Sorry I missed yesterday, I got so busy cleaning up the snow I didn't get to the gym, I figured the work out shoveling and moving the snow was enough for me. I was so tired last night that I was in bed at 7:30 and slept until 5 am. I think I needed that.
So I was up and out this morning to the gym, did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and then had to hurry home for a Dr's appointment, got some good news, she is making me an appointment with a new surgeon, hopefully he will be willing to do my reconstruction. It's a very long surgery and a long recovery as well, 12 weeks. We will see how I make out when I have my appointment.
Workout Schedule – The Best
Weekly Weight Training Schedules & Splits
Choosing
your overall weekly workout schedule is one of the key aspects of creating the
weight training routine that is best for you.
What
makes it a little tricky is the fact that there’s a lot of ways it can go. The
amount of potential workout schedules, splits, and plans to choose from is
enough to make your head explode.
However,
you can greatly narrow them down to just the handful that are best for you by
factoring in 3 key workout schedule requirements. They are:
- Your workout schedule must
fit your ideal training frequency.
The workout split you choose must allow you to reach the weight training frequency that is BEST for your specific goal and experience level. Meaning, do you need a split that allows you to train each muscle group once per week, twice per week, or 3 times per week? - Your workout schedule must
fit your personal weekly schedule.
How many days can you actually manage to work out per week? 3 times? 4 times? More? Less? Are there specific days you can work out on and specific days you absolutely can’t? Do you need to take the weekends off, or are the weekends the days you need to train on? - Your workout schedule must
fit your training preferences and needs.
Fitting your ideal frequency and personal schedule is what’s most important, but at the same time you should also actually enjoy what you’re doing and make sure the smaller details suit you and your goal.
Once
those 3 factors are taken into account (and the crappier choices have been
eliminated), we’re only left with a few to choose from.
So, I
figure the best thing to do now is go through those few and list what I (and
many others) consider to be the best weekly weight training schedules and
splits for various goals and experience levels.
You can
then pick the one that seems best for you. Sound good? Here we go…
The 3 Day Full Body Split
- Monday: Full Body Workout
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Full Body Workout
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Full Body Workout
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Weekly
Schedule: It’s 3
total weight training workouts per week (all of which are full body) done in an
every-other-day format with 2 consecutive days off at the end.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained to some degree once every 2nd or 3rd day, making
this a high frequency split.
Best
Suited For:
Beginner’s with any goal, and intermediate or advanced trainees with the
primary goal of increasing strength or improving performance.
The 2 Day Full Body Split
- Monday: Full Body Workout
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Full Body Workout
- Friday: off
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Weekly
Schedule: It’s 2
total weight training workouts per week (both of which are full body) ideally
done with 2-4 days off in between each workout.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained to some degree once every 3rd to 5th day
depending on your specific set up, which makes this a moderate frequency split.
Best
Suited For: Anyone
who can only manage to fit in 2 weight training workouts per
week.
The 4 Day Upper/Lower Split
- Monday: Upper Body Workout
- Tuesday: Lower Body Workout
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Upper Body Workout
- Friday: Lower Body Workout
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Weekly
Schedule: It’s 4
total weight training workouts per week (2 upper body and 2 lower body) done
with a 2 on/1 off/2 on/2 off format.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained to some degree once every 3rd or 4th day,
making this a moderate frequency split.
Best
Suited For: Most of
the population, most of the time. Specifically, intermediate or advanced
trainees with virtually any goal (building muscle, getting “toned,” increasing
strength, improving performance, etc.).
The 3 Day Upper/Lower Split
Week 1
- Monday: Upper Body Workout
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Lower Body Workout
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Upper Body Workout
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Week 2
- Monday: Lower Body Workout
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Upper Body Workout
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Lower Body Workout
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Weekly
Schedule: It’s 3
total weight training workouts per week done in an every-other-day format with
2 consecutive days off at the end. The workouts alternate between upper and
lower body so that you do Upper, Lower, Upper one week, and then Lower, Upper,
Lower the next.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained to some degree once every 4th or 5th day,
making this a moderate frequency split.
Best
Suited For: Most of
the population, most of the time. Specifically, intermediate or advanced
trainees with virtually any goal (building muscle, getting “toned,” increasing
strength, improving performance, etc.).
This is
just a slightly less frequent 3 day version of the 4 day upper/lower
split mentioned earlier, so it’s still best suited for the same people. The
only difference is that this version is more ideal for people who can only
train 3 days per week (or would just prefer to) as well as people who prefer
the slightly reduced frequency.
The Rotating Push/Pull/Legs Split
Week 1
- Monday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
- Tuesday: Back & Biceps
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Legs & Abs
- Friday: off
- Saturday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
- Sunday: Back & Biceps
Week 2
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: Legs & Abs
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
- Friday: Back & Biceps
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: Legs & Abs
Weekly
Schedule: It’s
either 4 or 5 total weight training workouts per week (it changes from week to
week) done with a 2 on/1 off/1 on/1 off format that repeats every 6th day.
This
means the days you work out on will change from week to week unlike the
previous schedules shown where the workout days always remain fixed and
constant. This could be a big problem for many people from a scheduling
standpoint.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained once every 5th day, making this a moderate
frequency split.
Best
Suited For: Intermediate
or advanced trainees whose primary goal is “looks” related (building muscle,
getting “toned,” etc.) AND who also have a very flexible schedule.
The Push/Pull Split
Week 1
- Monday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Quads & Calves
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Back & Biceps + Hamstrings & Abs
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Quads & Calves
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Week 2
- Monday: Back & Biceps + Hamstrings & Abs
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Quads & Calves
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Back & Biceps + Hamstrings & Abs
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: off
Weekly
Schedule: It’s 3
total weight training workouts per week done in an every-other-day format with
2 consecutive days off at the end. The workouts alternate between “pushing”
muscles and “pulling” muscles so that you do Push, Pull, Push one week, and
then Pull, Push, Pull the next.
It’s
basically a 3 day version of the previously mentioned Push/Pull/Legs split,
only here the “legs” workout is eliminated. Instead, leg training is also
divided up in terms of “push” (quads/calves) and “pull” (hamstrings and usually
abs) and then included along with the upper body push and pull workouts.
The only
potential issue with this schedule is the overlap between quad and hamstring
exercises. Meaning, training hamstrings and then quads with just 1 day in
between could potentially be problematic for some people from a recovery
standpoint.
Weight
Training Frequency: Each
muscle group/body part is trained once every 4th or 5th day, making this a
moderate frequency split.
Best
Suited For: Intermediate
or advanced trainees whose primary goal is “looks” related (building muscle,
getting “toned,” etc.).
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