Is this bad for me?

P

papz

0
What's up,

I was looking on some advice on whether or not working out 6 days a week is unhealthy for me.

Sunday - chest
Monday - arms and legs
Tuesday - shoulders and back
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - chest
Friday - arms and legs
Saturday - shoulders and back

I jog a mile everyday also.

... and the cycle continues. So basically, three days on, one rest day, and I start again. Is this bad for me? I'm never worn out or anything and the results are good with the routine that I'm doing... but I've read plenty of articles stating you should work out more than 3-4 times a week. Thoughts?
 
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why a full day for just chest? what are you doing for each exercise? lots of isolations?
 
papz said:
What's up,

I was looking on some advice on whether or not working out 6 days a week is unhealthy for me.

Sunday - chestMonday - arms and legs
Tuesday - shoulders and back
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - chest
Friday - arms and legs
Saturday - shoulders and back

I jog a mile everyday also.

... and the cycle continues. So basically, three days on, one rest day, and I start again. Is this bad for me? I'm never worn out or anything and the results are good with the routine that I'm doing... but I've read plenty of articles stating you should work out more than 3-4 times a week. Thoughts?
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Doesn't sound like too much to me. There are different schools of thought about workout schedules. Some split up muscle groups, some go for less frequent, full body workouts. There are plenty of professional bodybuilders and ordinary people with great physiques on both sides of the fence. The full body approach seems more popular on this forum and maybe it's the "en vogue" approach everywhere nowadays , but it's not the only way. I never started really gaining mass until I went to the split routines. Other people have experienced the opposite.

I'm kind of unconventional and sort of morph the two philosophies. Not on purpose, it just sort of happened that way as I tweaked my routine over the years. Experiment and do what your body responds best to.
 
For chest days, this is what I do...

Flat Bench - 1 x 145 - 10 reps, 1 x 165 - 8 reps, and 1 x 175 - 6 reps

Incline Bench - 1 x 135 - 10 reps, 1 x 145 - 8 reps, and 1 x 155 - 6 reps

Decline Bench - 1 x 135 - 10 reps, 1 x 155 - 8 reps, and 1 x 165 - 6 reps

Barbell Butterfly - 3 x 35 - 10 reps

Barbell Incline Bench - 3 x 90 (45 each arm) - 10 reps

Then I'll do 3 sets of crunches of 20 and run a mile afterwards.
 
How do you do a barbell butterfly? Do you mean dumbell?

Even I say all those exercises are a bit excessive for your chest

The more classic split routine would pair chest with maybe triceps and do maybe two exercises for each. You will be able to be much more intense on every exercise that way.

Something like ...

Bench Press, Flies, Skull Crushers, Dips.

Of course proponents of doing all compound movements and full body workouts will think I'm crazy too LOL
 
theGOOCH said:
How do you do a barbell butterfly? Do you mean dumbell?

Even I say all those exercises are a bit excessive for your chest

The more classic split routine would pair chest with maybe triceps and do maybe two exercises for each. You will be able to be much more intense on every exercise that way.

Something like ...

Bench Press, Flies, Skull Crushers, Dips.

Of course proponents of doing all compound movements and full body workouts will think I'm crazy too LOL
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agreed........
 
I'm sorry, I meant dumbell.

You think that's excessive? No kidding. I, along with my friends, use to do way more excercises than that. We'd do flat and decline dumbell bench along with those resistant machines too (the one where you sit up and bench outwards). I actually trimmed it down a bit already.

I've read that a lot of people pair the chest with the triceps instead of doing it the way I do it... why? Is it more effective? I've always wondered that. I have a whole day dedicated to arms and legs already. Will I actually accomplish more splitting my workouts and doing less?
 
papz said:
I'm sorry, I meant dumbell.

You think that's excessive? No kidding. I, along with my friends, use to do way more excercises than that. We'd do flat and decline dumbell bench along with those resistant machines too (the one where you sit up and bench outwards). I actually trimmed it down a bit already.

I've read that a lot of people pair the chest with the triceps instead of doing it the way I do it... why? Is it more effective? I've always wondered that. I have a whole day dedicated to arms and legs already. Will I actually accomplish more splitting my workouts and doing less?
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Yes, because you can "put more into" the exercises you do instead of your muscles being over-fatigued halfway through your workout. Plus you will recover, hence, grow quicker.

When I did a true 4 day split it looked something like this:

Monday: Chest and Triceps: already listed above

Tuesday: Back and Biceps:
Deadlifts, Pullups, Curls (Take your pick what kind maybe even 2 types) Then maybe throw in some forearm curls if they're not already dead.

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: Shoulders and Traps:
Military Press, Shrugs, Maybe some side delt raises (fairly easy day)

Friday: Legs
Squats, Leg press, Leg Curls, calf raises



The pairings are mostly just to maximize your time in the gym. A lot of exercises use chest and triceps together for instance. I also used to know a guy who was big as hell and he had a theory about "opposing muscles" He liked to work chest and back together, biceps/triceps etc.

There's more than one way to skin a cat as they say
 
papz said:
I'm sorry, I meant dumbell.

You think that's excessive? No kidding. I, along with my friends, use to do way more excercises than that. We'd do flat and decline dumbell bench along with those resistant machines too (the one where you sit up and bench outwards). I actually trimmed it down a bit already.

I've read that a lot of people pair the chest with the triceps instead of doing it the way I do it... why? Is it more effective? I've always wondered that. I have a whole day dedicated to arms and legs already. Will I actually accomplish more splitting my workouts and doing less?
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If you don't know the answers to those basic questions, why are you writing your own workouts in the first place? You should be following programs written by experts in the field, such as those found at T-Nation or The New Rules of Lifting. There are more things that can be gained (or sacrificed when done incorrectly) in a workout than "just" getting bigger muscles...without understanding this, you are increasing your risks for musculoskeletal damage and injury.
 
Agreed that you should target other associated muscles on same workout.
Try chest then shoulders followed by triceps.
or you could put shoulders in between back and biceps as you use shoulders for both days.
My personal preference is shoulders between back and biceps as I enjoy doing shrugs or upright rows for my traps right in the middle of the workout.
I do legs on their own as they get blasted.
and you could try one day doing a lightweight, high rep total body circuit.
I do similar chest exercises as you and they work for me then I refuel and do my triceps. Good luck in finding the right workout for you. their always seems to be great advice on here.
 
bipennate said:
If you don't know the answers to those basic questions, why are you writing your own workouts in the first place?
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Because I don't know, that is why I asked. Duh? I only posted what I do for my chest excercises because someone asked me? Just a thought. No need to be an ass about it... I can easily go that way too.

You should be following programs written by experts in the field, such as those found at T-Nation or The New Rules of Lifting. There are more things that can be gained (or sacrificed when done incorrectly) in a workout than "just" getting bigger muscles...without understanding this, you are increasing your risks for musculoskeletal damage and injury.
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Which is exactly why I asked and posted on the forum... to get advice and suggestions.


Thanks bigbelly... that's more of a response I was looking for. Something that's helpful.
 
papz said:
Because I don't know, that is why I asked. Duh? I only posted what I do for my chest excercises because someone asked me? Just a thought. No need to be an ass about it... I can easily go that way too.



Which is exactly why I asked and posted on the forum... to get advice and suggestions.


Thanks bigbelly... that's more of a response I was looking for. Something that's helpful.
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Ok, you're not getting what I was saying: my point was that you shouldn't be writing your own routines if you don't understand even basic physiology, anatomy, and kinesiology/biomechanics. Exercise and what it does to affect the body is more than just throwing together a few random exercises and calling it a routine. My suggestion was to use routines written by experts who do know what they're doing. That is not "why you asked," because you have already been writing your own workouts. My suggestion was to stop doing this, because you will ultimately cause yourself more harm than good.
 
Hiya just following on from me saying youre chest workout is alright.
covering the anatomy and physiology side;
The Pectoralis major is split into 3 parts:
1: The clavicular, which starts high at your collarbone.
2: The abdominal which originates at your external oblique muscles.
3: The Sternocostal, which starts at the breastbone.
each stretches across your chest in a fan shape starting at the centre of your body, then tapering at the side of your body to attach to the top of the humerus - the bone in your upper arm.
then you have the pectoralis minor which is a thinner more triangular muscle that lies beneath the pec's major which starts along the third, fourth and fifth ribs and stretches to connect to the shoulder blades.
Both these muscles together are responsible for rotating your upper arms and moving them across your body horizontally, as well as flexing shoulder joints.
In my opinion your chest workout is great because you target all the above mentioned parts.

I wrote this down as it seems you would like to learn and improve yourself rather than receive argumentative answers

I did your chest workout last night as its almost the same as mine and it was OK however I then went on to do my triceps afterwards,
Give it go. it wont do any harm.

My chest/tricep workout:
3 sets benchpress
3 sets incline dumbbell press
3 sets dumbbell fly
3 sets decline dumbbell press
3 sets close grip bench press
3 sets tricep cable pushdown
3 sets bench dips
3 sets tricep overhead extension
3 sets tricep kickbacks

this works for me but as you continue to learn you will work out what is best for you.
Enjoy!
 
I should also mention agreeing with bipennate,
to write a program/routine you need to understand biomechanics/kinesiology, anatomy and physiology.
The reason I use more dumbbell rather that barbell is so I can work on form and stability, remember its not about how much weight you can lift/press. but using correct form. The other people in your gym will have much more respect for you if they see you doing exercises correctly rather than grunting and pushing something that looks stupid.
for example by the time I get to doing tricep kickbacks I have no problem picking up 12lb dumbbells and doing the exercise correctly rather than risk injury.
You should always have somebody with the knowledge to show you how to do each exercise correctly and at least a spotter to check on your form and posture while doing the exercises to make sure you dont get lazy and cheat to stop risk of injury.
Dont forget Protein afterwards and make sure you have enough calcium in your diet. you got to look after your bones plus calcium aides in fat loss.
Oh dont know if it helps but I am always learning and something I have learnt recently is about fizzy drinks, more importantly the phosphoric acid thats in them absorbs and dissolves calcium from your system and bones which is proven to cause osteoporosis later in life.
I know its random but its always good to learn!
 
Thanks for the info. I've been taking Whey protein for years and just started taking Calcium pills.

I'm glad you don't think the chest excercises I do are excessive. I've been getting great results doing this but I've read so many things saying I should split the excercises. I've thought about adding triceps to my chest days... but is it more effective if I do that? Is there a problem with me doing biceps and triceps on the same day?
 
I usualy do chest and tris together or Chest and shoulders. Sarting with chest I don't have to spend as much time warming up the smaller muscles. I know that you techniquly can't splint upper and lower pecs but I still try to do incline and flat exercises. I do something like incline benchx3, flatx2 and 1 or 2 sets of flys. Since my shoulder has been screwed up though I replaced bench all together with push ups and mechines.


I usualy follow the MAX-OT principles from
 
papz said:
I'm glad you don't think the chest excercises I do are excessive. I've been getting great results doing this but I've read so many things saying I should split the excercises. I've thought about adding triceps to my chest days... but is it more effective if I do that? Is there a problem with me doing biceps and triceps on the same day?
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It's pointless to ask for help if you're only going to accept the answers you want to hear.

If you want my opinion, having a bi/tri day after a chest day is probably not allowing your triceps to recovery properly. It looks as though you're performing every pressing exercise known to man, which all activate the tris. You should allow a period for these muscles to rest and rebuild before you go beat them up again.

Overall, i dont see the need for the amount of isolations you are performing in your splits. More importantly though, I think you need to allow for recovery periods, otherwise you might risk injury at some point.
 
It's pointless to ask for help if you're only going to accept the answers you want to hear.
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I'm open to any advice.

If you want my opinion, having a bi/tri day after a chest day is probably not allowing your triceps to recovery properly. It looks as though you're performing every pressing exercise known to man, which all activate the tris. You should allow a period for these muscles to rest and rebuild before you go beat them up again.
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So is it okay to keep my biceps/tricep workout on the same day... after resting a day after a chest day to heal?

Overall, i dont see the need for the amount of isolations you are performing in your splits.
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I'm not trying to be a smartass... but why or why not? As you can see, I have a lot to learn that's why I'm here asking questions.

More importantly though, I think you need to allow for recovery periods, otherwise you might risk injury at some point.
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Understood... I should take more time to rest in between workout days.
 
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