Thread: 3 day vs 5 day routines

Originally Posted by darksidefitness

Rigth now I'm doing volume...10 x 10. Everybody is different. Try and fail type. However, if you are new to the sports, most routines like the 5 x 5, or Westside template it should work perfect.

does 10x10 mean 10 sets of 10 reps per muscle group? if so, how many muscle groups are you working in a single session? and do the # of sets change for secondary muscles if you are working more than one muscle group per session e.g. chest day 1: 10X10 & tris 6x10?

I'm with bhcolex50x - DC 2 day split 3 days a week. Only recently I've deviated a little to train back on a separate day cuse it lags so much on me.

There are lots of great setups, you just gotta find the one that works for your schedule and your goals.

Originally Posted by mr.smith

Thanks for the feedback . I'm ready to start lifting for strength and size . My legs are my weak spot so these strength routines will force me to work them like I should have been doing . I've been lifting off and on for couple years and I'm not as strong as I should be . I need to build a better base . I live in a very rural area and lift alone at home . Only routines I saw were in the mags so I kinda just thought that's how you were suppose to work out . I feel like I wasted a lot of time and effort .

This was me dude , I even got pretty damn big and was still weak as hell, lived in a rural area and lifted alone. In fact I got so sick of being weak I stopped lifting for a year and a half. Here's what I did to go from 185lb unable to lift more than 225 to 210 lifting 315 lb (bench) . I'm normally a beanpole so I HAVE to focus on maintaining size and gaining size to reach my goals . Here is EXACTLY what I did; follow the westside routine, and on the "dynamic days" for bench do 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps on flat barbell or incline bench. For lower body one week do your max effor day with the deadlift and on the "dynamic day" (now our hypertrophy and volume maintenance day) squat 3-4 sets of 7-12 , and next week reverse the dead and squat. There is a big emphasis on switching your max effort and dynamic lifts around every 3 weeks , for people nowhere near max strength I'd say you can keep these lifts for an 8 week cycle easy. (These are all personal opinions remember, just what worked for me) . I also started immediately doing 2 sets of 15 reps of something like dumbbell floor press (look it up so good for triceps and tricep mass) or decline dumbbell or sometimes even a rowing movement, these did change every week, on max effor bench day, and on max lower body day I would rep out high amount of Romanian deadlifts after my max effort lift. This helped tremendously with maintaining a "thickness" to me. I'd drop one of the normal lifts sometimes when adding these to not get burned out. This is exactly what I did to get strong and big. If you are pretty young you can handle it with lower volume on the assurance lifts. I will even draw up a sample week for you if you are having trouble. Main thing, stick to what you try for at least two months, don't keep changing it up and blame a specific program. This is a marathon not a sprint. Good luck nro

Ps my bench is even higher now absolutely , but I also started usin AAS (though I'm sure I could have gotten higher natural)

Originally Posted by Dirtydude

This was me dude , I even got pretty damn big and was still weak as hell, lived in a rural area and lifted alone. In fact I got so sick of being weak I stopped lifting for a year and a half. Here's what I did to go from 185lb unable to lift more than 225 to 210 lifting 315 lb (bench) . I'm normally a beanpole so I HAVE to focus on maintaining size and gaining size to reach my goals . Here is EXACTLY what I did; follow the westside routine, and on the "dynamic days" for bench do 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps on flat barbell or incline bench. For lower body one week do your max effor day with the deadlift and on the "dynamic day" (now our hypertrophy and volume maintenance day) squat 3-4 sets of 7-12 , and next week reverse the dead and squat. There is a big emphasis on switching your max effort and dynamic lifts around every 3 weeks , for people nowhere near max strength I'd say you can keep these lifts for an 8 week cycle easy. (These are all personal opinions remember, just what worked for me) . I also started immediately doing 2 sets of 15 reps of something like dumbbell floor press (look it up so good for triceps and tricep mass) or decline dumbbell or sometimes even a rowing movement, these did change every week, on max effor bench day, and on max lower body day I would rep out high amount of Romanian deadlifts after my max effort lift. This helped tremendously with maintaining a "thickness" to me. I'd drop one of the normal lifts sometimes when adding these to not get burned out. This is exactly what I did to get strong and big. If you are pretty young you can handle it with lower volume on the assurance lifts. I will even draw up a sample week for you if you are having trouble. Main thing, stick to what you try for at least two months, don't keep changing it up and blame a specific program. This is a marathon not a sprint. Good luck nro

This sounds like what I need to try out . I would appreciate a sample week if you have time . I have a pretty strong upper body but my lower is embarrassing .

Good call Dirtydude

Originally Posted by mr.smith

This sounds like what I need to try out . I would appreciate a sample week if you have time . I have a pretty strong upper body but my lower is embarrassing .

Hahah I know the feeling bro! At one point my bench and squat were equal (I was very young when this was true, but knowing what I know now, fucking embarrassing) tomorrow I will write you up a sample week. Again I'm not putting down what anyone else wrote at all I'm just telling you what did wonders for me.

Yeah ever since I seen a link from here about the 5x5 stronglifts thats what Ive been doing. Three days out the week with two days off. Mon, Wed, Fri. Adding 5lbs to everyworkout gradually increasing strength. I enjoy the routine alot and that 10x10, that westside routine ur talkng about DirtyD looks very interestng & intriguing, I need to look into it. It sucks because Im up in the woods with no car and confined to the garage with a little bench. Smh Im NAT n currently up to 285 5x5. bench. My goal is to get up & above 315 this year. If I eat big and keep training hard and stay dedicated I can accomplish my goals. So I can be like the BigDogs out there on this board!! Also hit the squats,deads, and military presses hard.LOL
24
5'11
195lbs

Originally Posted by LexLuger

Yeah ever since I seen a link from here about the 5x5 stronglifts thats what Ive been doing. Three days out the week with two days off. Mon, Wed, Fri. Adding 5lbs to everyworkout gradually increasing strength. I enjoy the routine alot and that 10x10, that westside routine ur talkng about DirtyD looks very interestng & intriguing, I need to look into it. It sucks because Im up in the woods with no car and confined to the garage with a little bench. Smh Im NAT n currently up to 285 5x5. bench. My goal is to get up & above 315 this year. If I eat big and keep training hard and stay dedicated I can accomplish my goals. So I can be like the BigDogs out there on this board!! Also hit the squats,deads, and military presses hard.LOL
24
5'11
195lbs

Bro at 195 a 285 5x5 is respectable as hell for a young natty trainee like you, or me minus the juice haha. It's not a program you can look into it's a combo of two very famous programs plus some shit and minus some shit that helped me in the exact ways the OP is looking for help.( And to to OP, I swear to god I will do you're write up but I'm doing it as a write up you or anyone can use if they ever see fit to do so. ) Like all of us here we share what works for us to help others.