I would like to think a split, "Routine", doesn't necessarily have to fit in a 7 day week. It can span any amount of days to some degree and keep changing.
This is something along the lines of what I'm doing now with 20 min cardio. I do the cardio when I don't feel completely drained but I train more on how my body feels anyways so my splits could be 1 to 2 days on with one day off with 5 days of exercise. Hope that makes sense.
Remember you have 45 minutes max to do each day's routine with cardio. For example: 20 min cardio, 25 min to lift - 30min cardio 15 minutes to lift. I usually stop if I don't make it. If you want 2 gym visits a day separating cardio and lifting then you open up a new ball game.
You can choose where you want to put your cardio in this. I prefer my cardio before lifting. I believe the body keeps itself in an anti catabolic state, kind of like a warm up, before heavy lifting. I feel much more drained doing cardio after lifting. Some will argue and you can do what you think is best for you. Some/ most of the exercises are in order of Mike Mentzer's pre-fatigue I'm enjoying for now.
Chest:
pushups 3 sets - 15-20 reps
flies 3 sets
incline press 4 sets
Tri's
Skull crushers or dips 2 - 3 sets
Front Delts:
Plate or dumbell front raises - 3 sets
Back:
Pullups 4 sets (assisted if needed to hit reps)
Bent over bar rows 4 sets
bi's - inner head:
(palm up) bar curls x 3 sets
(palm up) seated dumbbell curls x 2 - 3 sets
Abs:
Legs:
1. quad extensions 2 - 3 sets (not too heavy - don't completely fatigue quads)
2. Squats 4 sets (take some weight off)
3. Lunges 3 sets (I like ham curls too. I feel a different stimulation from them. I do them before dead lifts some days.)
4. calves
?. *Optional - Outer Bi's: Reverse grip bar curls - 3 sets
Shoulders
*. deads or shrugs (deads can be every wk or every other week)
1. Pushups 3 sets 15 reps
2. rear delt raise 3 sets (i think weight should take second priority on shoulder raises. instead focus weight on shoulder pushing exercises)
3. side laterals 3 sets
4. dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 sets
Abs
How many exercises really depends on the body part. In short, 2 compound exercises per major group I think is sufficient. I might only use one compound for legs and shoulders and the rest will be iso.
For example for back there is only so much you can really do. Wide grip pull ups or cable lat pull downs stimulate the lats best. Its hard to beat back rows for a complete upper back workout. So I think always have at least 2 major back exercises, targeting Lat pulls/And simply upper back. Your basically changing the angle on different back exercises with different grip widths. At the end of the day most are the same back exercise. You can switch them around on different back days. Instead of adding a 3rd back exercise, you can increase your sets on your 2 Lats/Upper back exercise. For Example: 5 x Pull Ups, 4 - 5 x Back Bar Rows. <- Notice the angles. One pull high and one pull low. If you did seated cable rows the final range of motion on the pull is more direct in line. I believe some back exercises are better for the lower portion of the lats - like variations of bent over rows.
For legs I think one compound is good like squats. I like to change out leg presses for high reps, like 12 - 15 with weight slightly more than I squat. For the majority of groups I think 2 compound exercises in some degree is sufficient. After the compounds you can target the secondary muscles with 1 to 2 exercises and before you know it, you had a good workout. You can always change your split to dedicate a day to muscles that are lagging. Then you can consider your "course" for your training frequency as well. Keep an open mind and be creative with your routine.
I really don't think a routine is wrong unless you know over training is involved. Some groups can be trained more than others. Tri's/Bi's can be used frequently because of the anatomy of the muscles themselves. We use them every time throughout the day when we move our arms. Feeding our face, lifting an object and putting it back down.
Major groups like upper back and legs I believe can be trained heavy twice a week in a organized split to allow for proper recovery. Would you do it year round? No, but you can divide them out in a 3 to 6 month stint.
For pushing exercises the shoulder group is the weak link. You are actually training some parts of the shoulder with any major upper body exercise. You can emphasize these groups twice a week with careful planning...plyometrics aside and depending on goals etc
EDIT: I have 20-30 secs rest.
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