Thread: 3 day vs 5 day routines

For the most part I've always used 1 body part day with little extra like chest an tris and back and bic once a week . Typical muscle mag routines . Made good gains at times but get burnt out .
Have been reading lately about 5x5 , 5,3,1 and full body workouts .
Would love any feedback from people who have tried the 2 and what kind of results to expect .

http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/fil...20Template.pdf this is what the mags should be printing . Read that and honestly in a quicker amount of time than you'd think you'll be the smartest guy in your gym and not wasting your time. One of the best write ups ever .

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 .

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

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 .

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?

If you are trying to get into being STRONG and gaining size look into westside for skinny bastards 3 by joe defranco. Guy has trained some of the biggest names but he has done so when they were nobodies (speaking of football here where in college such an emphasis is placed on gaining strength and size it's ridiculous, for positions like linebacker it's like they don't even worry about on field) . Muscle mag type shit dosnt work for anyone who isn't a complete newbie (where anything would work) or those that have significantly developed their muscle bellies and can handle the volume with significant weight and recovery. I used to train 6 days a week on the most split up split ever but I was weak a fuck. Keep it simple and heavy on the big lifts and for each big lift add 2-4 other lifts that make sense and help in your goals. I now never train more than 4 days a week even on heavy androgens. And I've never been stronger in my life.

The cube method is also a nice one too look into bc it doesnt tax your cns as much because you are t maxing out twice a week, only one of the main lifts per week