gen- I did see tis post and had a few thoughts. I'm racing off to the gym for a few early clients but will try to get back to you this afternoon
Mel

Here's my 2 cents Gen , but I know Mel will have the proper way of doing it since she's the trainer...

4 day split A:
- chest and tris
-quads and abs
-back and bis
-hams and shoulders
OR
4 days split B:
- legs (quads and ham)
- shoulders and arms
- back and abs
- chest
OR make it the same as above B and add an extra day and do just arms and abs on a day ...

I personally like a 4 or 5 days split because it gives the body part plendy of rest... You're only doing weights for 40-45 minutes then you still have energy to do a half hour of cardio afterwards, EXCEPT, on leg days, when you can barely walk after a leg workout!!

HTH...
TTFN...

On a leg day Gen I do: 1. squats, 2. leg extensions, 3. leg curls, 4. lunges... I do 4 exercises of each at 10-12 reps each...This is a basic leg day ... I don't do squat AND leg presses in the same workout, usually, because I feel they basically are the same exercise and work the same leg muscles...

Hi all,

I’ve been in the middle of an interesting experience that I thought I would share, because I’m learning a lot from it, and I’d like to get your take on it.

On Friday, I trotted off to the gym just before lunchtime to do what I thought was going to be a quick UB workout. But it was one of those fabulous moments in the gym ... the place was nearly deserted, so I had my pick of machines and equipment. I hadn't done any exercise since Tuesday, and I felt great. I had had a big bowl of oatmeal about 10, and I felt like I had energy to burn.

And burn I did.

What started out as a quickie UBWO (I had been thinking chest and back), turned into a complete UBWO with some legs thrown in. (My rationale: since I hadn’t gotten in my usual Wednesday workout, I thought I’d make up for lost time.) Not only did I add exercises, I added weight. After following this thread, I thought, well, let's give it a go. I lifted more weight than I have in years and years. When I walked out, I felt great.

An hour later, I still felt great. But you know what's coming, don't you ... by 4, I was dying. No, not pain -- yet. I was exhausted. And I was starving. STARVING. I thought I had taken steps to prevent that: as soon as I was done, I drank a protein shake, and about 30 minutes later I had a really nice lunch because I had to do a tasting for a board dinner (tough job, but someone's gotta do it ) By 4, it was as if I hadn't had a thing to eat.
I ate some yogurt, then some cottage cheeze, and finally some pistachios.
That put a dent in my appetite, but by 7 I was hungry again. Then I didn’t want to eat a full meal that late, so I kept picking. And I went from clean to lousy food.

I just couldn't seem to set myself right.

I slept like the dead, and woke up Saturday morning tired. And Hungry. And I kept grazing. Then, starting Saturday afternoon, I started to ache, big time. ‘ course, by then, it could have been the lousy food I’d been eating, as well. But clearly, the extra weight was taking its toll.

This morning (Sunday), I finally feel recovered. I’ve waked the dogs, had the usual egg white omelet, and feel like I’m back on track.

So, here’s what I’ve learned:

1. Beware that burst of enthusiasm. It can be dangerous. Overdoing a weight lifting session can have unforeseen repercussions, especially in the early stages. Next time, I would stick to my original plan of chest and back. I think I could have added the weight and still been fine if I hadn’t added so many other body parts.


2. Next time I get that hungry, I’m going to go find a real meal, regardless of the time. I can see now that I would have been so much better off on Friday night if I’d had something like a chicken breast or steak, a baked potato and a big salad. I didn’t do that. I kept trying to fill up on half a cup of cottage cheese or something similar. No dice.

3. Saturday morning, I should have taken a walk, just to loosen up the body. I totally lost my mind-body link and awareness. I was tired and uggy.

So, what does anyone think? Does my assessment sound right? And, more important, are the “next times” the right way to go?

Hi Gen and Robin

Gen you're absolutely right in thinking that you "would be working the muscle less often but harder", and it would have plenty of recovery and rest between workouts.... Also , Gen it is good to work back and bis AND chest and tris in the same workout because they are sort of connected, when you are working back you use your bicep muscles a lot and the same goes for chest and triceps... I have worked hams and quads seperately, but that was a very long time ago... Lately I always worked hams and quads the same day because I work my legs only once/week... It works fine for me...

Robin -- I think your "next times" are perfect... For myself I love those bursts of enthusiasm and energy I get once in a while, I take full advantage of them... Granted, I am hungrier and could eat a horse!! (sorry Karen ) but like you said, eating a "real meal" instead of 1/2c cottage cheese or other small thingys would have been much better and would have helped you get over the hunger... I know it helps me... When I have these huge workouts I feel like the food I eat just seems to absorb into my system in about an hour just like what you experienced so I try to eat a "real meal" no matter what time of day it is because anything else will NOT satisfy me...

Gen,
There are loads of splits and different theories on why to do them. My current is:
Mon: Chest and tri's
Tues: shoulders, calves and abs
Wed: hamstrings and quads
Thurs: Cardio only
Friday: Back and Bi's

Another example would be to group chest and back on 1 day and biceps and triceps together on another.

I usually do 3-4 exercises per body part making sure that I get at least 1 exercise for each aspect or part of the muscle, and 4-5 sets of each. I do a lot of supersets and giant sets, and combine plyometic training and balance work in with heavy lifts. For example, a typical chest workout would include flat bench db presses, flyes on a stability ball, incline press machine, either cable flyes or pec deck, then push-ups to failure alternating hands on a medicine ball. For triceps, I'd do a single armed pushdown type exercise, and single armed extension exercise, then a push-down with both hands working together and an extension with both hands working together.

My leg days are probably crazy- I always do squats of some variety as well as the leg press, because I don't feel they hit the muscles the same way. My favorite giant set is to do single legged leg presses feet high, then double the volume 2 legged with feet mid-level, then deep, slow squats. Yes, I've hit my quads on each, but each time I've gotten them from a different angle and empasized a different part of the muscle group.

Mel

Hi GUys,
My current split goes like this

Monday: Bi's, Tri's, Forearms
Tuesday: Hams, Glutes
Wednesday: Back, low back
Thursday: Heavy "Compound" Legs
Friday: Chest, Shoulders
I do Abs and Calves (1 excersise and about 6 sets each) at every workout

I like to give my Hams, Glutes extra focus even though I hit em on my big Leg day. I feel 48hrs recovery is enough before doing heavy legs. I need more recovery from my Big Leg day though and so I have 4 days to recover before my ham, glute day rolls aorund again. While I have trained Back and Bi's/Chest and tri' together in the past. I enjoy being able to focus on the muscles individually. Since Bi's are strongly recruited in back excersises, I have 48hrs recovery between arms and back. My chest and shoulders, I am trying to 'bring up' so I do them on Friday when I am in no hurry (no work the next day and no workouts on the weekend) and when hubby can help since Heavy free weight chest excersises really require assistance. Also, my tri's are cpmpletely recovered by then and available to help with chest and shoulder excersises.
Point being, I change up my workout here and gain but a lot of thought goes into how I plan it. Sometimes I get going on a new plan only to realize it ain't going to work for one reason or another. Like 'my shoulders are still sore and not recovered on Chest day so I get a crappy chest workout' for just one example.
I have been going on this split for awhile and making progress. Keep in mind, I change the 'excersises' at every workout even though I am training the same bodypart for that day.
Ok..... that's all I got FWIW.........
XOXO
L2L

For this week, I am doing one body part per day, to work on form. Next week I go back to the following:

bis tris and forearms
back and abs
chest and shoulders
quads, hams and calves
45 minutes cardio on each day except leg day - only 30 minutes cardio.

I do my cardio prior to my lifting so my endorphin high will carry me through the weights. When i did it the opposite way, my cardio workouts were always half-a**ed or didn't get done at all.

Tiki.

L2L - I like your workout... Just a couple of questions on Tuesday: Hams, Glutes, are those exercises like leg curls, leg extensions... Could you give more examples? AND on Thursday: Heavy "Compound" Legs, are those exercises like squats, lunges, more examples please...... Thank you!

Hey again..

Ham and Glute day examples:
I usaully do 3 or 4 excersises and about 4 sets. I start with 1 or 2 more difficult and/ or heavy excersises and finish up with easier/lighter ones.

Deep step Lunges
Leg Curls (seated or standing)
Stiff leg deadlifts
Good Mornings (*also heavily recruits lower back)
Butt squats (squats on smith with feet placed 2ft out in front, squating almost to the floor and tucking booty in at the top of movement)
Cable kickbacks (facing cable machine w/ ankle strap on and lifting straight back without bending knee)
Butt blaster (machine for targeting glutes)
Kickbacks using the lying leg curl (on all fours with booty facing the leg pad, put foot on pad and push straight back)
Hip Abductor machine for Glutes (stand sideways, put pad low on leg and kick back)

Heavy Leg Day examples:
I actually like do a little prayer/meditation before I train legs. It takes so much out of you... and I try to get myself 'charged up' for an awesome workout. I always try to get excited before I train any body part but I try to really 'Zero in' when I train my Legs. I might say "C'mon rock hard booty. Let's go!" Or "I want Legs like a Stallion!" For me, attitude is everything.
I do two or three big excersises (5 to 6 sets) where I go real heavy, then finish up with more tareted excersises and slightly more reps. My husband spots me on Leg day and expects 100% effort.

Excersise examples:

Free weight squats
Leg Press
Hack squat
Front squats
Barbell walking Lunges
Finish up with Leg Extensions (either on machine or Iso Hammer strength and do one leg at a time)
Light lunges to finish
and sometimes I do 'jumps' to end a hard Leg workout. I simply jump up as high as possible come all the way down to where my butt almost hits the floor, propel back up and keep going until I can barely even 'hop' with out hanging onto something (complete failure) Do this after a really hard leg workout to completely tear down your legs.

Long, Lithe, Firm, Defined, where the curves just jump out with every step of the high heel.....they look like silk and feel like granite. My idea of beautiful legs.....

xoxo
L2L

Dang I'm tired just reading all that!! Thanks I'll cut and paste to a doc and take it to the gym with me next time...