check out my split

[Triangulo]

Mon- Chest+Tri
Tues- Back+bi
WED- OFF
Thur- Should + wrists
Fri- Legs
Sat- OFF
Sun-OFF

is this a good split? what are the most effective exercises for each muscle?

I usually do 3 different exercises for each muscle group and 3 sets of each instead of 4. For reps I do 8x,6x,4x with increasing weight everytime.
Im just wondering what exercises give you the best work out....

Ps. I use most freeweights(dumbbells) and avoid the machines

 

[MindOverMatter]

chest - flat, incline (both with dumbells for a better range of motion), pullovers to expand you ribcage

triceps - weighted dips, tricep extensions, skullcrushers

back - weighted-pullups / machine pulldowns, barbell rows, deadlifts.

biceps - barbell curls, hammer curls, reverse curls.

upper legs - squats, leg extension, hamstring curl (lunges is good too)

calves - standing calf raise.

shoulders - arnold press, side lateral raise, bent over lateral raise, shrugs.

abs - crunches, reverse crunches, twisting crunches, pulsing crunches, vary it up.


Also, instead of doing 3 sets / group, try this. Do your warm up, and then do just ONE set of 8-10 reps (9 should be your failure point), and do it with maximum intensity. Perfect form, done very slowly, with you focusing on muscle contraction every rep. You can stimulate all your muscle tissue in just ONE set if you do it with perfect intensity. Most people tend to use way too many sets and end up overtraining and not making gains.

 

[Triangulo]

Thanks for the advise. Any more opnions??

Ps.WOULD the Encyclopedia of Arnold be worth buying?

 

[MindOverMatter]

Nope. The Encyclopedia is has a bunch of routines that are designed to be used by an IFBB pro on roids (like training 30 chest sets 3x a week). If you're a natural, you'll overtrain like crazy.

It has a lot of good info on how to do the exercises properly, but you can find that on bodybuilding.com

It's not a bad book, but you can find all the information that's in it for free on the internet.

 

[vanwilder]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
Nope. The Encyclopedia is has a bunch of routines that are designed to be used by an IFBB pro on roids (like training 30 chest sets 3x a week). If you're a natural, you'll overtrain like crazy.

It has a lot of good info on how to do the exercises properly, but you can find that on bodybuilding.com

It's not a bad book, but you can find all the information that's in it for free on the internet.

sorry dude i disagree with you there, the book has great information in it, and you can take their routines and modify them to your likeing. i got some mad results and tips from that book. you may also want to look at the max-ot program, its a good beggininer one.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Originally posted by vanwilder
sorry dude i disagree with you there, the book has great information in it, and you can take their routines and modify them to your likeing.

In Arnold's routines, he trains chest&back on the same day, twice a week, in some splits 3x a week. Not only that, but he does like 30 chest sets and like 30 back sets. And like 1/3 of this is to failure. In some cases, he does 75 sets / workout, 25-30 of them to failure, for 2-3hours. There is no way you can train this way without juice and not overtrain.

i got some mad results and tips from that book. you may also want to look at the max-ot program, its a good beggininer one.

Did you use these routines when you first started working out?How long were you training on those routines? Do you have any photos of the results?

As for Max OT, is great whether you're a beginner or advanced, as long as you follow it to a T, eat and supplement like it instructs. It's a low volume, high intensity routine, as long as your diet is top notch, you'll always make consistent gains on it.

 

[vanwilder]

yes i do, i just made a log here to show my results.

and btw cehst / back is one of hte best workouts youll get, as by doing chest and then back you will stretch your pecs while doing the back exercises, vice versa. any way to upload picso n this site, or o i have to host them somewhere else. i train most things 2 xa week, and its not overtraining for me at all, i prefer this to hitting it once a week. but i have grown accustomed to it. i have been lifting for 1 year and a couple months now, and since summer i have gained a good 30-40 lbs. i didnt say anything about doing things to failure, but in some cases you need to, like working in the 4-6 range, you want to fail on the 6th rep.... i was doing currently 16+ sets for each large bodypart, and i did not over train, and no i dont use any special supps just to clear that, although i dont really look like it cause im not that big.

 

[Gee]

you dont need a whole day for shoulders and wrists (im assuming you mean forearms).

id go with a 3 day split

chest, shoulders, tris
back, bis
legs

add forearms to whatever day you like.

As for Arnie's book, i wouldnt follow the routines in it. You will overtrain. But its still an entertaining read and the pictures are great