Diminishing returns
During the 80s I had been training on a 4 day split routine for about 5 years, half the body was trained on Monday, then on Tuesday the other half, rest a day or 2 then repeat. It was a good routine for a beginner to intermediate lifter but once I started to lift big weights it became very draining and as a result my strength and size stagnated.
Like most bodybuilders of the day I upped my split to 6 days. Taking 3 days to train the whole body instead of two. The reasoning was that on the 6 day routine you only trained 2 body parts instead of 3 in each session, which meant less time in the gym and more focus on each body part. However more days at the gym were even more draining especially on the nervous system. No notable gains were produced on this programme. I even tried training the whole body, split over 5 days. I was soon to find out that there is no need to spend more than 3 days in the gym to get the results i was seeking.
The solution
It was my old training partner that suggested I try his 3 day routine. I was ready to try anything and the prospects of only training 3 days a week in the gym appealed to me, it left me time to pursue other interests on my days off and recovery seemed assured. Needless to say I started immediately, and with a new training partner to boot.
Results were outstanding and within 2 years i had added over 100lbs to my bench press, over an inch and a half on my arms and fifteen pounds of lean muscle mass! This routine continues to give results, the key being the exercises used and the extra recovery days that are taken. Every person who i have put on this routine has gotten results when there own routines have stagnated.
How it works
This routine has a 2 week cycle, what I mean by this is that it takes 2 weeks to complete training the body 3 times. If you want you can chose what body parts you do per workout, however the sequences of body parts are more important.
Don't train shoulders or back before chest. This is important because both shoulder and upper back stabilisers can be pre fatigued, which can cause injury when benching due to lack of stability in the shoulder girdle.
Don't train legs first, having wobbly legs (if they arnt you be wont training them hard enough!) when performing heavy compound exercises such as upright rows, standing curls or bent over rows to name a few, will limit the amount of weight you can handle and set you up for injury through not having a solid, stable base to support all out efforts.
In the first week you will train half the body on Monday, the other half on Wednesday and repeat Mondays workout on Friday. So what you have done is train half your body twice but the other half only once. The next week on Monday repeat the workout that you did on the Wednesday before and then repeat the cycle.
Here is an example;
WEEK 1 WEEK 2
MONDAY : Chest, Back and Triceps MONDAY : Shoulders, Biceps and Legs
WEDNESDAY : Shoulders, Biceps and Legs WEDNESDAY : Chest, Back and Triceps
FRIDAY : Chest, Back and Triceps FRIDAY : Shoulders, Biceps and Legs
Here is another body part sequence, I'm sure you have the idea by now.
WORKOUT 1 Chest,Triceps and Biceps
WORKOUT 2 Back, Shoulders and Legs
Exercises
Use big compound exercises like bench press, rows, standing curls, close grip benches, squats, leg presses dead lifts, etc. Don't do exercises because you think you have to do because some mag tells you it's the only way to get big, this is crap especially if theses exercises are not suited to your physique. Just concentrate on adding small amounts of weight to the bar over time and use exercises that you like doing and feel won't hurt you, however they must be compound exercises because these recruit the most amount of muscle at any one time. On the auxiliary lifts use at least one isolation exercise to create maximum hypertrophy (size)
Log the compound exercises and the weights you use, this is important to make sure that your progressive in your lifting. Pyramid up, not up then down (don't do a pumping set) with the compound exercises and go heavy use 10, 8, 6, 4 reps respectfully. Keep the isolation lifts up around 8-10 reps.
As i said in the first paragraph chose exercises that you like doing, some people are not built for some big compound exercises like squats or dead lifts and as such need to substitute these. Leg press and stiff legged dead lift spring to mind here.
Do 4 sets of the first exercise, (compound) lift heavy but with good form.
Don't lift explosively, you will end up with an injury!
Take good rests between these as you want to lift as much weight as you can safely, so recovering between these first 4 sets is crucial, this builds pure strength but little hypertrophy. Things change on the next 2 exercises which will be more isolation moves. Superset these, a small rest between sets (say 30 sec) for 3 sets and use the same weight, arms just do 2 sets here. Remember its a superset so you go from one exercise to the other non stop, rest 30 sec's then repeat. These supersets will induce hypertrophy and are done in this compressed volume format to save time and to create more intensity.
In this compressed format it should only take 20 minutes to train major bodyparts and 15 max on minor ones such biceps. Otherwise doing 3 bodyparts a session will take to long and be to draining.
Advanced lifters can, on the last 2 exercises do whats knows as pre-exhaust. Do a Isolation movement first and then go back to a compound movement this is done as a Superset. The idea is that the targeted muscle is totally fatigued (or so you thought) and going to a Compound movement will recruit assisting muscles, that can push the targeted muscle even more.
Some Compound exercises that should be used; Bench Press, Deadlifts, Leg Press, Curls, Squats, Close Grip Bench, Seated Rows, Upright Rows.
....and some Isolation exercises; Concentration Curl, Side Laterals, Kickbacks, Leg Extensions, Flies, Pullovers, Leg Curls, Pulldowns.
Here are some examples of exercises sequences in both Chest and Back workouts;
CHEST..1 Bench Press (4 sets) pyramid up only. Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets Flies + Dips (superset)
2 Dumbbell Press (4 sets) pyramid up......Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets Peck Dec + Dips (superset)
3 Weighted Dips (4 sets) pyramid up .....Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets Machine Press + Push up (superset)
BACK..1 Weighted chins (4 sets) pyramid up..... Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets Pullovers + Pulldowns (superset)
2 Bent over rows (4 sets) '' '' . Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets Stiff Arm Pulldowns on Lat Machine + Seated Rows (superset)
3 Deadlifts (4 sets) '' '' " ...Auxiliary lifts = 3 sets D/Bell Rows + Pullovers
Wrap Up
This routine works for a number of reasons.
- When training only 3 days a week it's easy to be consistent and believe me thats half the battle in bodybuilding and strength training.
- Using big compound exercises like the bench press , squats etc, were you can really load up the bar and then log results are the key to it all.
- Isolation exercises have taken a bit of a beating lately by the fitness industry. Don't listen to these spaghetti armed so and so's, remember this is not a sports performance routine, it's to make you look like a bodybuilder, and become bigger and stronger!, and guess what...they all do a shit load of isolation exercises.
- If you need to be a little more functional in your strength training substitute exercises such as power snatches or power cleans are usefull and should be added. (see Functional V core training article in Fitter)
- The 4 days off to rest or pursue other interests is another factor in keeping this routine a real working mans routine and keeping it all real. Having the weekends off from the gym always kept me coming back bigger and stronger on the Mondays.
Like this article? sent feedback to colin@fitterfasterstronger.com.au Got a training question? Putting together a FAQ soon. Email any you have and we'll put it in the FAQ article.