Is training six days per week too much?

[GTC]

Here's the routine I've come up with, it's pretty much the same as the 5x5 routine in the sticky post, except it's split into six days rather than four.

My previous routine consisted of the same exercises but I would train more than one body part on the same day like -

Monday - legs/ abs
Wednesday - chest/ shoulders/ triceps
Friday - back/ biceps

But I wanted to change it so I could train each muscle group on a different day so I could hit it with maximum weight and intensity. Whereas in the previous routine, for example I trained back and biceps together, by the time I'd finished training back my biceps would be pretty fatigued so I could not train them with as much weight as I could if I'd trained them alone.

Here's the routine -

MONDAY - CHEST
flat bench press 5x5
flat flyes 3x10
incline dumbell press 3x10

TUESDAY - BACK
deadlift 5x5
wide-grip chins 3x max
bent-over row 3x10

WEDNESDAY - ABS
heavy sit-ups 3x10
side bends 3x10
crunches 3x max

THURSDAY - SHOULDERS/ TRICEPS
seated barbell press 5x5
lateral raise 3x10
close-grip bench press 3x10

FRIDAY - BICEPS
barbell curls 5x5
hammer curls 3x10
incline dumbell curls 3x10

SATURDAY - LEGS
squats 5x5
leg curls 3x10
leg extensions 3x10

Would it be OK to train like this, or is 6 days a week too much?
It's not that much really because each workout consists of only 3 exercises.
What do you think?

 

[AngryMuscles]

ouch..well..it's too much for me...maybe you don't need to train 6 days and just hit them pounds a lot harder..meaning increase more poundage

 

[Fender]

You are giving yourself sufficient rest time between hitting the same area so I don't think you would be overtraining. For example...Chest on Mon and you don't hit the delts again until Thur. I think this could work but you should try it and keep us posted. The best indication is if your weights increase every or every other week.

 

[lilboy2]

with the proper split,,, i agree with fender that 6 days a week would be just fine. but with that said you shouldn't be spending anymore than an hour in the gym at 6 days a week. oh ,,, and i think that you should incorporate more hamstrings ... jmo. keep up the good work and keep us posted.

 

[GTC]

Yeah, I planned it out so the same muscles wouldn't get hit on consecutive days, for example - I do deadlifts for back on a Tuesday which hit the legs also, so I won't train legs until Saturday; and like you said Fender - shoulders are only being hit on Monday and Thursday. It took quite a while to plan it out in such a way that the workouts wouldn't clash with each other.

thanks.

 

[pullinbig]

3 white lights on the avatar.

 

[roccodart440]

THe workout you posted is very doable. I used to do the 6 day a week thing with only one day doubled up. I think it is better for BB than for PL though. Not sure what ypou're going for.

 

[AngryMuscles]

did you change your avatar??? coolies!!

 

[GTC]

did you change your avatar??? coolies!!

Yeah, I made a new one.

 

[Deep South Chris]

i used to do 6 days, just switched to 3...although there is rest between body parts and what not..i just felt my body as a whole was not getting enough rest. i switched to pullinbig's routine on page 6 of the "do deads thicken your waist" thread. on paper it doesnt look like much at all..but the fact of reps is lower and all that..i pushed my self way heavier than i would normally from fear of burning out to fast as i pyrimided up to my heavier weights..and to my suprise, i havent felt my chest that tight in a long time after last nights work out.

sorry if i rambled on, but everyone is different...6 days may be ok for you

 

[Mulligan]

i used to do 6 days, just switched to 3...although there is rest between body parts and what not..i just felt my body as a whole was not getting enough rest. i switched to pullinbig's routine on page 6 of the "do deads thicken your waist" thread. on paper it doesnt look like much at all..but the fact of reps is lower and all that..i pushed my self way heavier than i would normally from fear of burning out to fast as i pyrimided up to my heavier weights..and to my suprise, i havent felt my chest that tight in a long time after last nights work out.

sorry if i rambled on, but everyone is different...6 days may be ok for you

Diito

 

[Vegas]

i used to do 6 days, just switched to 3...although there is rest between body parts and what not..i just felt my body as a whole was not getting enough rest.

Yep, it is likely because your central nervous system was being overtaxed. That's not to say that frequent training is a bad thing, I made my best gains while training 5 days a week. Just ensure that your training sessions are extremely short. Most of my sessions last between 40 minutes and 1 hour when I am training 5 days a week. It works for me but, as always, you'll have to try it out and see how it goes. If you make gains, great. If you need to make changes try not to waste too much time using an inefficient routine while also giving it enough time to work for you.

 

[samcam]

Here's the routine I've come up with, it's pretty much the same as the 5x5 routine in the sticky post, except it's split into six days rather than four.

My previous routine consisted of the same exercises but I would train more than one body part on the same day like -

Monday - legs/ abs
Wednesday - chest/ shoulders/ triceps
Friday - back/ biceps

But I wanted to change it so I could train each muscle group on a different day so I could hit it with maximum weight and intensity. Whereas in the previous routine, for example I trained back and biceps together, by the time I'd finished training back my biceps would be pretty fatigued so I could not train them with as much weight as I could if I'd trained them alone.

Here's the routine -

MONDAY - CHEST
flat bench press 5x5
flat flyes 3x10
incline dumbell press 3x10

TUESDAY - BACK
deadlift 5x5
wide-grip chins 3x max
bent-over row 3x10

WEDNESDAY - ABS
heavy sit-ups 3x10
side bends 3x10
crunches 3x max

THURSDAY - SHOULDERS/ TRICEPS
seated barbell press 5x5
lateral raise 3x10
close-grip bench press 3x10

FRIDAY - BICEPS
barbell curls 5x5
hammer curls 3x10
incline dumbell curls 3x10

SATURDAY - LEGS
squats 5x5
leg curls 3x10
leg extensions 3x10

Would it be OK to train like this, or is 6 days a week too much?
It's not that much really because each workout consists of only 3 exercises.
What do you think?

This is very similar to my workout that I have been doing for the last couple of years, works very well! The only thing I might change is do Bi's and Tri's together on Friday and give shoulders (and traps) there own day, I like to do a little more work on my shoulders though. I keep workouts under an hour and has worked very well for me. Your program is almost exactly like mine! I just do maybe 4 or 5 sets per exercise including warm up, and do abs at home when I feel like it. Good luck.

 

[BigRonWannabee]

One thing I noticed right away is a 5x5 deadlift session every week...that would cripple my CNS within 3 weeks and probably sooner than that. Id recommend switching the deadlifts out for something a little less taxing every other week, maybe some hypers or pullthroughs. You could easily incorporate the ab day into one of the other days as well.

 

[berealjohn]

Hey think about it! When are planning our training most often all we think about is the muscle be trained. 6 days / weeks never worked for me. Everyday is a day is a heart, kidney,liver, lung, etc. day. Over training ain't from shit. I train every other day and have for the last 10 years. 20-30 minutes sessions. High intesity, 60 second rest between sets. chest,tri, bi, calves, off, quads,back, shoulders, abs, off. After I went to this routine I grew like hell! Now days at 240 lbs & 12% BF I simple adjust my diet depending on my goal. You grow outside the gym! Works for me! BTW I lift because it improve my way of life outside the gym. The hell with living in there. Sometimes less is more and alway the bigger you get the easrier it is to get big. Think about it?

 

[samcam]

Hey think about it! When are planning our training most often all we think about is the muscle be trained. 6 days / weeks never worked for me. Everyday is a day is a heart, kidney,liver, lung, etc. day. Over training ain't from shit. I train every other day and have for the last 10 years. 20-30 minutes sessions. High intesity, 60 second rest between sets. chest,tri, bi, calves, off, quads,back, shoulders, absoff. After I went to this routine I grew like hell! Now days at 240 lbs & 12% BF I simple adjust my diet depending on my goal. You grow outside the gym! Works for me! BTW I lift because it improve my way of life outside the gym. The hell with living in there. Sometimes less is more and alway the bigger you get the easrier it is to get big. Think about it?

So you work chest, tris,bis and calves all in one session, then take one day off and work quads,back, shoulders, abs all in one session then take one day off and repeat? all in 20-30 minute sessions?

 

[BigRonWannabee]

So you work chest, tris,bis and calves all in one session, then take one day off and work quads,back, shoulders, abs all in one session then take one day off and repeat? all in 20-30 minute sessions?

That is actually how I do my routine, 3 days a week. Ill tell you from experience though it takes a good bit more than 30 minutes. It takes me 15 minutes to warm up for squats. It takes 20 minutes to get through a 10x3 for one bodypart at an ideal pace. Hes got the right idea though, a lot of guys just go all the time because they like to go all the time, which is perfectly fine. It isnt always the most efficient way to train however. Everyone is different.

 

[berealjohn]

Yes! I deadlift before squats. This warms my legs & back for squats. My routine gives me cardio aswell BB training. My leg day take 30 minutes or less. My chest day is also 20-22- min. I time anything. This how I keep track og my intensity level. If I want more size for a body part I change my reps to 6-8 from 10-12 I do currently for mantaince. And of course eat different. 2 grams of protein/ BW every 3 hours. 20-22 calories / lbs of BW. My heart rate is in the cardiac range through the entire workout. By the time comes to perform another set my respriatory has bearly recovered. Like the the bro said everyone is different. This what works best for me, 25 + years non stop now. Back in the day I did my share of non-productive marathon workouts. Just keep in mind over-enthusiasm is your foe! Time is on your side. Keep on pushin on! Think about like this . If you where to use a shovel working by hand all day you will get a blister on your hand. Then you rest to wait for new tender skin to grow back. Back to sqaure one. But if you use the shovel in moderation slightly more each session a callus forms allowing you to do more work over time. To make gains the muscle needs only slight overloaded from the last workout of that part. Anything above this point is counterproductive or aleast a waste of one's time. Work smarter not harder!

 

[GTC]

Think about like this . If you where to use a shovel working by hand all day you will get a blister on your hand. Then you rest to wait for new tender skin to grow back. Back to sqaure one. But if you use the shovel in moderation slightly more each session a callus forms allowing you to do more work over time. To make gains the muscle needs only slight overloaded from the last workout of that part. Anything above this point is counterproductive or aleast a waste of one's time. Work smarter not harder!

That's a good way of putting it, nice post

 

[berealjohn]

So you work chest, tris,bis and calves all in one session, then take one day off and work quads,back, shoulders, abs all in one session then take one day off and repeat? all in 20-30 minute sessions?

samcam this is basically what my chest day looks like. When I walk in the gym I do 10 jumping jack, next I stretch by flatting my hands slowly on the floor bending upwards and reaching hands up and rotating my arms. I do this about 10X. I walk over to the bench put 135 on start my stop watch at zero. I do 12 reps, 35-45 secs. I get up walk over to the stand calve with 300-400lbs and do 12-20 reps. Back to the bench through 185 or 225 on, when the watch hits 2 minutes do another set do 12 reps, back to the calves. Each set I increase the poundage. Each time the watch hits and even number I doing a set for large muscle group. I keep the simple using 25’s 35’s or 45’s. Benching I rarely go above 275 @ 12 reps. Chest and calves are hit with 5-7 sets. 10-14 minutes has passed. My tri’s are already warmed I go to the pushdowns & do 12 reps in the same manner super-setting with E-Z curls or barbell curls.4-6 sets here. I’m though! 20-30 minutes. Go grab 100 grams simple carbs and 30-40 grams of protein ASAP. Everyone is different, this works like hell for me and has for over 10 damn years. Plus I ain't walking around feeling beat-up all the time like when I was overtraining like hell. In the game 25 years bro, ever since ciba made made those little blues smurfs called the the breakfast of champion. Many changes since then. I live it and luv it! When I dye I am under the iron or on a piece of ass! I'm betting on the former!