@@tezzanewton you ain't lying! I'm 50 and I do: A: squat, RDL, leg curls B: OHP, some bench variation, tricep C: DL, pull-ups, shrug or row, bicep My schedule is: A, B, rest, A, rest, C, rest That's only three rest days but I'm never doing full-body. I squat twice each week. if I'm not recovered, I skip a squat day.
@@dard4642 sounds very similar to what I’m doing too mate. I try to train day on day off but I always rest an extra day when required. For blokes like us, rest and nutrition is the most important.
For people who says they want to train every day: On "rest" days, you should ofcourse train, but not strength training. You do low intensity steady state like hiking, biking, jogging, swimming. Or mobility work like Yoga and stretching. This way you get your cardio and mobility in, get to train every day, and can get the benefit of 3day/week splits, all in one :)
Mobility training and cardio are equally important. I've been doing more cardio because of shyness in the weights area and was able to run longer in real life yesterday when I had to go somewhere before it closed.
Can I just avoid accessory work on my full bodies and do arms and shoulders (depending on how I feel of course) on the days between and take the weekends off. So that's 3 full bodies and 2 arm/shoulder days.
@@figgettit even so if you did some mild to intense cardio you’re good to go. I was able to keep myself together doing a mile a day with no other workouts in between.
Just switched from a push/pull, leg split to a full body workout 3 days a week. The hardest part for me is ive been told to always go until failure and now I'm stopping the set a few reps early and it feels weird at first. But on the flip side I'm not burnt out and I'm always looking forward to my workout days.
Pavel Tsatsouline, regarding kettlebells, said you should always leave one in the tank. I find that almost impossible to do. I don't discover I'm about to fail until it happens. As long as the muscles have time to recover, I think we're good.
Was a 4-5 day a week split training guy for most of my lifting life. Now with a newborn I needed more flexibility so have switched to a 2-3 day a week full body routine with little 10- 20 min workouts sprinkled in as able. Has been working great so far.
@@booni5114 i bet u have no experience .. knowing what works for u or what u good at or something like that will require a lot of trying and failing over and over so it is simple try and see .. good luck 😉
@@booni5114 try out them, but make sure that it's not bullshit and you won't get hurt. I would recommend you doing a program of a professional because their body is conditioned and more used to the trainings so you might fuck up your system. Try to look for some beginner-intermediate training plans and try them out and see which suits you best
@@booni5114 just remember this anything is 1000 times better than nothing don’t worry bout what’s absolute best as a beginner because as a beginner as long as you follow some routine not just sporadic training you will see results
When you say full body 5 sets. Are you saying you do 5 sets per body part in one session? How long does that take you. Because I train for 45 mins intense with very little rest between sets and I can only get in two body parts.
@@totalsubmition Correct, bench press ( 5 sets ) squats ( 5 sets ) over head press ( 5 sets ) deadlift or rack pulls ( 5 sets ) Bicep curls ( 5 sets ) Tricep extensions ( 5 sets ) I usually super set back and biceps and chest and triceps. Usually takes me about 50 minutes to an hour to complete. If you’re beginning you can lower the sets and reps to whatever fits your schedule or level of fitness
As someone in the military who works a lot of hours, and must also have decent running/cardio ability. 3 day full body workout are enough to be strong and build muscle but also to do circuits/running without dying!
3 days a week a properly planned fullbody workout is all thats needed. Muscles break in the workout but 'only' grows while at rest. 7-8 hrs uninterrupted sleep is super important
@@Dominator1k7 advanced full body basically is the same thing as PPLPPL. You just go in and train everything that isn't recovered, which often aligns that way naturally but isn't called that because you can hit dif stuff on dif days depending on recovery
@@MajesticSkywhale I prefer push pull legs because you are hitting the each muscle group twice a week with a lot more volume than full body. Full body you have to fit everything into one day so I are usaully only doing one exersize for each body part.
Started training again 3 months ago (6 years of prior experience, stopped 8 years ago) with 2 full body workouts and gained 3kgs of muscle, will build up to 3 sessions if the rheumatism in my lower back allows it. Had good experience with full body in the past, I listened to a trainer in the gym and never looked back. Works great for me. I did another sport in the meantime (decoy work for working dogs, lots of sprinting and wearing a 25kg suit all the time) but stopped 3 years ago due to regular injuries, now I'm building back up again
I switched to upper lower four day a week recently. Used to train 6 days a week, I feel uninjured, skills are progressing like crazy (I like to do calisthenics), and I’m gaining strength while loosing weight. Best decision ever
I do three days a week too monday wednesday and friday fasted full body right in the AM. Works great I throw in stretching routines as well after my workout. Feeling great and looking great
Always done 3 as that’s what I’ve been drilled to do throughout playing sports. 3 days along with sport training/cardio and it always has me feeling strong and fit. Anymore would 100% tire me out
I do 3 days weight training, cardio in between and weekends off. Seems to be working for me! Glad to see other people do it too and it works for them as well
I used to swim competetively so i trained twice a day for 10years. After i stopped, i continued to workout 3 times a week but it just didn't work for me. Now i train everyday except on saturdays when i take an active rest day and i get massive gains but this just means that everybody's muscle reaction is different so figure it out for yourself, there is no cheatcode
No I don’t think so. It seems to me that if you want to get big you have to push yourself to your limits as well as rest and eat well. The harder you push the better the results if the other two are in line.
@@joethomlinson6878 nah, im doing calisthenics and not focusing on my musclemass but my mind requires to train my body that much otherwise i"ll get sick mentally cause i'm used to it due to my past in competetive swimming
Yeah same here. I have to be in the gym at least 5 days a week. 3 full body workouts, then the other days are active recovery days. So I still have the habit of being in the gym, but at the same time I’m putting these guys theory to the test. 💪💪
many of the top bodybuilders (not currently winning ones, they just train for maintenence usually) train 6 days a week, but 8-12 sessions per week. Splitting some days into AM and PM sessions. I don't know why people seem to think you need to rest your legs after working out your arms, but they seem to insist on taking entire days off to rest. You just need to rest the shit that isn't recovered yet
I have been working out for 6 months now . Brand new. 3 full body a week was recommended by my PT. I had motions of hitting the gym 4-6 days a week being over eager. My age of 45 came into the equation too. It’s working really well so far. I am feeling fresh for my sessions, I can give my all and I see see progress . Maybe it’s newbie gains but either way I like this method. I enjoy compound exercises way more than isolation
With my current situation of working full time, teaching karate 3x per week (M/W/F), and a new dad; 2 dedicated strength days (Tuesday/Thursday), with an optional third day (Saturday), it works great for me!
You’re doing the right thing. My best friend is a Jackie Chan stuntman’s and does three days full body workouts!.. you know in martial arts bigger means slower so his purpose is not to get too big !.. so I’m following him !
Been doing ppl for over six months. I enjoy hitting everything twice a week. I think my problem was I was doing too much volume each workout. Trying to keep every body part to 9 sets each workout. So I don’t experience junk volume
@@linehandibew6205 yeah this was the key for me, 3 days a week isn’t better for any reason other than that so so many people over train. If you are doing ppl 6 days a week you really don’t need more than 4-5 exercises a day if you are lifting heavy.
65 year old man here, so expectations somewhat different here. Have been doing 3 days/week total Body program for almost the last year and have just found this was too exhausting for me particularly on squat days and found that the 2 day interval was not enough for me for adequate recovery. Have just switched to an upper lower body split, 4 days per week to increase the recovery time per muscle group and see if i could decrease the exhaustion. Tough to get old.
One example: Workout A Squat, Bench,Bent Row/Power Cleans, dips, abs Workout B Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, pull up, abs Alternate workouts so you do A, B, A, B, A, B every other day Each exercise is 3-5 sets x 5 reps, not including warm-up sets
@@dontreadmyname4396 you can use a powerlifting program to build a very good base and get pretty big and strong. If I can bench 315 for a single off a powerlifting program after a few years then I can accumulate much more quality hypertrophy volume by doing 225 for 3-5 sets of 10 compared to the person that trains for bodybuilding for 2 years who isn't going to be able to lift as much. Doing a 5x5 full body and adding in some accessory/isolation movements afterwards is a great way to pack on a ton of muscle in your first few years of lifting.
Tuesday-hard squat workout as main lift. Other easier leg exercises after, and finish with a few sets of pullups just for an extra back workout on a non-back day Weds-flat bench main lift, incline dumbbell press, over head press and lateral raises Thurs-hard deadlift workout, all other back exercises I feel like doing. Heavy rows, machine rows, pullups and shoulder shrugs Sat-final workout of week. Extra leg and press day. No squats but hard on the leg press and other leg exercises. Finish with a relatively easy bench workout. For all you beginners out there, do this, get good at doing it and your entire body will get bigger
@@bobbetsagnut no I never do. The heavy back and pressing works out my arms but if someone did something similar to what I do, you can probably fit them in there somewhere
Push/Pull/Leg 3 day schedule has done absolute wonders for me. I've definitely grown in the right spots and have gotten stronger. Alof of folks I know still do one muscle a day per week and haven't grown. The key is optimization of larger muscle groups with compound lifts. Plus you grow when you rest.
Ppl rest ppl rest I alternate exercises each session. Push day one more chest focused pull day one lay focused Push day 2 shoulder focused but still hitting chest. Pull day 2 upper back focused and still hit lower back.
Niall - I have had the same experience. 3 days a week was great but I never felt fully recovered. 2 days a week allows me to train HARD but still have plenty of recovery time.
1 ON / 2 OFF is a good trade off btw 2 and 3 times/week. You rest always the same amount of time, while with the 3/week sometimes is 1OFF sometimes 2OFF (!!). And personally I consider 3OFF days too much (this happens with 2/week schedule) Cons: You train on a 3 week schedule, and always in different days.
After about a year and a half of program hopping pretty much trying every workout routine without making any noticeable difference i decided to switch to training 3 days a week. Best decision I have ever made, had the best gains in my life. The training routine was as follows: Workout A: Flat bench press Deadlift (1x5) Weighted chin ups Rear delt flys or facepulls Incline biceps curl (you can do any variation i just like the incline better) Workout B: Barbell Back squat Standing press Pendlay row Lateral raises Skull crushers -Perform all of the compounds for 5 sets of 5 -Perform all accessories movements for 3 sets 8 to 15 reps -Try to add 5lbs every workout to your main compound lifts every training session (with proper form) Track your progress by writing it down in a journal or you can use an app( i personally use Gravitus) Hope you found it helpful.
I’m a guy who just wants to maintain his health not looking to be big so I do 3 days full body workout (Mon Wed Fri) for 30 min and cardio Tues and Thurs for 10 min and honestly I have gotten great results.
I've been doing 3 day a week workouts by lifting light with adjustable dumbbells. For the past 4 months it's honestly kept me from growing a gut, I've gain some strength, helped reduced low back pain, relieving knee issues. I've also seen my body change in my shoulders and arms.
wow I thought I'm the only one that have experienced this. I found it very weird. I used to work out 5 days a week. I feel there is no result at all. And when I only do the 3 days a week full body workout. I found get better result.
Yeah I got the best results by doing full body workouts 3 days a week. Used to do 4 days a week but was getting more and more tired over time. 3 days a week seems to be the sweetspot. And there is no way I'm doing the traditional bro split because I would hate to walk around all day feeling only one muscle group is pumped. Imagine spending leg day feeling you have big legs and the rest, like arms and chest is deflated lol. These splits always seemed dumb to me. Maybe when you're on steroids you have to do it like that because it would take too long to do full body workouts with sufficient volume.
@DTrey FloatGoat I workout Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. Based on experience over the years I have found that I have no problem recovering from that. I do a full body workout on each of those days, three sets per exercise. I used to target 6 reps to failure and increase the load once I can go over 6. Recently I am targetting 12 reps to failure and increase the load if I can go past 12. I have been working out for 17 years, since I was 19.
For maximum gains I definitely disagree for myself. But everyone is different. That’s why I dislike people who say a certain diet or split is the “right one.” They all exist for a reason... it worked for someone at some point for some reason
You are right. Actually the training split is the least important variable in one"s training. As long as the volume is the same the difference in muscle gains is very small. It all comes down to what you enjoy doing, and adherence.
3 days seems to be the light bulb on my head. I tried the “more is better” trying to hit 4-5 days or more. And when I hit a full body 3 days. I recover better,feel stronger. And like Justin mentioned I’m kinda working out but mostly recovering on the other days. Might have to check out maps
Also something to consider is of you are doing full body, even though your hitting different muscle groups in the same day, after your first muscle group you hit, you will not beable to hit the rest as fully. Ex: You do Bench, and then move on to pull-down. Even though they are different muscle groups, your body in general is a little weaker, therefore you cannot get the max benefit from the pull-downs.
I always was told that muscle needs 20-48 hours to recover. I stand by working out 3 days and rest atleast 1 maybe 2. I made minimal gains working out 6 or 7 times a week but the minute I took the time to recover I grew substantially.
Yes but check this out these guys are doing 3 days a week but FULL body. If you have a well developed split program you will hit all muscles only two times a week but if it's spaced properly you will be able to pull higher intensity. However I think the practicality and efficiency of three times a week full body is really most suitable for most people as the guys themselves said in the video. Those of us who are proper gym rats and have no issues with consistency and discipline might get better results with various splits but more common gym goers will definitely prosper better with 3-times/week full body routine.
People need to stop with that ‘Training legs leads to upper body gains.” Nobody trains legs in isolation. There is not one example of a guy that neglected to train his upper body and did legs and said this. Usually people that care enough to train legs understand exercising and intensity and probably train upper body amazingly.
I neglected legs for the longest time. When my gym reopened I decided to get consistent with squats and deads. My upper body routine remained the same, but I saw the biggest size and strength gains in my upper body ever.
My experience: used to do biceps/back/shoulders 2 times a week, triceps/chest 2 times a week, and legs and abs 2 times a week….now I do these just once a week with 4 days rest. I have seen more results now than more than ever, but this is just my experience so maybe not for everyone
Puts clients on three day a week programs because that’s the easiest and least time consuming option for him. Then he is amazed at the results. I don’t use a trainer but if I did, I hope they would be someone who had my best interests at heart and designed a program to help me achieve my goals through careful planning rather than luck.
Started lifting 14 months ago. Had to take this summer off due to tennis elbow.(most likely suffered at my job). Always done the 3 day full body. Love it, compound lifts are fun and I do a handful of accessory lifts too. There was a time where I wasn’t getting as strong as I should of because of the lack of consistent calorie intake. I quit drinking and tobacco a month ago and my appetite has been good throughout the day. After two weeks back lifting I’m feeling as good as I’ve ever felt. Being thin already I like 4 rest days in the week. I’m hoping to gain more mass in this next year as long as avoid injury.
Respected wisdom. Ive made my greatest gains training twice a week full body that led me to a few bodybuilding contest victories and to have competed in the 2008 Natural Olympia. No more than 45:min doing compounds and getting lots of rest At age 69 still going strong Again much appreciated
I have had some occational issues with nausea post full body workouts. After some googeling I learned that when working ALL the muscles in one session, all of your blood is drawn to them, away from your organs, which can cause nausea. So my idea was to maybe do one upper body + lower body + lighter full body workout as a 3 day split. Lower - off - upper - off - full body - off - off. (1 week plan) This would basically mean Every muscle hit twice a week, and my workouts being either lighter, or concentrate on one part of my body so that all my blood doesn't leave my organs again and I feel like shit(lmao). What do you guys think?
I used to do 4-5 days a week in the gym but since I've started a more physically demanding job I've had to drop it to 3 times a week so I don't burn out.
I use to do 6 day workout, because of working in the gym I loved it. When I got married, kids, work full time and I’m a pastor as well: working out 3 times a week best fits my schedule plus I’m not burnt out, I do Swuats, Dead lift, rows, bench, and over head press. That’s all I do, I’m done in about 45min to an hour, depending on my rest time and I feel great afterward. When I was single and didn’t have much responsibilities I was in the gym most of my time, but now the 3 days is best for my schedule.
In my teens who only trained 3 days a week, bro split and gained plenty and got to some good poundages... after years of doing other things I’ve finally ended up where I started. You don’t need to do full body if you structure your split properly, there’s loads of overlap with most exercises.
I do an upper/lower a/b split on Mon, Weds, and Saturday. Neural hormonal in great shape, injuries down, and I am jacked and strong at 50 years old. Not only that, after 3 weeks of training I take 5 to 7 days off and come back stronger and bigger.
@@shawndejohn63 you go back and forth between upper and lower. Don't look at it as how many per week but the days between each upper and lower workout which is 4 to 5 days
@@shawndejohn63 Everything in here has a complex reason behind it. Must be done in this order: UPPER A: DB bench press: 3×6-8/3' Medium grip inverted row with weighted vest: 3×6-8/3' 30° DB press: 2-3×8-10/2' Chinups: 2-3×8-10/2' Resistance band side laterals: 2×10-12/1' Body weight tri extensions: 3×10-12/1' One arm dumbbell curl with Resistance band attached: 2×10-12/1' Resistance band face pulls 2 × 10-15 (Optional) LOWER A: Kettle bell or dumbbell swings 4-5×10/3' DB split squat 4×10/3' DB standing bi-lat calves raises 4-5×6-12/1' Abs (hanging leg raise/crunch) 2×-25/1' Neck raises (Optional) UPPER B: Pullups 3×-10/3' (Optional with weighted vest) Seated overhead DB press 3×6-8/3' Close neutral grip inverted rows 2×8-10/2' (optional weighted vest) DB bench press 2-3×8-10/2' Low to high Resistance band flyes 2×10-12/1' Two arm Resistance band curl attached to bar (metal pipe from hardware store) 3×10-12/1' One arm tri ext with Resistance band 2×10-12/1' Resistance band or dumbbell wrist curls 2×12-15/1' (Optional) LOWER B: DB deadlifts 4×8-10/3': ( optional- with weighted vest to add Resistance) Resistance band lying ham curl 4×10-12/1': Standing uni-lat calf raise 4×12-20/1' (with weighted vest or dumbbell) Abs (hanging leg raise/crunch) 2×-25/1' DB shrugs 2×8-10/2' (Optional)
Depends on what your goals are. Focus on compound lifts. Deadlifts, Squats, presses.. keep track of your work, make it measurable. There's ton of info out there.
As we age, we should train smarter, not harder…I’m 50 years young now, started training aged 11 in martial arts, switching to basketball as I grew to 6’ 4”. I’ve been resistance training with weights for approximately 25 years and it’s helped me stay lean and avoided various age related diseases/ presentations. 20 years of golf and now I’m training for high altitude trekking and climbing, which is very demanding. WEIGHT LIFTING SHOULD BE INCORPORATED FOR HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION….IT’S DEFINITELY SERVED ME WELL 👍
They're always trying to reinvent the wheel. They try to convince us that they've come up with better ways of doing things when really they've only come up with more attractive ways to sell fitness packages. Not a lot of people really want to get underneath a heavy barbell.
Phrase it like this: 3 heavy workouts or intense workouts a week And you can have another workout for just supplemental stuff like lower back or rear delta something not extensive or rigorous on your body.
I think people have a hard time with fullbody because they try to do a split routine inside fullbody. If you pick bang for your buck compound movements then you don't need to do a whole lot of accessories. For example: Front squat Press RDL Row (cable or supported) 1-2 Secondaries
You can lift 5 days a week and still recover fine if you structure your days well. I only lift 4 days a week but it's spread to where I'm mostly recovered for each day
@@steveo5999 I work out 4 days also. If you want to work out everyday you can also. But don’t hit the same muscle every single day. I can’t stand the bodybuilder routine. Chest one day, back the next and arms a another day and so on and so on I use to do that for years and it’s so fricken boring after a while. I get way better results doing a few muscle groups a day.
I did the 6 day a week 3 Upper and 3 lower and the gains are real. Just divide your regular workout by 3 and wala oh and don't go to failure the mindset is to just maintain que keep going. Now I'm going to do 3 times per week and do my cardio en between. Just slow walking
Three weeks ago I started training full body every other day, so 3 times some weeks and 4 times others. The one interesting thing I’ve found is that two times now I’ve been unable to squat as many reps as I programmed - I think there is something to resting two days in a row every week.
Or rest 2 days in between. It works more recovery on larger muscle groups those can take up 2-3 to fully recover if you do 6 sets. I take 2 days off in betwee 2 exercise per body part 3 sets each
Full-body, 3x/wk is where it's at. I disagree with the scaling back of the intensity but you definitely scale back the volume. The basic barbell lifts accompanied by one assistance exercise for each will get you strong and/or jacked if you eat and rest properly. For 25 yrs, I did all variety of bro splits. I got results, for sure, but when I started following the Starting Strength protocol, it was a total game changer.
@@jasonb5890 similar. Strong Lifts is like the Texas Method, which is used under the Starting Strength umbrella. Starting Strength is 3x5 during the novice progression, adding 5 lbs to your working sets each workout. You get strong really fast. The Texas Method is used during intermediate stage, adding 5 lbs each week, after you can no longer add 5 lb per workout.
I stopped lifting 5 times a week and started doing full body workouts again.. three times a week.... besides loosing 10 pounds I started feeling and moving better.
@@Echo_Six_Romeo so you do 30 set each time you go to the gym? LMAO you are a joke. You have absolutely no Energy for training hard on each muscle and set. Probably average body
For myself 4 days a week with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday rest days. i do barbell /dumbells Mon. barbells Tues. dumbbells Thursday and Fridays rinse and repeat I focus on proper form sets and reps while I keep the sets between 3 and 4 I will go as high as 20 reps per set I have a small supply of weights running from 1.5 kilos to 3.5 kilos for barbells and dumbbells no machines just bars and plates.
The late great Mr 'High Intensity' Mike Mentzer actually had his hard gainer clients use what he called his 'Consolidation' routine which was simply 3 exercises (Squat, Chest Press, Underhand Close grip Pulldowns) ONE set to failure (6-9 reps) and repeat 4 days later. Many trainees said it produced the best gains in size and strength they had ever seen.
Modulating fatigue and intensity over your mesocycle on 6 days a week split properly would potentially be more effective than 3 days a week split. Requires more intention and knowing what you’re doing but 3 days a week isn’t necessarily better by default just because it makes managing load and fatigue easier. On top of that, for advanced trainees you simply can’t properly overload every muscle group in a single session, CNS fatigue would eclipse your muscle fatigue 3/4 of the way through your session and then your last movement will just end up suffering.
Every Body is different you can´t really say what is better for you will be better for someone else, thats why generally speaking in the fitness industry there are so much different informations about every single topic, the one thing you have to learn is to listen to your body and If you body tells you that 6 times is too much because you got other things to do like family, work, other hobbies, etc. than you program yourself something which works both ways.
@@kavishgour3267 I kind a like the full body three days a week or I like to do A B but four days a week So like work out a band workout be and then take a day off and work out a workout be so it’s either of those two they feel good for me and that’s probably what you’re always going to hear the term works for me that’s really all that matters when you do something
@@MrFoofarew I started in 2004 when I was 19. Over the years there were times when I stopped for about two months but did not like the way I felt and looked and quickly got back to lifting. So for the most part I trained consistently four days a week on average. When I got in my 30s I dropped that to 3 times because it was getting harder to recover from workout sessions. I was pushing myself more too and also got more stress along the way. Life.
I don’t feel like full body has enough volume per muscle group unless you’re taking 2 hours to do 2-3 lifts per body part, even if the weekly volume is higher.
Or you can do fewer exercises and focus on doing only exercises for the muscles that matter. And also lifting heavy to do fewer reps. This would allow you to fit a full body workout in 45 minutes doing 4 sets per exercise in each session. In my experience, lifting heavier over time builds muscle mass. So you can keep sets and reps the same and just lift heavier. If you hit a plateau then increasing load by a smaller amount or just sticking to the same load for a bit longer to give the body time to adapt, helps. But in the end there are limits to everything: how much load, or even volume, you will ever be able to handle. Even when on performance enhancing drugs you have limits. They are just pushed back a lot but they are there nonetheless. Over the years I did different styles of workout programs, emphasising one aspect over the other: load, volume, failure, time under tension, and got similar results provided you are progressing: making the numbers go up over time. I noticed that the style that gave me the best results in terms of muscle mass and strength, and allowed me to have a better balance of fatigue and time spent working out, was to focus on increasing load over time and lifting in a heavy rep range.
@@hanskazan7403 I second that strongly! After 17 years of lifting weights and trying out nearly every method under the sun, nothing has given me better results than focusing on increasing load over time. I even took it to the extreme of lifting loads I could get 6 reps to failure on every first set with, but only doing 3 reps with those loads, 3 sets per exercise, full-body workout, 3 times a week. I still got way better results in terms of muscle size and strength compared to any other method I tried, even when not lifting to failure. When lifting heavy like that you need to be careful with volume and training to failure. That is why I avoided failure, except once a week when testing myself to see if I could go past 6 reps with the load, and if so I would increase the load by the smallest weight I had: 1 kg. I used to lift to failure lifting heavy like that but it burned me out. Eventhough I was in a caloric surplus. So I did 3 reps instead of the max I could do (6 reps). And when I saw that was working so well I started doing 4 sets per exercise, 3 times a week, and that was fine as long as I was in a caloric surplus or eating at maintenance. But as soon as I went into a caloric deficit, that burned me out within a week. So I reduced to 3 sets and that was totally sustainable.
I am lucky, thank God, that I started and stuck with 3x per week schedule...now I am using 2x per week bcoz recovery issues have popped and weights are on heavier side. Some of the strongest people have used 2 or 3 times per week splits.
It's weird, I've found better gains when I take 2-3 days off per week than when I go 6 days per week. I think your body starts to eat muscle if you go too hard and don't have any carbs.
I am going to try this, I always thought everyone does split workout until I did research ( new to gym) and this seems way more effective but my only problem is I wanna go more than 3 days a week as gym is all I have at the moment especially as it helps with my mental health
You can go other days and just do recovery type stuff. Ride the bike for a little. Walk or jog on the treadmill. Do some rowing machine. Push a prowler. If your gym has a sauna or steam room, definitely hit that up for 15-20 minutes.
I'm glad I saw this video. I naturally migrated to total body 3 days a week for several reasons. I always managed to miss a body part using split routines, and killing body parts on a day left me tired the next day when I should have done other parts of the body. I also got tired of figuring out what I was doing that day, or how I was going to make up for body parts missed the previous day. As far as working one body part and inadvertently working the rest of the body, when one body part works, it's working against the rest of the body which is working to provide body stability. You can feel the working tension in the rest of the body. I liked this video. I've worked out one way or another since 5th grade. My father was an Army Ranger. Push-ups, sit-ups and running every morning before school....while he drank his coffee. And when I finally got into some form of weight lifting in my 60s, I went through dozens of weight routines before I finally said nuts to it and wound up doing total body on my own.
3 day full body is by far the best routine overall for most people. You actually get full muscle recover unlike bro splits and also hit each muscle 3x/a week rather than once or twice. Also much less time consuming while giving more results. Blows my mind that people even do bro splits anymore, full body’s far superior in many ways
While full body training seems to work for a great number of people, there are many who got great results from other splits as well. Even bro splits. We are all different.
Question - with 3x full body say Mon-Wed-Fri, is the 1 day recovery in between sessions enough? I imagine a volume of no more than 4 sets per muscle and maybe less intensity? (not going to fail)
I've an exam in a month for a job it's been already 1month I'm not working out & I feel so bad so for my health but good for my exam preparation ,rn I'm thinking to go for 3days a week to save time & balance things😼
Everyone is different! I train 6 days a week (3 days pull, 3 days push) and on my rest I do cardio. For me most of my workouts are only 45 mins or so, but the consistency of going everyday helps me keep it up in the long run! My two cents
As a life long 100% natural lifter, my greatest gains have been on 3x a week whole body. A push pull split is decent, but overall 3x a week per body part is the best for me by far. Consistent gains and not beating up my joints.
3 training days
4 "growth" days.
Training is the seed for growth, but diet and recovery is the water and sunshine that allows the seed to activate.
Very true
Exactly. And it becomes more relevant as we age. I’m now 52 and I have to focus on recovery days or else I’m wrecked.
Love that
@@tezzanewton you ain't lying! I'm 50 and I do:
A: squat, RDL, leg curls
B: OHP, some bench variation, tricep
C: DL, pull-ups, shrug or row, bicep
My schedule is:
A, B, rest, A, rest, C, rest
That's only three rest days but I'm never doing full-body. I squat twice each week. if I'm not recovered, I skip a squat day.
@@dard4642 sounds very similar to what I’m doing too mate. I try to train day on day off but I always rest an extra day when required. For blokes like us, rest and nutrition is the most important.
I lift 15 days a week, 5 times a day, no food no water no sleep.
I’m now 678 pounds of pure muscle
Nice bruh. Beast mode.
I don’t believe you
Stpp the cap
Sincerely yours, the internet troll
LMFAO!
3 days/year seems to be the sweet spot for me. The key is consistency.
1st January, 1st June and 26th December are the only days a year I train. Never felt better.
3 minutes a year seems like the sweet spot tbh.
😂
You're right. My gut is coming up faster than ever.
@@CraigCastanet lower the calories bud
I do 9 days a week. Go to failure every workout. I seem to be sore and injured all the time.
There’s only 7 days in a week 🤔😭
@@marielduran8056 He is from, not here.
I do 30 days a week and go past failure before doing another 20 days a week. 9 day weeks will kill your gains.
😂
You’re not training enough.
For people who says they want to train every day: On "rest" days, you should ofcourse train, but not strength training. You do low intensity steady state like hiking, biking, jogging, swimming. Or mobility work like Yoga and stretching. This way you get your cardio and mobility in, get to train every day, and can get the benefit of 3day/week splits, all in one :)
Mobility training and cardio are equally important. I've been doing more cardio because of shyness in the weights area and was able to run longer in real life yesterday when I had to go somewhere before it closed.
cardio is fucking gey bruh....
Can I just avoid accessory work on my full bodies and do arms and shoulders (depending on how I feel of course) on the days between and take the weekends off. So that's 3 full bodies and 2 arm/shoulder days.
@@ishitrealbad3039 XD nigga
@@ishitrealbad3039 not if u do burpees prison style or hardcore alternating one leg rope jump with Tricks and intensity shifts or shadow boxing
Seems like I always learn more from the comments than I do from the actual video. Thanks to everybody that had something to share.
I'm just here to read what all the experts have to say in the comments 👀
I do 5-6 days a week and don’t regret it. Gym has always been my best therapy, keeps me grounded and sane.
they arent discussing situations where people have serious mental health problems. they're talking in the middle of the bell curve.
Hypertrophy training 3x a week. Boxing and cardio 3x a week. I agree with working out everyday
@@figgettit even so if you did some mild to intense cardio you’re good to go. I was able to keep myself together doing a mile a day with no other workouts in between.
I just like to lift so I agree. It’s therapeutic. But I don’t go super hard every day.
Get a life lol. Imagine bringing your ass to the gym almost every day.
Just switched from a push/pull, leg split to a full body workout 3 days a week. The hardest part for me is ive been told to always go until failure and now I'm stopping the set a few reps early and it feels weird at first. But on the flip side I'm not burnt out and I'm always looking forward to my workout days.
I zz
What’s your workout
Pavel Tsatsouline, regarding kettlebells, said you should always leave one in the tank. I find that almost impossible to do. I don't discover I'm about to fail until it happens. As long as the muscles have time to recover, I think we're good.
Same here! I’m always looking forward to it. 💪🏼
Was a 4-5 day a week split training guy for most of my lifting life. Now with a newborn I needed more flexibility so have switched to a 2-3 day a week full body routine with little 10- 20 min workouts sprinkled in as able. Has been working great so far.
Nice
...just do what works best for you.
I don't know what the fuck works best for me.
@@booni5114 i bet u have no experience .. knowing what works for u or what u good at or something like that will require a lot of trying and failing over and over so it is simple try and see .. good luck 😉
@@محمدنصر-ل5ي I indeed have no experience
@@booni5114 try out them, but make sure that it's not bullshit and you won't get hurt. I would recommend you doing a program of a professional because their body is conditioned and more used to the trainings so you might fuck up your system. Try to look for some beginner-intermediate training plans and try them out and see which suits you best
@@booni5114 just remember this anything is 1000 times better than nothing don’t worry bout what’s absolute best as a beginner because as a beginner as long as you follow some routine not just sporadic training you will see results
Currently doing 3-4 times a week. Full body 5 sets 10-20 reps per set. Seen amazing strength gains in just 2 months.
When you say full body 5 sets. Are you saying you do 5 sets per body part in one session? How long does that take you. Because I train for 45 mins intense with very little rest between sets and I can only get in two body parts.
@@totalsubmition Correct,
bench press ( 5 sets )
squats ( 5 sets )
over head press ( 5 sets )
deadlift or rack pulls ( 5 sets )
Bicep curls ( 5 sets )
Tricep extensions ( 5 sets )
I usually super set back and biceps and chest and triceps. Usually takes me about 50 minutes to an hour to complete.
If you’re beginning you can lower the sets and reps to whatever fits your schedule or level of fitness
Can i ask you? What percentage of your 1 rep max are you repping at?
@@nasa_fanboy4434he training at 1% of his one rep max.
As someone in the military who works a lot of hours, and must also have decent running/cardio ability. 3 day full body workout are enough to be strong and build muscle but also to do circuits/running without dying!
3 days a week a properly planned fullbody workout is all thats needed. Muscles break in the workout but 'only' grows while at rest. 7-8 hrs uninterrupted sleep is super important
Full Body is honestly the best routine to follow
LMFAO 🤣😂 the 5by5 challenge rather
No
@@Dominator1k7 advanced full body basically is the same thing as PPLPPL. You just go in and train everything that isn't recovered, which often aligns that way naturally but isn't called that because you can hit dif stuff on dif days depending on recovery
@@MajesticSkywhale I prefer push pull legs because you are hitting the each muscle group twice a week with a lot more volume than full body. Full body you have to fit everything into one day so I are usaully only doing one exersize for each body part.
@@Dominator1k7 What type of programming would you suggest for men over 50, which would be most optimal?
Life changing segment. Was doing a 5-6 day split for so long. That life is no more! Y’all planted the seed. Thank you 🙏🏻
Our pleasure!
Started training again 3 months ago (6 years of prior experience, stopped 8 years ago) with 2 full body workouts and gained 3kgs of muscle, will build up to 3 sessions if the rheumatism in my lower back allows it. Had good experience with full body in the past, I listened to a trainer in the gym and never looked back. Works great for me. I did another sport in the meantime (decoy work for working dogs, lots of sprinting and wearing a 25kg suit all the time) but stopped 3 years ago due to regular injuries, now I'm building back up again
I switched to upper lower four day a week recently. Used to train 6 days a week, I feel uninjured, skills are progressing like crazy (I like to do calisthenics), and I’m gaining strength while loosing weight. Best decision ever
I agree dude. I got my best gains in 1 year of upper lower
Youre still good to go with upper lower? Ive done FB for two years now and want to try something new
I have to go 6 days a week. Therapy dawg
Facts
This! It’s mental
Lmao literally the only reason I go so often. The days I don't go my it's like my demons are like what up bro
Same. I need at least 5 days or I fall off and become lazy and eat crap. I need to move.
Yep
I do three days a week too monday wednesday and friday fasted full body right in the AM. Works great I throw in stretching routines as well after my workout. Feeling great and looking great
Lifting one month a week has resulted in best gainzz for me.
Always done 3 as that’s what I’ve been drilled to do throughout playing sports. 3 days along with sport training/cardio and it always has me feeling strong and fit. Anymore would 100% tire me out
I do 3 days weight training, cardio in between and weekends off. Seems to be working for me! Glad to see other people do it too and it works for them as well
I used to swim competetively so i trained twice a day for 10years. After i stopped, i continued to workout 3 times a week but it just didn't work for me. Now i train everyday except on saturdays when i take an active rest day and i get massive gains but this just means that everybody's muscle reaction is different so figure it out for yourself, there is no cheatcode
but did you do full body workouts for those three days
@@synamo1531 ofc yes
Steroids
No I don’t think so. It seems to me that if you want to get big you have to push yourself to your limits as well as rest and eat well. The harder you push the better the results if the other two are in line.
@@joethomlinson6878 nah, im doing calisthenics and not focusing on my musclemass but my mind requires to train my body that much otherwise i"ll get sick mentally cause i'm used to it due to my past in competetive swimming
3 days full body 8-12 reps are doing it for me. Focusing on technique and progression
For me I need 5 at least. Because it's more habit forming. And it has to be habitual for me
Yeah same here. I have to be in the gym at least 5 days a week. 3 full body workouts, then the other days are active recovery days. So I still have the habit of being in the gym, but at the same time I’m putting these guys theory to the test. 💪💪
I’m the same. Just don’t get snapped up.
Resting is habit to u just need to learn it and hes right i have best results on 3 good days rather than 7 so so
many of the top bodybuilders (not currently winning ones, they just train for maintenence usually) train 6 days a week, but 8-12 sessions per week. Splitting some days into AM and PM sessions. I don't know why people seem to think you need to rest your legs after working out your arms, but they seem to insist on taking entire days off to rest. You just need to rest the shit that isn't recovered yet
You can do active recovery days in between
I have been working out for 6 months now . Brand new. 3 full body a week was recommended by my PT. I had motions of hitting the gym 4-6 days a week being over eager. My age of 45 came into the equation too. It’s working really well so far. I am feeling fresh for my sessions, I can give my all and I see see progress . Maybe it’s newbie gains but either way I like this method. I enjoy compound exercises way more than isolation
With my current situation of working full time, teaching karate 3x per week (M/W/F), and a new dad; 2 dedicated strength days (Tuesday/Thursday), with an optional third day (Saturday), it works great for me!
You’re doing the right thing. My best friend is a Jackie Chan stuntman’s and does three days full body workouts!.. you know in martial arts bigger means slower so his purpose is not to get too big !.. so I’m following him !
@@cristinelgheorghiu5294 thanks man.
I do PPL 6 days a week.
for me mentally, I need that daily endorphin. and it helps to practice my discipline and consistency.
Same. I take Thursdays as a cardio/yoga day and do either upper body or lower body on the rest of the days.
Every split works. Depends what you enjoy .
Been doing ppl for over six months. I enjoy hitting everything twice a week. I think my problem was I was doing too much volume each workout. Trying to keep every body part to 9 sets each workout. So I don’t experience junk volume
@@linehandibew6205 yeah this was the key for me, 3 days a week isn’t better for any reason other than that so so many people over train. If you are doing ppl 6 days a week you really don’t need more than 4-5 exercises a day if you are lifting heavy.
What is ppl
I train three days a week and sprint for 20 minutes two days a week. I rest Saturday and Sunday. My body looks and feels amazing!
65 year old man here, so expectations somewhat different here. Have been doing 3 days/week total Body program for almost the last year and have just found this was too exhausting for me particularly on squat days and found that the 2 day interval was not enough for me for adequate recovery. Have just switched to an upper lower body split, 4 days per week to increase the recovery time per muscle group and see if i could decrease the exhaustion. Tough to get old.
You are an example!! Stay blessed
Excellent.
This channel is one of my favorite in regards to fitness. The information is invaluable. Thank You Guys!
17 years old...the 3 day workout made me grow so fast..it was unreal..you almost never go stale and you will rest better.
Nice just remember to vary your workout and change your schedule periodically to avoid plateaus.
@@pristinefitness9268 Good point. Thank you.
and stay away from the pub
@@tezzanewton True.
Talk about the workouts you do on these full body 3x a week routine
Compound
One example:
Workout A
Squat, Bench,Bent Row/Power Cleans, dips, abs
Workout B
Squat, Overhead Press, Deadlift, pull up, abs
Alternate workouts so you do A, B, A, B, A, B every other day
Each exercise is 3-5 sets x 5 reps, not including warm-up sets
look up 5/3/1
strength training is NOT bodybuilding, 5x5 and 5/3/1 are NOT the way to gain size
@@dontreadmyname4396 you can use a powerlifting program to build a very good base and get pretty big and strong. If I can bench 315 for a single off a powerlifting program after a few years then I can accumulate much more quality hypertrophy volume by doing 225 for 3-5 sets of 10 compared to the person that trains for bodybuilding for 2 years who isn't going to be able to lift as much. Doing a 5x5 full body and adding in some accessory/isolation movements afterwards is a great way to pack on a ton of muscle in your first few years of lifting.
Tuesday-hard squat workout as main lift. Other easier leg exercises after, and finish with a few sets of pullups just for an extra back workout on a non-back day
Weds-flat bench main lift, incline dumbbell press, over head press and lateral raises
Thurs-hard deadlift workout, all other back exercises I feel like doing. Heavy rows, machine rows, pullups and shoulder shrugs
Sat-final workout of week. Extra leg and press day. No squats but hard on the leg press and other leg exercises. Finish with a relatively easy bench workout. For all you beginners out there, do this, get good at doing it and your entire body will get bigger
No arms?
@@bobbetsagnut no I never do. The heavy back and pressing works out my arms but if someone did something similar to what I do, you can probably fit them in there somewhere
I jump in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber 3 years a week and it has done wonders for me.
Same! Hyperbolic time chamber is the shit. People gotta try it.
@@centralcoastcinema7693 okay Gohan
Been looking for solid clarity on this topic. Appreciate it, Gents.
Push/Pull/Leg 3 day schedule has done absolute wonders for me. I've definitely grown in the right spots and have gotten stronger. Alof of folks I know still do one muscle a day per week and haven't grown. The key is optimization of larger muscle groups with compound lifts. Plus you grow when you rest.
Bro splits definitely do not work. Your schedule is better and backed by science.
Do you do ppl 3 days a week or do you do it twice?
@@tristanhamel1839 I hope he does it twice or it's still really just a bro split.
Ppl rest ppl rest I alternate exercises each session. Push day one more chest focused pull day one lay focused
Push day 2 shoulder focused but still hitting chest. Pull day 2 upper back focused and still hit lower back.
Full body twice a week - was struggling with maximum intensity 3 days a week. Frequent burn outs. Working so far.
Niall - I have had the same experience. 3 days a week was great but I never felt fully recovered. 2 days a week allows me to train HARD but still have plenty of recovery time.
1 ON / 2 OFF is a good trade off btw 2 and 3 times/week. You rest always the same amount of time, while with the 3/week sometimes is 1OFF sometimes 2OFF (!!). And personally I consider 3OFF days too much (this happens with 2/week schedule)
Cons: You train on a 3 week schedule, and always in different days.
Because you are working too hard
6 days a week has worked best for me but I’m working out from home all the time.
After about a year and a half of program hopping pretty much trying every workout routine without making any noticeable difference i decided to switch to training 3 days a week. Best decision I have ever made, had the best gains in my life. The training routine was as follows:
Workout A:
Flat bench press
Deadlift (1x5)
Weighted chin ups
Rear delt flys or facepulls
Incline biceps curl (you can do any variation i just like the incline better)
Workout B:
Barbell Back squat
Standing press
Pendlay row
Lateral raises
Skull crushers
-Perform all of the compounds for 5 sets of 5
-Perform all accessories movements for 3 sets 8 to 15 reps
-Try to add 5lbs every workout to your main compound lifts every training session (with proper form)
Track your progress by writing it down in a journal or you can use an app( i personally use Gravitus)
Hope you found it helpful.
I’m a guy who just wants to maintain his health not looking to be big so I do 3 days full body workout (Mon Wed Fri) for 30 min and cardio Tues and Thurs for 10 min and honestly I have gotten great results.
I've been doing 3 day a week workouts by lifting light with adjustable dumbbells. For the past 4 months it's honestly kept me from growing a gut, I've gain some strength, helped reduced low back pain, relieving knee issues. I've also seen my body change in my shoulders and arms.
2:15 - this is the way.
wow I thought I'm the only one that have experienced this. I found it very weird. I used to work out 5 days a week. I feel there is no result at all. And when I only do the 3 days a week full body workout. I found get better result.
Yeah I got the best results by doing full body workouts 3 days a week. Used to do 4 days a week but was getting more and more tired over time. 3 days a week seems to be the sweetspot. And there is no way I'm doing the traditional bro split because I would hate to walk around all day feeling only one muscle group is pumped. Imagine spending leg day feeling you have big legs and the rest, like arms and chest is deflated lol. These splits always seemed dumb to me. Maybe when you're on steroids you have to do it like that because it would take too long to do full body workouts with sufficient volume.
@DTrey FloatGoat I workout Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. Based on experience over the years I have found that I have no problem recovering from that. I do a full body workout on each of those days, three sets per exercise. I used to target 6 reps to failure and increase the load once I can go over 6. Recently I am targetting 12 reps to failure and increase the load if I can go past 12. I have been working out for 17 years, since I was 19.
@DTrey FloatGoat I don't do any cardio. I eat less calories. Has worked for me so far.
yeah im making that change because im noticing that after 5 days of alternating muscle group working out my body wears down.
For maximum gains I definitely disagree for myself. But everyone is different. That’s why I dislike people who say a certain diet or split is the “right one.” They all exist for a reason... it worked for someone at some point for some reason
You are right. Actually the training split is the least important variable in one"s training. As long as the volume is the same the difference in muscle gains is very small. It all comes down to what you enjoy doing, and adherence.
3 days seems to be the light bulb on my head. I tried the “more is better” trying to hit 4-5 days or more. And when I hit a full body 3 days. I recover better,feel stronger. And like Justin mentioned I’m kinda working out but mostly recovering on the other days. Might have to check out maps
Also something to consider is of you are doing full body, even though your hitting different muscle groups in the same day, after your first muscle group you hit, you will not beable to hit the rest as fully. Ex: You do Bench, and then move on to pull-down. Even though they are different muscle groups, your body in general is a little weaker, therefore you cannot get the max benefit from the pull-downs.
I always was told that muscle needs 20-48 hours to recover. I stand by working out 3 days and rest atleast 1 maybe 2. I made minimal gains working out 6 or 7 times a week but the minute I took the time to recover I grew substantially.
Absolutely right, you grow outside of the gym.
Yes but check this out these guys are doing 3 days a week but FULL body. If you have a well developed split program you will hit all muscles only two times a week but if it's spaced properly you will be able to pull higher intensity. However I think the practicality and efficiency of three times a week full body is really most suitable for most people as the guys themselves said in the video. Those of us who are proper gym rats and have no issues with consistency and discipline might get better results with various splits but more common gym goers will definitely prosper better with 3-times/week full body routine.
24 to 48 hours to recover or 72 not 20 where do you get 20 from? 🤔
Just changed my routine because I seemed to stall. I went from a five day, to a full split of upper and lower. I can see results already.
Same i was doing 4 x FULL
body, after awhile it plateau, i switch to push pull legs and shoulder focus 4x. I recovered faster
I just got here from Ryan Humiston's channel he says to never stop working out basically, and he's huge.
Because he's on gear.
People need to stop with that ‘Training legs leads to upper body gains.” Nobody trains legs in isolation. There is not one example of a guy that neglected to train his upper body and did legs and said this. Usually people that care enough to train legs understand exercising and intensity and probably train upper body amazingly.
Pro ice skaters
I neglected legs for the longest time. When my gym reopened I decided to get consistent with squats and deads. My upper body routine remained the same, but I saw the biggest size and strength gains in my upper body ever.
@@ienjoyapples what did you do for upper body before ?
Core and back strength from proper technique
My experience: used to do biceps/back/shoulders 2 times a week, triceps/chest 2 times a week, and legs and abs 2 times a week….now I do these just once a week with 4 days rest. I have seen more results now than more than ever, but this is just my experience so maybe not for everyone
What do you do in between the 4 days
How much do you squat
Puts clients on three day a week programs because that’s the easiest and least time consuming option for him. Then he is amazed at the results.
I don’t use a trainer but if I did, I hope they would be someone who had my best interests at heart and designed a program to help me achieve my goals through careful planning rather than luck.
Started lifting 14 months ago. Had to take this summer off due to tennis elbow.(most likely suffered at my job). Always done the 3 day full body. Love it, compound lifts are fun and I do a handful of accessory lifts too. There was a time where I wasn’t getting as strong as I should of because of the lack of consistent calorie intake.
I quit drinking and tobacco a month ago and my appetite has been good throughout the day. After two weeks back lifting I’m feeling as good as I’ve ever felt. Being thin already I like 4 rest days in the week. I’m hoping to gain more mass in this next year as long as avoid injury.
What does compound lifts mean?
@@SuperPayy lifts that work a lot of muscle or muscle groups like: bench press , standing ohp, pull-ups/weighted pullups, squats, deadlift, rows
@@plugwalk8491 thanks bro.
@@SuperPayy it means you use multiple joints
@@AVB15 thanks 🙏🏽
Respected wisdom. Ive made my greatest gains training twice a week full body that led me to a few bodybuilding contest victories and to have competed in the 2008 Natural Olympia. No more than 45:min doing compounds and getting lots of rest At age 69 still going strong Again much appreciated
I'm on push, pull, and legs with three weeks of training and a deload.
I’m 59 and two full body workouts are just right. Yoga and cardio on the other days.
I have had some occational issues with nausea post full body workouts. After some googeling I learned that when working ALL the muscles in one session, all of your blood is drawn to them, away from your organs, which can cause nausea.
So my idea was to maybe do one upper body + lower body + lighter full body workout as a 3 day split. Lower - off - upper - off - full body - off - off. (1 week plan)
This would basically mean Every muscle hit twice a week, and my workouts being either lighter, or concentrate on one part of my body so that all my blood doesn't leave my organs again and I feel like shit(lmao).
What do you guys think?
BEEN AT IT SINCE 7 MONTHS! I LOVE YOU GUYS.
I used to do 4-5 days a week in the gym but since I've started a more physically demanding job I've had to drop it to 3 times a week so I don't burn out.
The key is , if you want any results, is to go very close to failure. 1 rep shy of true failure.
I naturally settled into a 4day routine. I totally get it
I use to do 6 day workout, because of working in the gym I loved it. When I got married, kids, work full time and I’m a pastor as well: working out 3 times a week best fits my schedule plus I’m not burnt out, I do Swuats, Dead lift, rows, bench, and over head press. That’s all I do, I’m done in about 45min to an hour, depending on my rest time and I feel great afterward. When I was single and didn’t have much responsibilities I was in the gym most of my time, but now the 3 days is best for my schedule.
In my teens who only trained 3 days a week, bro split and gained plenty and got to some good poundages... after years of doing other things I’ve finally ended up where I started. You don’t need to do full body if you structure your split properly, there’s loads of overlap with most exercises.
If you're getting it all in 3 days, it's not a bro split.
I agree.
I started a 3 day a week, full body schedule 2-3 months ago, and picked up 7-8 pounds of muscle in just a few weeks
what program did you use?
I do an upper/lower a/b split on Mon, Weds, and Saturday. Neural hormonal in great shape, injuries down, and I am jacked and strong at 50 years old. Not only that, after 3 weeks of training I take 5 to 7 days off and come back stronger and bigger.
So one week you do 2 Upper 1 Lower than 2 Lower 1 Upper workout.
@@shawndejohn63 you go back and forth between upper and lower. Don't look at it as how many per week but the days between each upper and lower workout which is 4 to 5 days
@@leibmoshe What’s your program look like?
@@shawndejohn63 Everything in here has a complex reason behind it. Must be done in this order:
UPPER A:
DB bench press: 3×6-8/3'
Medium grip inverted row with weighted vest: 3×6-8/3'
30° DB press: 2-3×8-10/2'
Chinups: 2-3×8-10/2'
Resistance band side laterals: 2×10-12/1'
Body weight tri extensions: 3×10-12/1'
One arm dumbbell curl with Resistance band attached: 2×10-12/1'
Resistance band face pulls 2 × 10-15 (Optional)
LOWER A:
Kettle bell or dumbbell swings 4-5×10/3'
DB split squat 4×10/3'
DB standing bi-lat calves raises 4-5×6-12/1'
Abs (hanging leg raise/crunch) 2×-25/1'
Neck raises (Optional)
UPPER B:
Pullups 3×-10/3' (Optional with weighted vest)
Seated overhead DB press 3×6-8/3'
Close neutral grip inverted rows 2×8-10/2' (optional weighted vest)
DB bench press 2-3×8-10/2'
Low to high Resistance band flyes 2×10-12/1'
Two arm Resistance band curl attached to bar (metal pipe from hardware store) 3×10-12/1'
One arm tri ext with Resistance band 2×10-12/1'
Resistance band or dumbbell wrist curls 2×12-15/1' (Optional)
LOWER B:
DB deadlifts 4×8-10/3': ( optional- with weighted vest to add Resistance)
Resistance band lying ham curl 4×10-12/1':
Standing uni-lat calf raise 4×12-20/1' (with weighted vest or dumbbell)
Abs (hanging leg raise/crunch) 2×-25/1'
DB shrugs 2×8-10/2' (Optional)
@@leibmoshe Thanks you for the .programming.
Love this. What would be good examples of what workouts to do on full body days without overwhelming your muscles?
Depends on what your goals are. Focus on compound lifts. Deadlifts, Squats, presses.. keep track of your work, make it measurable. There's ton of info out there.
I like 3 days a week works good for me and on off days I'll do flexibility/mobility stuff. Working well so far.
Yep, got this 3days a week in the book bodybuilding encyclopedia by Arnold
The military learned this. In USAF basic training we focused on Calisthenics on Mon, Wed, & Fri and Cardio Tue, Thur, and Sat.
@Anon They should, it's something to be proud of.
As we age, we should train smarter, not harder…I’m 50 years young now, started training aged 11 in martial arts, switching to basketball as I grew to 6’ 4”. I’ve been resistance training with weights for approximately 25 years and it’s helped me stay lean and avoided various age related diseases/ presentations. 20 years of golf and now I’m training for high altitude trekking and climbing, which is very demanding. WEIGHT LIFTING SHOULD BE INCORPORATED FOR HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FUNCTION….IT’S DEFINITELY SERVED ME WELL 👍
This constant conditioning of the fitness industry of more is better has me feeling sort of insecure when I miss 3 days it’s crazy
I know bro. If I go more than two days without a session I feel odd lol
@@theredninja2817 ive been working out 5 times a week for the past 4 months. Next week I will start anew and go 4 times a week instead
@@CarlitoGio what kind of Split?
They're always trying to reinvent the wheel. They try to convince us that they've come up with better ways of doing things when really they've only come up with more attractive ways to sell fitness packages. Not a lot of people really want to get underneath a heavy barbell.
@@dard4642 Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but don’t nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights!!
Phrase it like this:
3 heavy workouts or intense workouts a week
And you can have another workout for just supplemental stuff like lower back or rear delta something not extensive or rigorous on your body.
Full body is great
I also like to follow upper body / lower body splits
with athletic training movements.
I think people have a hard time with fullbody because they try to do a split routine inside fullbody. If you pick bang for your buck compound movements then you don't need to do a whole lot of accessories.
For example:
Front squat
Press
RDL
Row (cable or supported)
1-2 Secondaries
Your making gains because your giving those muscles recovery time. Doesn’t matter how you split it.
Ya good mix of frequency and rest periods
I think Arnold disagrees...
@@ritzyllama I’m no Arnold and either are you, Lol.
You can lift 5 days a week and still recover fine if you structure your days well. I only lift 4 days a week but it's spread to where I'm mostly recovered for each day
@@steveo5999 I work out 4 days also. If you want to work out everyday you can also. But don’t hit the same muscle every single day. I can’t stand the bodybuilder routine. Chest one day, back the next and arms a another day and so on and so on I use to do that for years and it’s so fricken boring after a while. I get way better results doing a few muscle groups a day.
I did the 6 day a week 3 Upper and 3 lower and the gains are real. Just divide your regular workout by 3 and wala oh and don't go to failure the mindset is to just maintain que keep going. Now I'm going to do 3 times per week and do my cardio en between. Just slow walking
No, no I don't think I will.
Hhaha
😭😭😭
Much more relevant than how many days per week you work out, is how many sets per week do you do for each muscle group.
Three weeks ago I started training full body every other day, so 3 times some weeks and 4 times others. The one interesting thing I’ve found is that two times now I’ve been unable to squat as many reps as I programmed - I think there is something to resting two days in a row every week.
So you’d prefer resting 2 days in a row rather than 1?
@@jiil9862 only once a week. I go every other day - Tuesday Thursday Saturday - and rest both Sunday and Monday
For sure.
Or rest 2 days in between. It works more recovery on larger muscle groups those can take up 2-3 to fully recover if you do 6 sets. I take 2 days off in betwee 2 exercise per body part 3 sets each
I’m natural, 63. Work out twice a week and am stronger than this guy. Superset. Powerlifting. All the best to everyone.
Full-body, 3x/wk is where it's at. I disagree with the scaling back of the intensity but you definitely scale back the volume. The basic barbell lifts accompanied by one assistance exercise for each will get you strong and/or jacked if you eat and rest properly.
For 25 yrs, I did all variety of bro splits. I got results, for sure, but when I started following the Starting Strength protocol, it was a total game changer.
Brother I am an Ectomorph can you help? gaining is hard for me.
@@malimoor2654 yep.
Starting Strength? Is something like a Strong Lift ?
@@jasonb5890 similar. Strong Lifts is like the Texas Method, which is used under the Starting Strength umbrella.
Starting Strength is 3x5 during the novice progression, adding 5 lbs to your working sets each workout. You get strong really fast.
The Texas Method is used during intermediate stage, adding 5 lbs each week, after you can no longer add 5 lb per workout.
@@dard4642 thanks brother. Stay blessed
Doing it for almost 15 years. 3 days a week, 5x5 lifts. With MMA and Kbell, basketball, recovery on off days
I stopped lifting 5 times a week and started doing full body workouts again.. three times a week.... besides loosing 10 pounds I started feeling and moving better.
What is ur split routine
@@ahmadelshbasy3222 Monday Wednesday Friday are my workout days. Two workout per body part, 8-12 reps by 3 sets.
@@Echo_Six_Romeo so you do 30 set each time you go to the gym? LMAO you are a joke. You have absolutely no Energy for training hard on each muscle and set. Probably average body
For myself 4 days a week with Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday rest days. i do barbell /dumbells Mon. barbells Tues. dumbbells Thursday and Fridays rinse and repeat I focus on proper form sets and reps while I keep the sets between 3 and 4 I will go as high as 20 reps per set I have a small supply of weights running from 1.5 kilos to 3.5 kilos for barbells and dumbbells no machines just bars and plates.
I do 2 fullbody workouts per week,works great.Not so drained as 3-5 workouts per week.
Espen Dahl - I also get the best results from 2 full body workouts a week.
@@ruiseartalcorn Great 💪💪
The late great Mr 'High Intensity' Mike Mentzer actually had his hard gainer clients use what he called his 'Consolidation' routine which was simply 3 exercises (Squat, Chest Press, Underhand Close grip Pulldowns) ONE set to failure (6-9 reps) and repeat 4 days later. Many trainees said it produced the best gains in size and strength they had ever seen.
Modulating fatigue and intensity over your mesocycle on 6 days a week split properly would potentially be more effective than 3 days a week split. Requires more intention and knowing what you’re doing but 3 days a week isn’t necessarily better by default just because it makes managing load and fatigue easier. On top of that, for advanced trainees you simply can’t properly overload every muscle group in a single session, CNS fatigue would eclipse your muscle fatigue 3/4 of the way through your session and then your last movement will just end up suffering.
Every Body is different you can´t really say what is better for you will be better for someone else, thats why generally speaking in the fitness industry there are so much different informations about every single topic, the one thing you have to learn is to listen to your body and If you body tells you that 6 times is too much because you got other things to do like family, work, other hobbies, etc. than you program yourself something which works both ways.
Great podcast. Just found you.
I always go back to the three day a week with cardio in between. I find I recover much better this way.
Yes me too
Three days a week, 3 sets per muscle? Per workout?
@@cartoonhanks1708 3 weightlifting days per week.
Full body each day or split 2 muscle groups on each day or alternating workout A and B ?
@@kavishgour3267 I kind a like the full body three days a week or I like to do A B but four days a week So like work out a band workout be and then take a day off and work out a workout be so it’s either of those two they feel good for me and that’s probably what you’re always going to hear the term works for me that’s really all that matters when you do something
I've been doing 3 days a week full body workouts for the past 5 years and have definitely made gains.
in 5 years i would hope you made gains even if you were doing 10 pushups a day lmao
@@sir_cartier112 don’t worry. I’ve been lifting weights since 2004. I’ve made plenty of gains.
@@ifstatementifstatement2704 dude shutup haha
@@MrFoofarew I started in 2004 when I was 19. Over the years there were times when I stopped for about two months but did not like the way I felt and looked and quickly got back to lifting. So for the most part I trained consistently four days a week on average. When I got in my 30s I dropped that to 3 times because it was getting harder to recover from workout sessions. I was pushing myself more too and also got more stress along the way. Life.
@@sir_cartier112 lmao
Ive tried multiple programs/splits..and push pull legs has helped me make the most gains.. honestly
youre skinny man
I don’t feel like full body has enough volume per muscle group unless you’re taking 2 hours to do 2-3 lifts per body part, even if the weekly volume is higher.
Or you can do fewer exercises and focus on doing only exercises for the muscles that matter. And also lifting heavy to do fewer reps. This would allow you to fit a full body workout in 45 minutes doing 4 sets per exercise in each session. In my experience, lifting heavier over time builds muscle mass. So you can keep sets and reps the same and just lift heavier.
If you hit a plateau then increasing load by a smaller amount or just sticking to the same load for a bit longer to give the body time to adapt, helps.
But in the end there are limits to everything: how much load, or even volume, you will ever be able to handle. Even when on performance enhancing drugs you have limits. They are just pushed back a lot but they are there nonetheless.
Over the years I did different styles of workout programs, emphasising one aspect over the other: load, volume, failure, time under tension, and got similar results provided you are progressing: making the numbers go up over time. I noticed that the style that gave me the best results in terms of muscle mass and strength, and allowed me to have a better balance of fatigue and time spent working out, was to focus on increasing load over time and lifting in a heavy rep range.
volume doesnt matter as much instead focus on getting stronger just do 3 sets per muscle group every other day but focus on prs
@@hanskazan7403 I second that strongly! After 17 years of lifting weights and trying out nearly every method under the sun, nothing has given me better results than focusing on increasing load over time. I even took it to the extreme of lifting loads I could get 6 reps to failure on every first set with, but only doing 3 reps with those loads, 3 sets per exercise, full-body workout, 3 times a week. I still got way better results in terms of muscle size and strength compared to any other method I tried, even when not lifting to failure.
When lifting heavy like that you need to be careful with volume and training to failure. That is why I avoided failure, except once a week when testing myself to see if I could go past 6 reps with the load, and if so I would increase the load by the smallest weight I had: 1 kg. I used to lift to failure lifting heavy like that but it burned me out. Eventhough I was in a caloric surplus. So I did 3 reps instead of the max I could do (6 reps). And when I saw that was working so well I started doing 4 sets per exercise, 3 times a week, and that was fine as long as I was in a caloric surplus or eating at maintenance. But as soon as I went into a caloric deficit, that burned me out within a week. So I reduced to 3 sets and that was totally sustainable.
Just make every rep and set count. You can fit in plenty of volume per muscle group.
The total Weekly volume in full body workouts add up to a good amount, and is always more quality volume since it minimizes junk volume
I am lucky, thank God, that I started and stuck with 3x per week schedule...now I am using 2x per week bcoz recovery issues have popped and weights are on heavier side.
Some of the strongest people have used 2 or 3 times per week splits.
I’m a beginner in this, is encouraging to hear that this guys also miss some days a week! I thought i was the only one!
It's weird, I've found better gains when I take 2-3 days off per week than when I go 6 days per week. I think your body starts to eat muscle if you go too hard and don't have any carbs.
I am going to try this, I always thought everyone does split workout until I did research ( new to gym) and this seems way more effective but my only problem is I wanna go more than 3 days a week as gym is all I have at the moment especially as it helps with my mental health
You can go other days and just do recovery type stuff. Ride the bike for a little. Walk or jog on the treadmill. Do some rowing machine. Push a prowler. If your gym has a sauna or steam room, definitely hit that up for 15-20 minutes.
I'm glad I saw this video. I naturally migrated to total body 3 days a week for several reasons. I always managed to miss a body part using split routines, and killing body parts on a day left me tired the next day when I should have done other parts of the body. I also got tired of figuring out what I was doing that day, or how I was going to make up for body parts missed the previous day.
As far as working one body part and inadvertently working the rest of the body, when one body part works, it's working against the rest of the body which is working to provide body stability. You can feel the working tension in the rest of the body.
I liked this video. I've worked out one way or another since 5th grade. My father was an Army Ranger. Push-ups, sit-ups and running every morning before school....while he drank his coffee. And when I finally got into some form of weight lifting in my 60s, I went through dozens of weight routines before I finally said nuts to it and wound up doing total body on my own.
3 day full body is by far the best routine overall for most people. You actually get full muscle recover unlike bro splits and also hit each muscle 3x/a week rather than once or twice. Also much less time consuming while giving more results. Blows my mind that people even do bro splits anymore, full body’s far superior in many ways
Do u do the same compound exercises each day of the 3 days?
While full body training seems to work for a great number of people, there are many who got great results from other splits as well. Even bro splits. We are all different.
Question - with 3x full body say Mon-Wed-Fri, is the 1 day recovery in between sessions enough? I imagine a volume of no more than 4 sets per muscle and maybe less intensity? (not going to fail)
I've an exam in a month for a job it's been already 1month I'm not working out & I feel so bad so for my health but good for my exam preparation ,rn I'm thinking to go for 3days a week to save time & balance things😼
Everyone is different! I train 6 days a week (3 days pull, 3 days push) and on my rest I do cardio. For me most of my workouts are only 45 mins or so, but the consistency of going everyday helps me keep it up in the long run! My two cents
where do you fit in legs?
@@haikal4947 I do squats on push days, and deadlifts on pull days, as it has more back involvement anyways. I run a push, pull, off this way.
As a life long 100% natural lifter, my greatest gains have been on 3x a week whole body. A push pull split is decent, but overall 3x a week per body part is the best for me by far. Consistent gains and not beating up my joints.