Would love feedback from experienced lifters!

[CassBHealy]

Hi..I would love some feedback/ideas from those of you who are experienced lifters. What type of splits have you found to be the most effective for seeing real progress? Do you find you have to work out each body part twice a week or does once a week, hit hard, work just as effectively?

I am trying to set up an effective program that I won't get bored with that will give me the results I need (to burn fat and build muscle).

Looking forward to your ideas!

Cass

 

[kathryn]

Hi, Cass!
I think that the type of split that works best is somewhat dependant on how advanced a lifter you are (ie: how long you've been lifting, how proficient you are, how heavy you have been lifting).

For example, I wouldn't recommend a 'one body part per day' split until someone has worked up to lifting heavier, and gone through other, 'smaller' splits.

After doing full body workouts for a while, it's logical to move to a two-day split (upper and lower), doing each workout twice per week (ie: upper on Monday and Thursday, lower of Tuesday and Friday).

After that, a three-day split is good. When I do a three day split (two upper body workouts, one lower body), I like to space out the two upper body workouts as much as possible to give the shoulders more of a rest and be able to do my best. This would be doing upper body one on day 1, and upper body 2 on day 5, with lower body on day 3).

Each upper body muscle group is hit directly once per week. But I find that doing lower body more than once a week is a good idea for me, but the second lower body workout could be a workouts like an Imax--which I would count as cardio and lower body--or another plyo workout.

 

[CassBHealy]

Kathryn,

Thanks for the response. You sound like you have been lifting for a while, like me. When you do a 3 day split, how long are your upper body workouts and how many different exercises and sets are you doing?

and what about your lower body w/o's? How long do they last and how many exercises and sets/reps?

Cass

 

[kathryn]

>Kathryn,
>
>Thanks for the response. You sound like you have been lifting
>for a while, like me. When you do a 3 day split, how long are
>your upper body workouts and how many different exercises and
>sets are you doing?

I haven't worked out in a gym for a loooong time; I do video workouts (like Cathe's GSL or, more effective for me, Tony Horton's P90X) so I work out about 50 minutes (I don't keep track of exercises and sets: I let the instructors do that! Though with Cathe, I might omit some chest and add some back, depending on the workout).

>and what about your lower body w/o's? How long do they last
>and how many exercises and sets/reps?
Again, usually about 50 minutes to an hour, and I don't keep track of exercises/reps.

I also find some shorter workouts--like Tony Hortons P90 Masters, which are about 45 minutes long-- effective as well.

 

[Lynn M.]

Hi Cass-

What worked for me to see big increases in muscle gains was to do one bodypart/day a week, lifting heavy and lifting to fatigue.

S and H is great for this as that you can break it down for each body part, which is approx 20-30 minutes each. Then if you want to do cardio, you can add 20-30 minutes of cardio of your choice afterwards. I would also suggest doing the cardio afterwards if you building muscle is your goal. That keeps your workouts to approx an hour/day, with one day of rest.

I also like Cathe's GS and PS series as well. I will do one bodypart/day from these series, but depending on how I feel may add on some additional work for that bodypart if I feel I need it that day.

Take care, Lynn M.

 

[CassBHealy]

Lynn,

Thanks so much for the reply! Just from your picture, it looks like you have some good knowledge about lifting. So, you do one bodypart a day, how many days of lifting do you end up doing? And each session lasts about 30 min? If so, that is definitely do-able!

I just find that if I have to dedicate more time to more bodyparts in a session, I don't lift as heavy.

Thanks....look forward to your reply

Cass

 

[Lynn M.]

Hey Cass-
Thanks for the kind words! Normally, I usually do train one bodypart/day.. I will do this type of rotation for 5-6 weeks and then switch off to a week or two of endurance workouts just to mix it up a bit. Right now I am training for a triathlon that is on 8/5, so unfortunately I have to focus way more on cardio stuff, than on my beloved weights!!

Here's how I broke down my weight training:
Monday: S & H Chest +Abs
Tues: Legs ( I don't care for S & H Legs,subbed in GSlegs, or PLB)
Wed: S & H Back (plus some pullups) + Abs
Thurs: S &H Triceps +abs
Friday: S &H Shoulders
Sat: S & H Biceps +ab
Sun: Rest

Then after each weight training session, I would add cardio..about 20-40 minutes 5 -6x per week depending on how the week was going for me. My faves are the cardio portions from CTX. I also like to do the first half of KPC as one of my cardio days for this rotation as well as running and power walking.

The way I have scheduled the bodyparts has been my favorite way to break down the week.. I'd recommend putting in a day of something else between your shoulder workouts and your chest and back workouts. Your shoulders get used alot in chest and back workouts, you'll want that extra recovery time. I don't have genetically big shoulders, I found this type of schedule really helped to make gains in that area for me.

Good luck!! Lynn M.

 

[CassBHealy]

Lynn,

My god, that is a lot of lifting! How long does the lifting portion of your workout usually last? Just curious, as this would give me an idea of what I might be looking at time-wise if I chose to go this route. I also have to incorporate cardio in right after weights, and this is not easy to do if the weight workouts are really lengthy. Would you mind sharing this info with me?

FYI, the reason I am asking this is that I used to have all the time in the world to work out. Now I have 10 month old twins and there is little time for much!!

Thanks,
Cass

 

[Lynn M.]

Hi Cass-

10 month old twins, huh?? Heck, you don't need the cardio, esp if they are starting to crawl/walk!!!

The workouts end up being about an hour each day. The S & H tapes are about an hour each which includes warm up and cool down and have two bodyparts on each tape. You would only be doing one half of each S and H Tape each day, so its about 20-30 minutes of lifting. Then if you tack on 20-30 minutes of cardio on to that, you are looking at about an hour a day total.


Have fun w/ your little ones.. its a fun ( albeit it exhausting) time!!

Lynn M.

 

[CassBHealy]

Actually, an hour total sounds pretty reasonable! I will check out the S&H DVD's and start incorporating those into my w/o's.

Thanks for all the tips!

Cass

 

[CassBHealy]

Lynn (and anyone else who would like to jump in!),

My birthday is next week and there are a few Cathe DVD's on my wish list. Any preference b/t S&H or GS DVD's? If so, reasons why?

Thanks!
Cass

 

[Lynn M.]

Hi Cass-

I'd go S & H first. Definitely plan on getting GS series down the road, though.

S & H has a lot of good advice on form and positioning that will serve you well for later Cathe workouts. GS is great, but I think for building muscle and getting the most bang for your buck in that arena S & H will be what you want first.

Lynn M.