2
Vote Up

Full Body vs. Split

Hi,

I am a 46 year-old man, about 6 foot 1, 210 pounds. I have worked out and exercised off and on throughout my life, and started hitting the gym again about 3.5 months ago. At the time, I was 225 pounds and very much out of shape. I have managed to lose 15 pounds and reshape my body with some muscle, but have recently plateaued. My current workout routine is as follows:

Monday – weight lifting only, full body (legs, shoulders, chest, back, arms), I do at least 2 different exercises for each body part and 3 sets of each exercise, on my last set I use the most weight I can lift for 6 to 8 reps

Tuesday – rest

Wednesday – weight lifting, full body, same exercises but with lower weight and higher reps, and only 2 sets for each exercise, and then finally 20 to 30 minutes of cardio

Thursday – rest

Friday – same as Monday

Saturday – rest Sunday – 30 minutes of cardio

I have done quite a bit of reading and research about different routines and am looking for some advice. My goal is to build as much lean muscle as I can – I have no target weight to reach, as long as I’m in shape I don’t care what I weigh. I also have a couple of things to consider: I don’t want to spend countless hours in the gym – I have a family, and now that I’m older I need a routine that has some built-in rest periods. I’ve recently seen a few 4 day split routines that seem interesting – Chest and Triceps on Monday, Back and Biceps on Tuesday, rest on Wednesday, Quads and Hamstrings on Thursday, and Shoulders and Calves on Friday. What are the pros and cons of these type of routines? I am a “hard gainer” – can I really build muscle if I only exercise each body part once per week?

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks you for your thorough question. I feel bad that the answer is really quite simple. You signed up for this site right? You answered the questions I had you fill out in order to do so. I ask you specific things in order to get an understanding of your profile. Lifestyle, Exercise ability, Exercise goal, age, injuries etc…pretty much everything you just outlined. LOL To be honest, that is exactly what this website exists. For millions of people like yourself who need a structured workout written by an expert who not just works out, but was educated in how to properly profile others and create plans for success based off of their own needs. So what should you do? Click on the workout section on the site (here-http://www.workouttrainer.com/home/workouts), watch the video if you need some help understanding what to do and start following the structured monthly workout. I promise you that reviewing what you are currently doing above will not help as it may not be the best plan for you. I can guarantee that whatever workout you have been doing, may be something from the past, maybe from a magazine or wherever, but it more than likely was not created for you based on your criteria intended to maximize your potential in order to hit your goal. Im sure that it does not factor in Linear and reverse Linear Periodization based off of Micro, Mesa and Macro cycles on a daily, weekly and or monthly basis. I do in everyone of my plans. Simply follow those monthly plans and you should be set.