Training after an Upper/Lower Body Split Routine

By Mark Allen B.Ed.(Hons.)

What options are available to you following a 12 to 16 weeks weight training and cardio programme? Actually there are quite a few.

I am making an assumption that most people want to continue to learn and make progress. A basic 12 to 16 programme will take you to an upper and lower body split weight training routine. Even within a two day split routine you can continue to learn by varying the training hugely, manipulating variables such as sets, reps, weight, exercises and techniques, but having achieved this level of competence, and being able to apply the basic principles and training techniques, its decision time.

Do you:

i) stay at this level and continue with a programme of general fitness,

ii) move on to sports specific training, or

iii) focus on body sculpting or building?

I will look more closely at sports specific training in another article, but for now I want to concentrate on the preliminary stages of body sculpting and building. I’m not necessarily talking hard core here with the view to competing, but more to changing and improving your physique.

The logical progression from a two day split is the three day split routine. This routine is a major stepping stone to body sculpting and building. The principles are the same and just as important here as for a beginners conditioning programme.

The split

The example below is just that, an example. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, but the split below follows the principles of weight training to the letter.

Day 1 – Chest; Shoulders; Triceps; Core

Day 2 – Back; Traps; Biceps; Core

Day 3 – Legs Compound and Quad Isolations; Leg Compound and Hamstring Isolation; Calf; Core

Big muscles first

I have started my cycle with chest, shoulders and triceps because chest is a large muscle, shoulders medium and triceps small, the shoulders and triceps also being secondary movers for the chest.

Compound before Isolation

Compound movements for chest and shoulders such as chest and shoulder presses will be completed before isolation exercises such as flys, lateral raises, and tricep isolation exercises.

Up to 3 Exercises per Muscle Group:

An example of this is:

Chest
Dumbbell Incline Chest Press (3 Sets)
Barbell Chest Press (3 Sets)
Dumbbell Flys (3 Sets)

Total: 3 exercises and 9 sets for this exercise.

Use the principles and your own knowledge of exercises and try to work out what you could do for Shoulders and Triceps. Then do the same for exercises on Day 2.

Day 3 Example

This means day 3 could look like this:

Legs Compound:

Barbell Squats Wide Stance (3 Sets)

Barbell Squats Narrow Stance (3 Sets)

Isolation: Leg Extensions (3 Sets)

Legs Compound:

Dumbbell Lunges (3 Sets)

Dumbbell Deadlift (3 Sets)

Isolation: Leg Curls (3 Sets)

Calf

Standing Calf Raise (3 Sets)
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise (3 Sets)
Seated Calf Raise (3 Sets)

Core
Reverse Crunch (3 Sets)
Oblique Side Raise (3 Sets)
Crunch Sit Ups (3 Sets)

Balance

If your math is ok you will see that for each workout you will total 27 sets and all your major muscle groups have been exercised.

Most importantly recovery is allowed for in the daily split. For example you will have done all the pushing exercises on day 1 creating fatigue in those areas. On day 2 you will still be able to work hard because you will be doing pulling exercises which use opposite muscles. The fatigued pushing muscles have to be relaxed. And on day 3 you will do legs so your upper body gets a full recovery.

Training Principles, some example Techniques and Instructions

Principles	Techniques
Big Muscles First;	Pyramids;
Balance Front/Back, Upper/Lower;	Supersets;
Compound exercises before isolation exercises;	Drop Sets;
Can do up to 3 exercises per muscle group (i.e. 9 sets)	Circuits;

Instructions

•   Weight training 3 to 6 times per week, cardio 3 to 6 times per week.
•   You can do up to 3 exercises per muscle group of 3 sets each, (total 9 sets per muscle group).
•   Use the techniques to increase the intensity for each set but remember to do warm up sets (one to two) for every muscle group.
•   Recovery times will vary depending on training goals and techniques used, e.g. 1 to 2 minutes for pyramids, 0 to 30secs mins for a superset, etc.

Conclusion

If you are seriously looking to change your physique the three day split routine is the next logical step in training following a two day intermediate split. It is important to have gone through the learning and conditioning process prior to this level of training.

And now given that your levels of motivation to train would be very high anyway in order to maintain this regime it is highly likely that your understanding of training principles and techniques would also be good and getting better.

All I can say is don’t stop learning because even now this is just the tip of the ice-burg, there is a lot more to come!

Posted: Saturday 9 January 2010