ExRx.net

Ok, so I'm intrerested in giving a full-body, three times a week program a go. What sort of program would you guys recommend?

I typically try to stick to compound stuff and avoid machines other than cables and am training for strength and appearance mainly.

it's not strictly full body, but if you're training 3x a week, you should do WS4SB. It's great

I would not recommend any "program" but would think more information would be helpful.

Here's a 3 day a week program form the university of Nebraska. It's sort of full body

Mon

Back squat
pull up
single leg squat
row
bicep

Wed

Bench
Hip domiant stuff leg movements.
Shoulder press
Hip dominant Knee flexion (GHR, gliding leg curl, slide board leg curl)


Fri

front squat
Incline press
DB row
triceps

The important thing to take way is the movement patterns. Don't get caught up in the front squat, back squat stuff if you don't want to do them. This is the type of program they used at the U. of Nebraska so it you want the Official PDF, give me a holler and I'll email it to you. Why do you want to workout 3 days per week anyway?

I dont really want to workout three times a week - I currently do a four day routine based on 531 with some accessory stuff and think I've made good progress on that routine. I just felt it was time for a change and thought a change in working days and approach to lifting would be a good move. I hear a three times a week full body routine is very good from a growth perspective and figured I'd like to try one out... thats really all my thinking on the subject.

I'm currently about 100kg and 6.3 and have been training for over 2 years

I had a long post written but I lost it.

I recommend you continue 5-3-1 but include upper body work in your warmup on your lower body days and lower body warmups on your upper body day. Continue to go heavy on 1 or 2 movements per workout. You'll get both the recovery and the frequency you need.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
_________________
Thanks TimD

dont really want to work just 3x a week
like what you are doing
making progress
feel need for a change

something does not belong.

how about just subtle changes, which I expect you do already in 531
I figured some routines would come in before anyone knew your motives.

for me my tweaks are usually aobut what day, how many rest days, how freqent to squat/dead, what combinations give me the best progress on the lifts I care about

My 2 cents here.

I've been doing a full body 3x a week for about a year now, just recent switched to something a bit different. I found that when I was doing the "whole body 3x a week" thing I needed...er... well, I much more enjoyed, varying the intensity. I couldnt hit the whole body hard three times a week, just not enough time to recover.

So I made a squat focus day, a bench focus day, and a deadlift focus day. On the focus days I lifted that lift very high intensity, either very heavy low volume or moderate weight but high volume. The rest of the training session was split into push/pull, quad/hip, dominant movements.

For example, on squat focus day I might do 5 sets of 3 very heavy squats along with pushups, inverted rows, bench hip thrusts, and curls. On bench day I might do 4 sets of 4 of very heavy bench presses or DB presses (I like to alternate weeks on these), DB rows, reverse lunge to single leg RDL (or just straight RDL), and face pulls. On DL focus day I'd do power cleans, and anywhere from 5 to 10 singles to triples of heavy DLs (like I'd do 5 sets of 3 of 425 or 10 singles of 475, etc) along with dips, Bulgarian split squats, and pullups.

I really liked it but got into this 8x8 jag that I'm still currently on. And the 8x8 is just way too intense to do three times a week; takes both too much time and is too draining/requires too much recovery. I'm trying to seque into a 4x a week full body/upper body/lower body/full body split thing right now.

Wow... that seems like alot more than 2cents.

also keep in mind you dont need to do 3 diff rountines, or A/B or whatever.

I think in terms of modules. I may rotate 2 Quad and 4 Ham/glut exrices, 2 chest, 2 shoulder, 3 upper back, 2 core, 1 trap, 1 bicep, 1 tricep, etc, and layout something that might be 12 actual unique routines but it hits what I want with the frequency that is working best for me, to the best of my knowledge. Each day would have maybe 4-8 movemetns, depending on the move and whether I'm doing some sorta or complexish work.

I'm not that strong but I'm adept at re doing routines, if that helps

Why don't you just do Texas Method?

Reread Oscar's 2:30 post.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
_________________
Thanks TimD

Thanks for all your feedback

My current routine looks like this:

Mon: Heavy Bench (531), Volume bench, Triceps, Face Pulls and Rotator Cuff work
Tue: Heavy Deadlifts (531), Rows, Rows, Curls, Lateral Raise, Rear Delts
Thur: (This has no purpose other than a second back day and an excuse to chuck assorted excercises into my week) Pull Ups, Wide Rows, Rear Delt, OH Press, Face Pulls, etc
Fri: Heavy Squats (531), Volume Sumo Squat, Lateral Raise, Incline Press

My routine started with a lot of structure and then just deteriorated a month or so before xmas. It's still be challenging/enjoyable but has lost the focus it should have. I guess I spent too much time trying to focus on too many things and lost both rabbits.

[*]I had some shoulder issues which Kpj recommended to address with double back volume. This worked a treat.
[*]I shifted my focus from flat bench to incline bench for a while. Thinking about either switching back for a three month period or alternating but unsure of best approach.
[*]I added lots of lateral raises and rear delt work - twice a week for both
[*]I stopped making progress on my squats, reset and drilled more form/started working on glutes and hamstrings, core stuff like planks and palof - basically allowing my deadlift to catch up a little as I really felt it in my lower back on dead day. Maybe was the wrong choice... I don't know. KLeen to start working on my squat numbers now.



I have been focusing on my incline press for a good few months - I have been trying to hit it once a week with heavy load and once a week for volume.

as long as you've been doing this, your probably best suited to write your program. To me, you over work your shoulders; but then you said that was deliberate

I might do a minimalist program for a couple of months to shake it up. Sometimes it's harder to see a better way when your so engrossed in the current. (by better, I just mean something you want to do going forward).

Maybe a Upper/Lower Upper/Lower would do you good for awhile
Just think about the recovery you need and what has worked /not worked for you with regards to keeping you healthy and progressing. We can throw you random suggestions. Heck, I've only "trained" with Barbell for 11 months, and I'm pretty sure I'm my best programmer unless someone were to spend time evaluating a lot of data on my logs

I got to get back to working.

Oscar, I think you are right - my own programming is fine! The clear identifier is the "need for a change".. the change doesnt have to be drastic, just a tweak to pull that floppy day back into line. I'm just trying to look for something better and maybe got distracted by all the good talk about full-body-thrice. I never really had a full-on "noob" program, I went straight into heavy barbell work... though a back to basics beginner routine with a few upper-beginner/intermediate excercises might be of benefit for a while.

Stuward, taking your comment into consideration and based on my current routine what kind of approach would you recommend?

As always, great advice and a much valued forum for jamming out ideas... many thanks!

Teafan, You're in the best position to determine what you need. It's easy to get mislead by what everyone else is talking about. It's like adding whole grains to a high vegetable diet. It's only going to degrade what you're already doing.

Anyway, my favorite split is Mon: Squat, Tues: Bench/Row, Weds: Core, Thurs:Deadlift, Fri:Press, Pullup. Your's is pretty similar, just tidy up Thursday to give it a focus. I think you should do the OHP and pullup in a 5-3-1 format. Push presses are a nice change as well.

The Crossfit warmup includes pushups, chinups, body squats, etc done everyday, usually in a 3 round circuit format. Decide what movements are important to you and include them in your daily warmup. Then you have daily frequency on all the major movements even before you get to the main workout.

I like to finish with a carry or something similar. Right now I'm doing trap bar farmers walks.

That's what I do, I hope it helps.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
_________________
Thanks TimD