5 Day Split vs 3 Day Splits

When people are approaching their workout routine for the week, picking a structure is often complicated, but making sure you get it right can be crucial as its imperative you stick with any program to get the most out of it, chopping and changing too often will hinder your progress. That being said lets take a look of the pro’s and con’s of some different splits you can run.

 

5 Day Split

Obviously if you have the time to be in the gym for 5 days in the week then thats good, its always important to incorporate rest. On a 5 day split your routine may look something like this

Monday : Chest + Abs

Tuesday : Back

Wednesday : Legs + Abs

Thursday : Rest

Friday : Shoulders

Saturday : Arms + Abs

Sunday : Rest

The pro’s of using a five day split are that you can put everything into working each muscle group and really get the volume in, you also have a good recovery period before you directly work that muscle group again which is extremely important. If you have the time to be in the gym five times a week then this sort of structure can be really effective. A lot of people ask the question is it better to hit your muscle groups once or twice a week and that all depends on the individual. Having used splits before that work all muscle groups twice every 7 or 8 days i can say from my experience that the volume tended to be lower so that i was able to get through hitting all groups twice a week. Working the muscle groups directly once a week can, as previously mentioned allow you to really go heavy with some volume and break down the muscle, then have adequate time to repair. On a 5 day split however some people have been known to burn out a little bit and not recover quite as well as someone that is always working out after a rest day. Even though your hitting specific muscle groups, there will always be a degree of overlap but recovery for each individual is different depending on factors such as nutrition, supplementation, sleep patterns and genetics.

 

3 Day Split

A 3 day split can be effective for someone that either doesn’t enjoy going to the gym as regularly or simply doesn’t have the time to be in the gym 5 or 6 times a week, a 3 day split may traditionally look like

 

Monday : Chest + Tris OR Full Body Workout

Tuesday : Rest

Wednesday : Back + Bi’s OR Full Body Workout

Thursday : Rest

Friday : Legs + Shoulders OR Full Body Workout

Weekend : Rest

 

Some people will approach programs with specific muscle splits or, particularly in the case of beginners, full body workouts that focus on heavy compound movements to build strength (Deadlifts, Squats, Bench Press, Overhead Press). A three day split can also be effective, it’s important to remember that the amount of time you spend in the gym is not always directly related to the progress you make, it’s how you spend that time and how you focus on your recovery / nutrition alongside your training. A 3 day split can be perfect for somebody that has a busy work schedule and can’t commit the time to workout out more than 3 times a week. The program you adopt depends only on you and your circumstance.

 

Things to consider when picking a split

When your trying to approach a new routine, you are the only person that can decide what will work for you and your schedule, whilst you can take inspiration and direction from a lot of routines available you need to find what works for you. If you enjoy using the gym regularly and have the time, go for a 5 day split! If your busy a lot of the time then take a 3 day split. You can make great progress on either program its just what works for you, but you always need to remember that whatever program you choose, you stick at it for at least a month to see if you make any progress, if you do then stick with it. No point changing something thats working!

 

Hopefully this will clear up any questions people have about programming that i’ve been asked lately, it all depends on what your preferences are. Beginners may benefit from hitting full body workout programs such as

 

Starting Strength

 

Where as a more advanced lifter will probably benefit from hitting individual muscle groups, with the amount of time they spend in the gym depending entirely upon their individual circumstances.

 

BTF.

Current Split, Cutting Progress & Training with DOMS

Whats up guys, just going to talk about a few topics here, covering what i’m up too training and nutrition wise at the moment as well as training with/through Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

 

Cutting Progress

So i’m currently coming towards the final few weeks of my cut, I’ve been pretty non aggressive calorie deficit and cardio inclusion wise for about 8 weeks now and its gone fairly well. I started at about 182 lbs and around 16-17% body fat, looking like this

I kept my training exactly the same, lift as heavy as you can! from here i lowered my calories a couple hundred and didn’t do any cardio, cutting slowly is the best way to go, you want to maintain as much of your lean mass as possible. After about 4 weeks lifting the same (chest+tris, back+bi’s and legs+shoulders) and just consuming less calories i went down to around 175 lbs and 14-15% body fat.

 

From here, the body weight has started to drop a bit more slowly, the weights i’m lifting have stayed pretty much the same but this is the point at which the cut has become a little more aggressive approaching the last month, so my current split looks like this

 

Current Split

Monday : Chest + Cardio

Tuesday : Back + Cardio

Wednesday : Abs, Arms & Calves + Cardio

Thursday : Legs + Cardio

Friday : Shoulders + Cardio

Saturday : Same as Wednesday

Sunday : Rest

It looks like quite a lot but compared to a traditional split working two muscle groups a session, i’m in and out in an hour, it’s all about timing sets and utilising heavy weight for low reps with medium weights for high reps. I’m using a slightly tailored version of Craig Carpurso’s 30 day cut but using my own macro nutrient ratios instead of his diet plan, you can find the full routine here for more info on the individual days and nutrition

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/30-days-out-craig-capursos-extreme-cut-trainer.html

My Macros

So that being my current split, its important to keep protein high for recovery and to try and minimise lean mass loss (of which i’ve experienced a small amount) so my macros look like this

Calories : 2300

Protein : 200 grams

Fats : 60 grams

Carbs : 230 grams

The reason i’m using my own is because rather than carb cycling and have higher carbs before my heavy days and lower carbs before the days that i don’t push as much weight, i’d rather keep a more consistent mid amount of carbs throughout the week, i feel much better that way. I’ve been doing this for 7 days now and i’m currently at 171 lbs and 13% body fat

Another 24 or so days to go and we should be down to the 10% range at which point the plan is to just slowly reverse diet back up to maintenance, then increase every so slightly and slowly put some mass on whilst staying as lean as possible! That’s just a quick overview of how my training, nutrition and plans are looking at the moment! If you want any advice/help on workouts or nutrition just drop me an email at 

bthurstonpt@gmail.com 

Training With DOMS

When your on a schedule thats as full on as the one mentioned above, a lot of the times you head into the gym your going to be suffering a little bit with soreness from the previous workout so its important to have a few tricks or supplements available to you that can help alleviate some of these problems. I’ll just quickly outline a few practices that help me specifically and some that have been known to help (these are from personal experience/experiences of others).

 

BCAA’s and high protein intake: Branch Chain Amino Acids are going to help with your recovery, i take some with my pre workout to help fuel my muscles as well as post workout to help increase protein synthesis. Making sure you keep your protein intake high will also lower the chances of soreness, aim for at least one gram per pound of lean body mass when cutting if not more.

Omega 3’s (Fish Oils) : I use Cod Liver Oil tablets every morning when i get up, they are good for your joint mobility which is super important when your shifting heavy weight.

Proper Warm Ups : Taking 5 or 10 minutes before your workout to either jump on the bike, use a foam roller or stretch can really help improve your recovery times after workouts

Hydration and Rest : Two of the most simple, yet important means of reducing DOMS is ensuring that you stay hydrated at all times, whilst your cutting you should be doing this anyway but proper hydration is super important. Proper rest at night will also help, getting about 8 hours sleep will give your body time to be at rest, not mobile and give you the best chance of decent recover.

Epsom Salt Baths : If none of the above methods are helping you, then an epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes might be worth a go, you can pick up epsom salts from most supermarkets or boots etc. They contain high levels of magnesium and sulphate which are scientifically proven to help with the formation of brain tissue as well as joint proteins. It can be absorbed through your skin so will help to relax your body, regulate your enzyme activity and speed up recovery!

BTF.