I chose "maintainable" because my core program, the one that I come back to the most is a 3-day a week full body workout. It actually has less recovery time than an every third day routine as it is ON OFF ON OFF ON OFF OFF. I know many others who have used 3 day a week Total Body Training for years as their base programs as well and have had no problems progressing and growing and have not suffered from an unusual level of overtraining.
That said, the choice could easily be "all of the above" as with any training program, frequency is only part of the equation. Intensity and volume must be managed correctly and either a rest or deload week should be part of the overall plan from time to time, and symptoms of overtraining should be monitored.
Something like 16-20 sets, 160-240 total reps, with about 75% compound exercises can easily be maintained IMO. I have had no problems and I do this program the majority of the time, going to 5 or 6 day splits when I get to the point where I am bored and just can't stay out of the gym or have some lagging body parts that I want to hit extra hard and do more isolation work.
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