Changing from a 3 day to 4 day split

[egor110]

I've been hitting the gym for 2 months, 3 times a week 30 min run then full body workout.

I'm going to start going 4 times a week possibly mon/tues/thurs/fri or mon/weds/thurs/fri, should i change to a pull/push sort of thing?

Seen some workouts where they do day 1 chest/back day 2 legs/abs day 3 arms day 4 shoulders/abs but not sure i can physically lift heavy enough to need a week to recover at the moment plus the free weights area is small so i use the machines rather than stand around waiting for the free weights.

[pilchardthecat]

Nobody needs a whole day for their arms apart from 14 year old lads who do a 2 day split consisting of day 1 - every possible combination of exercises for the pecs, and day 2 - 90 minutes of bicep curls

If you are moving from full body routine a push/pull/legs 3 day split, or a push/legs/pull/legs 4 day split would be a good place to start. It keeps things simple too, trying to throw specific body parts together can get messy from a recovery point of view.

[Ordinary_Chap]

egor110 said:

I've been hitting the gym for 2 months, 3 times a week 30 min run then full body workout.

I'm going to start going 4 times a week possibly mon/tues/thurs/fri or mon/weds/thurs/fri, should i change to a pull/push sort of thing?

Seen some workouts where they do day 1 chest/back day 2 legs/abs day 3 arms day 4 shoulders/abs but not sure i can physically lift heavy enough to need a week to recover at the moment plus the free weights area is small so i use the machines rather than stand around waiting for the free weights.

Chest and back on the same day? Bugger that.

4 day split;
Chest
Legs
Back
shoulders/abs/arms

Not doing the free weights will dramatically reduce your progress.

The 3 exercises that cause the vast majority of muscle growth are bench press/squat/deadlift.

Also I'd save cardio for after the weights session as you're far more likely to burn more fat that way and also training muscle when you're tired is counter productive and could potentially increase the chances of injury.

However saying all of that; should you change? Well are you making progress and happy at the speed of that progress?

Lee

[Willy Holloughby]

My 4 Day split runs like this
Circuits Monday
1. Chest+Tris (Tues)
2. Back+Bis (Wed)
3. Legs (Thur)
4. Shoulders (& Maybe a few disco muscles) (Fri)
Cardio warm up and warm down each day.
Using free weights as much as possible.

[pilchardthecat]

This is the problem with 4 day body part splits - everyone puts 25% of the split to legs and 75% to the upper parts

A 4 day split needs 2 leg days.

[Ordinary_Chap]

pilchardthecat said:

This is the problem with 4 day body part splits - everyone puts 25% of the split to legs and 75% to the upper parts

A 4 day split needs 2 leg days.

Not for a beginner it doesn't!

What I suggested was based on someone who is completely new. Training legs two days a week for a beginner and with CV sessions is far too much in my view.

I've watched folk try it fail badly.

[pilchardthecat]

I'd missed the bit about the cardio. I'd drop that and do 2 leg days

[Ordinary_Chap]

pilchardthecat said:

I'd missed the bit about the cardio. I'd drop that and do 2 leg days

Snap!

[LordGrover]

Interesting. If doing two leg days would you split into quads one day and hams/calves t'other or mix 'em up?

[pilchardthecat]

LordGrover said:

Interesting. If doing two leg days would you split into quads one day and hams/calves t'other or mix 'em up?

I dont split them, legs can recover pretty quickly, it's almost impossible to overtrain calves for example

[Tiggsy]

I hate the idea of an arms day (even dubious of shoulder day) - when do you do? Bicep curls the day after you did pull ups? Push downs within a day or two or bench pressing???

If you MUST train arms then stick them on the relevant push/pull day.

I like 3 day splits for starting....Day 1 Push something, Day 2 Pull Something, Day 3 Squat something. Start day 1 again when ready (I dont worry about days in the week...I know thats not easy for some with jobs!)

And cardio after weights is great (if you need the cardio)