget warmups but keep them easy and for lowish reps. Learn to train HARD and you will get good results.
Sleep at least 8 hours per day, eat well with one gram of protein per pound of body weight, keep the other sports to a minimum and do aerobic work no more than every other day for 30-40 minutes max.

The above advice can be used if on steroids too but I would up the protein and you could train each muscle group every sixth day. (some guys even more frequently) Sets could go up but I see no reason to...just up the intensity.

 

[Realgains]

JG1 I like your routine...good common sence!

 

[Realgains]

Daniel I forgot to mention....stick to basic "compound movements" as opposed to isloation exercises for the most part. You will get little mass off most isolation work. ie pec deck for chest does little compaired to exercises like 30 degree inclines or declines or dips with elbows out.

In the example I gave of my quad workout I did leg extensions before leg presses as a "pre Exhaust" movement. The mass comes from the Squat and leg press.

 

[Realgains]

JG1 what do you mean by compound sets? Do you mean compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises?

 

[JG1]

JG1 what do you mean by compound sets? Do you mean compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises?

No. Lets take Chest & Back for an example....I do them in compound sets meaning I'll do a set of chest, then wait a minute or two then do a set of back, wait a another minute or two then do a set of chest, etc, etc. I keep going back and fourth between the two muscle groups. I stay a lot stronger during my workout doing it this way, and I also get out the gym a lot faster. I feel that I recover better between sets also.

Arms are done the same way...one set of bi's, rest, one set of tri's, rest, etc.

I started doing this for over a year and have been doing it ever since. I basically keep the same routine, but change the exercises and rep range when I feel I'm adapting.

 

[Realgains]

Thats a good idea ! I have done that with Bi's and tri's.