If you polled most bodybuilders in your gym, you would discover that many of them use a routine which allows them to hit each body part once per week on its own training day. This system has become wildly popular in recent years, but it wasn’t always this way. Decades ago, when men the likes of Pearl, Zane, and Schwarzenegger walked and ruled the bodybuilding landscape, hitting each body part twice per week was the norm. Let’s hop in our protein-fueled time machine and look back to this time, and design our own training manual for push/pull training, which allows us to hit each body part twice per week. You will be designing your own individual training routine based upon the exercises you enjoy, and the equipment that is available to you in your home or commercial gym. You can always rearrange this routine as needed, if you find Monday and Tuesday are better rest days, for example. Let’s jump in!
Monday
This will be your first “push” day of the week. You will be focusing upon compound movement for the chest, quads, calves, shoulders, and triceps. Divide a total of 16 to 20 sets between these body parts. Keep the rep range somewhere between 6 and 10 for most movements.
Tuesday
This is your first “pull” day of the week. Today you will be using light to moderate weight for compound movements, with the emphasis being upon nailing down a nice pump without going too heavy. The muscle groups trained will be hamstrings, back, and biceps. Forearms can be added if needed. A rep range of 10 to 20 is perfect for Tuesday.
Wednesday
This is a rest day. Spend your time stretching today, and consuming a great deal of carbohydrates. You’re only halfway to Saturday, your next rest day.
Thursday
Repeat the muscle groups targeted on Monday. This time, use the same number of total sets, divided among higher-repetition isolation movements. You hit the major muscle fiber chunks on Monday. Now it’s time to focus upon targeting isolated areas of the muscle group. Rep range can be heavier, in the 10 to 20 range.
Friday
Let’s end the week with one serious workout. Back, hamstrings, biceps and forearms will be targeted today, using a nice set of compound movements. At the conclusion of this mess of deadlifts, rows, curls and leg curls, you should be ready for a two day break! Keep the reps low, in the neighborhood of 6 to 12 per set.
Saturday
This will be a rest day, and you should certainly treat it like one. You’ve just torched your body for 80% of the week, and your muscles need a chance to recover, as does your central nervous system. Some evening cardio at a moderate pace would be nice, as you won’t be permitted any cardiovascular or weight training activity tomorrow.
Sunday
Today you should focus upon completing a great deal of stretching, and carbing up for week of weight training that lies ahead.