So you want to get Jacked, Seriously JACKED!! The best form of training for this is a 3, 4 or 6 day "Body Part Split". It's called this because each day we work a specific area of the body close to fatigue with aim of stimulating the maximum amount of muscle growth possible. This type of training would be traditionally called "BODYBUILDING". Split training allows time for a more intense workout of a body area, with extra days for recovery before that area is worked out again. If you have an hour a day to spend on your gym workouts, a split routine will let you target one or two muscle groups intensively each day with more sets and heavier weights.
There are a large number of different splits possible but we will focus on the following 3 types:
3 Day Split - Chest, Back, Legs
4 Day Split - Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders
6 Day Split - Push, Pull, Legs, Push, Pull, Legs
3 Day split
(Chest, Back, Legs)
This is the best starting point for anyone looking to really change their physique. Probably not ideal if its your first ever time in a gym, but if you've trained before for one or two months and have a basic understanding of weight lifting then this is the one for you!
The plan below is a general idea of how to split exercises, but you can adjust some of these or swap as needed. The thought process is that you start each day with compound movements (the hardest exercises) and leave the isolation exercises till the end (Single Joint Exercises eg. Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions). The main benefit of this training plan is that it will get your body in tune with Split Training but give plenty of recovery before the next session eg. Doing Bench + Triceps on Monday will mean your Chest/Triceps will have 6 days recovery till you repeat this session. This gives the muscle greater opportunity for growth and repair, while also reducing the chances of getting common beginner injuries (Tight Shoulders, Elbow or Knee Pain).
4 Day SPLIT
(Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders)
So you've trained for a couple of months, got great results but are starting to plateau and now want to step it up a bit. One of the most common progressions from here is to simply add a 4th Day for Shoulders/Arms and beef out the other workouts a little. So your weekly plan will look like this:
Day 1 - Back and Biceps
Day 2 - Chest and Triceps
Day 3 - OFF
Day 4 - Quads, Hamstrings and Calves
Day 5 - Shoulders, Traps and Forearms
Day 6 - OFF
Day 7 - OFF
By adding a 4th day we can work on more assistance exercises using muscles that may not have been fully utilized in the previous training plan like shrugs, rear flyes, hammer curls etc.
6 Days
(Push, Pull, Legs,x2)
The Ultimate! 6 Days is extreme and is definitely for the advanced gym goer. You are hitting each body part twice per week, and still getting 3-4 days rest for that muscle group. The 6 day Push/Pull/Legs program provides the maximum training stimulus for muscle growth. By hitting each muscle group twice per week we now have much more scope for adding extra exercises to target muscles in different directions or different ways. For example, we can do rear flyes with dumbbells on Day 2, and with a cable on Day 6. Repeating our workouts twice a week also allows us to do one 'Heavy' day and one 'Light' Day for each muscle group.
It's very common that a rest day will be taken midweek. This is useful if you are working or at college and getting a little tired. Saturday & Sunday are very useful for heavy days or leg sessions if you aren't working or travelling as you can eat more, sleep in, and just get more rest around your training session. Sample weekly training plan will look as follows:
Day 1 - Push
Day 2 - Pull
Day 3 - Legs
Day 4 - OFF
Day 5 - Push
Day 6 - Pull
Day 7 - Legs
So there you have 3 different types of Body Part Split Workouts to try out. Hope this helps and let us know how you are progressing.
ENJOY!!
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