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Why do so many people train on the same stupid split routine?

i train 5 days a week maybe 6.

day1-chest
day2-arms
day3-shoulders
day4-back
day5-legs
plenty of rest between bodyparts and i dont train a bodypart that is still recovering.

i try to squeeze calves in 2 times a week minimum.
on occasion if my delts are still burning on shoulder day ill substitute it with another leg day
 
Not a fan of those wacky, one body part a day over a week routines. The 5 or 7 day splits is a bit much. I don't think you could ever work a body part hard enough to need that amount of time off.

Before I done weights, when I was doing body weight exercises I used to do a upper/lower split. Pistols/Lunges for lower, push ups/chins for upper, mainly cos I wanted to do something every day.


I think the thing is, most people doing splits are uneducated, so they ignore the leg compunds. If your doing a split and still doing deads and squats, then there probably isn't a problem with the routine.
 
Lfs2shrt2bsml said:
i train 5 days a week maybe 6.

day1-chest
day2-arms
day3-shoulders
day4-back
day5-legs
plenty of rest between bodyparts and i dont train a bodypart that is still recovering.

i try to squeeze calves in 2 times a week minimum.
on occasion if my delts are still burning on shoulder day ill substitute it with another leg day
Click to expand...

See, I can't train arms the day before training shoulders, I find that my triceps give out if they are properly trashed from the day before
 
Lfs2shrt2bsml said:
i train 5 days a week maybe 6.

day1-chest
day2-arms
day3-shoulders
day4-back
day5-legs
Click to expand...

My Split is quite similiar I always base my training on compound movements even my arms day.
Monday - Legs - Squats
Tuesday - Chest - Bench Press
Wednesday - Cardio
Thursday - Shoulders - Military press and DB Press
Friday - Back - Deadlifts
Saturday - Cardio
Sunday - Arms - Chin Ups and Dips

I find with this split I get maximum recovery between squatting and deadlifting so i get the most out of each session. Only small issue I have is sometimes still a bit sore from chest on shoulders day.
 
Sam, My advice to you would be to not get too convinced that your way of doing things is the only way. (weight training or anything else) You are writing off push/pull routines as stupid but there have been plenty of good physiques built that way.

You will get plenty of support around here for that opinion but that doesn't necessarily make it right. As you get older you will learn to question your beliefs and you'll find some of them aren't quite as black and white as you think they are now.

People use split routines because it is not possible to put the entire body through a high volume workout in one day. Push/pull is popular because, as has been mentioned above, you pre-exhaust the arms slightly training the bigger muscle groups. Notice that I said slightly. If your arms are too torched to train after chest or back then you are performing your exercises incorrectly and using the wrong muscles to do the work.

I like splits and I've used many over the years but my goals have almost always been hypertrophy. I don't like full body training because you just get a muscle group warmed up and you are on to something else. They don't get me engaged either physically or psychologically due to the lack of volume. Basically it comes down to training a muscle at 30% 3 times a week or at 100% once a week.
 
Well said bull! It's a valid principle that's been proven to work and has been around since bodybuilding itself.
New ideas and routines come and go but some basic principles are always true.
 
rino60 said:
See, I can't train arms the day before training shoulders, I find that my triceps give out if they are properly trashed from the day before
Click to expand...
everyone too there own and maybe i havent been training long enough (8.5 years)
it has been working for me

chest- 4 sets heavy bench- 3 sets heavy dbells- 3 sets incline bench-4 sets pec fly dumbell heavy. finish pyramid of pushups up to 12

arms- flat bar curls- hammer curls- cable curls- close grip chins-close grip bench- rope overhead extensions- weighted dips

shoulders- dbell press- smith press-partial arnold presses-front plate raises- dumbell side raises- high reps high weight on hammerstrength press

back- high rep wide grip chins- lat pull down- compound row- barbell row- high cable pull down-straight armed pull downs

legs- squat-leg press- walking lunges- leg extension- dbell ham curls- stiff legged deads

calves- high rep seated s/s standing extensions- toe presses on leg press

everything is subject to change whenever i feel like it
 
bull said:
Sam, My advice to you would be to not get too convinced that your way of doing things is the only way. (weight training or anything else) You are writing off push/pull routines as stupid but there have been plenty of good physiques built that way.

You will get plenty of support around here for that opinion but that doesn't necessarily make it right. As you get older you will learn to question your beliefs and you'll find some of them aren't quite as black and white as you think they are now.

People use split routines because it is not possible to put the entire body through a high volume workout in one day. Push/pull is popular because, as has been mentioned above, you pre-exhaust the arms slightly training the bigger muscle groups. Notice that I said slightly. If your arms are too torched to train after chest or back then you are performing your exercises incorrectly and using the wrong muscles to do the work.

I like splits and I've used many over the years but my goals have almost always been hypertrophy. I don't like full body training because you just get a muscle group warmed up and you are on to something else. They don't get me engaged either physically or psychologically due to the lack of volume. Basically it comes down to training a muscle at 30% 3 times a week or at 100% once a week.
Click to expand...

I do understand what your saying, I respect splits and i know they have their place, I was like that to start off with as well, its just that most people i know on a routine like this aren't experienced enough to isolate the main muscle group well enough without wasting themselves by the time it comes to arms. Splits are good for bodybuilding, but for this program to be so widely advertised to a complete beginner on other websites i think is wrong. Gives a lot of guys a high chance of giving up before they have had a good enough taste, you always see guys in and out of commercial gyms within a month because their not seeing their results.

But for experienced lifters such as you and darkoz i agree with what your saying
 
Don't worry about it Sam, you focus on what you're doing and let others do what they want, rightly or wrongly.
 
When I started out I wanted to get big and couldn't see past the isolation exercises. It's a simplistic approach a beginner sees arms as curls, chest as bench, tris as rope pulls and skulls. I spent years doing splits and got great results. Wasnt that strong but didnt worry me. It's human nature to start then quit when you realise it's hard work. I don't think it matters what young blokes are doing as long as their getting in the gym and getting a taste for the iron.
 
Brick said:
When I started out I wanted to get big and couldn't see past the isolation exercises. It's a simplistic approach a beginner sees arms as curls, chest as bench, tris as rope pulls and skulls. I spent years doing splits and got great results. Wasnt that strong but didnt worry me. It's human nature to start then quit when you realise it's hard work. I don't think it matters what young blokes are doing as long as their getting in the gym and getting a taste for the iron.
Click to expand...

Yup. I can relate, first thing I found was a push/pull routine on bb.com which is what most of the other guys get onto because its so widely advertised as the basic beginners program on that site, which is like the first site any beginner would uusally go on. If it wasn't for this forum and further research i'd probalby be the same. Just feel that its a little misleading but anything is better than nothing
 
If you do what everyone else does in the gym you're going to look like everyone else in the gym - like fucking shit
When I first started I did quarter squats, deadlifts, bench, chins and press. I could only do one day in the gym a week so I just maxed out each one of them and it was awesome
 
i guess some people go with push/pull splits to make use of overload principal (although albeit unknowingly). if you can't train with high enough intensity and you want to keep your routines simple, then it's not a bad way to go; remembering that you have to push your muscles hard enough that they're forced to improve to be able to handle the strain the next session.
however, i'm with you in my preference towards working unrelated muscle groups in a session as much as possible. eg (my workout today):

Smith machine bench press
*warm up set
* 3 x 8

Smith machine reverse grip bench press
*3 x 8

Smith machine wide grip bench press to neck
*3 x 8

kneeling cable flies
3* 8

low cable raises (not sure what the "proper" name is, but i'm sure you can figure out what i mean here)
*3 x 8

barbell curl lifts (vince gironda style)
*3x 8

ultra-slow alternating dumbell curls, holding at contraction instead of at the bottom of the movement
*3 x 8

always with a 60-70sec rest between sets to maximize intensity.

tomorrow i go back/traps/rear delts, then legs the next day, and finish with delts/triceps/core and have a rest day or two (depending on work commitments). i find this is working pretty well for me (consistently putting on 3-500g per week) but what my body responds to might not work for others, so finding out what gives you the best development is key.


also, other people training like idiots makes me happy, as long as they don't hurt themselves. it means that my good results look even better when compared to their mediocre ones :p

sam heihei said:
Ha maybe deadlift or squat more like it. My chest is still shit weak.
Click to expand...

actually, i'd say your bench is comparatively strong compared to your squatting, based on the figures in your sig...
 
I could probably squat 120+ By now, just haven't gone for a max in over 3 months. By the end of the week i'll probably be squatting 100 in sets.
 
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