If you enjoy being in the gym, you need weight lifting workouts that allow you to be in the gym more often.
If you read much of what's here on Weight Lifting Complete…
You'll know that I highly recommend full body workouts for most people until you become more advanced.
The full body workout plans I design usually have you weight training about 3 times per week with at least a day of rest between workouts.
Today, I want to give the people who want to weight train more often a good option for doing so.
If you want to workout and lift weights more often, you're going to need to do a split routine and you're going to have to shorten the duration of your weight lifting workouts.
From Full Body Workouts to Split Routines
Full body workouts give you the best opportunity to build major amounts of lean muscle because they give you up to 3 to 4 opportunities to induce the muscle building stimulus each week.
With full body workouts that have a high workout frequency (3 to 4 times per week), you can't push yourself to complete failure during every set of every exercise.
Your body just can't handle it unless you're using illegal drugs and I hope you're not because they're illegal for good reasons.
So with full body workouts you have to lay off the intensity and opt for higher workout frequency. If you focus on the right things (increasing weight each workout using WLC System principles), you'll make amazing progress.
If you push yourself too hard with full body workouts, you can overtrain.
And that's what many people do when they switch from higher intensity split routines to full body workout programs. When you're accustomed to working out with high intensity, it might not feel like you're working out hard enough when you don't go to failure.
If you're switching over to a full body workout program, you need a different mindset.
If you want to be in the gym more often and switch from a full body workout program to a split routine, you need to change your mindset as well. You're going to have to workout with more intensity each set.
A Workout Plan for People Who Enjoy Being in the Gym
Sometimes I like to switch over to a split routine so I can do shorter workouts with more intensity and weight train more often.
If you love lifting weights as I do, it's a nice switch over to get a break from the full body workouts. Full body workouts are very tough and can wear you down both physically and mentally. That's another reason I recommend full breaks from weight training at the end of each workout program.
So when I switch over to a split routine, I like to do 5 workouts per week and split my body up so I am only working each major muscle group once per week.
I also like to make each workout only last about 30 minutes.
This means I choose a few exercises for each body part and do multiple sets of that exercise. Below, you will find a good workout program with a good plan of progression for making amazing progress.
If you want a good switch from a full body program and have made good progress on a full body workout program for at least several months, then I recommend the program below.
If you're still a beginner to weight training, I would first follow the recommend weight lifting programs here at WLC, which happen to be full body workout programs.
Here's a Split Routine Workout Option for You
Monday: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves
Tuesday: Biceps, Triceps, Abs
Wednesday: Chest, Forearms
Thursday: Back, Abs
Friday: Shoulders, Traps
So the plan above allows you to be in the gym 5 days per week.
Monday:
Trap Bar Deadlifts, 3×4-6
Terminal Knee Extension, 2×8-12
Cable Kickbacks, 2×6-8
Standing Calf Raises, 3×8-12
Cable Squat Raises, 2×8-12
Tuesday:
Alternate Dumbbell Curls, 3×4-6
Barbell Curls, 3×4-6
Parallel Dips, 3×6-8
Dumbbell Kickbacks, 3×6-8
Cable Crunches, 3×8-12
Wednesday:
Flat Barbell Bench Press, 3×4-6
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, 3×6-8
Pinwheel Curls, 3×4-6
Thursday:
1-Arm Dumbbell Rows, 3×4-6
Chin Ups, 3×4-6
Cable Rows, 3×6-8
Swiss Ball Crunches, 3×8-12
Friday:
1-Arm Overhead Press, 3×6-8
Barbell Overhead Press, 3×4-6
Side Laterals, 2×6-8
Barbell Power Shrugs, 3×6-8
Plan of Progression for the Weight Lifting Program Above
Every weight lifting program must have a good plan of progression for increasing the weight you are lifting.
For the weight lifting workout above, you should increase the weight whenever you reach the higher end of the rep range. For example, when you reach 8 reps on the 1-Arm Overhead Press, you will increase the weight slightly.
If you reach that number of reps on the first set of a given workout, increase the weight for the next set. Push yourself hard to failure if required. If you reach the top number of reps without reaching failure, you can stop the set and make sure to increase the weight the next set.
You're going to be pushing to complete failure every set if possible so it might take you a few workouts to find the correct weights for each exercise.
Remember, this weight lifting workout program is for people who are past the beginner stage.
Use a full body workout program if you're a beginner.
And make sure you get a copy of the WLC System to use along with this workout program.
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