New program - once a week...

[damax452]

Hey guys, this is my first post in the forum, w00t!

I am a 22 yr old guy, 5'7"/145lbs, been working out for about 5 years on and off. I have normally had a program where I worked each muscle group twice a week. Here's how it went:

Mon: chest and triceps
Tue: back and biceps
Wed: shoulders and traps
Thr: chest and triceps
Fri: back and biceps
Sat: shoulders and traps
Sun: OFF
Abs I did about 4 times a week on random days

I usually did 3 excercises with sets of 12,8,6,4 and 2 for each muscle

I saw great gains with this program but reached a plateau fairly quickly (4-5 months) and I just couldn't increase any more.

So I have recently started a new program where I train each muscle only once a week, something I was afraid to do because it sounds like its not enough.

Heres my new program:

Mon: Chest
Tue: biceps
Wed: shoulders
Thr: triceps
Fri: legs
Sat: back (+traps)
Sun: forearms

I now do about 5 excercies with sets of 8,8,6,4,2 for each muscle
Im hoping to gain some mass and strength with this program. Im also getting about 1g of protein/lb body wieght with the help of Whey protein shakes.

What do you all think of this? Is once a week a good amount for each muscle?
Is this schedule fit for helping me gain mass? Will I be able to break my plateau? I have been on this for about 3 weeks now, and haven't really seen any gains, maybe its too early to tell.

Any advice/comments/suggestions you can give is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[_Avatar_]

Well its not advice but a comment. 5 sets of 5 exercises per body part seem like quite a lot and you dont want to be over training. maybe i'm the only one who'll think that... Also, you dont have any days off, so wont it be hard for you to rest and recover?

Welcome damax.

All I can say is give it a go. If you don't respond then you will need to make some changes. Each person reacts differently, and only you will know if a workout is any good for you or not.

Myself, I do a full body workout three days per week. And I have been lifting heavy and hard for many years. Anyone who says it isn't for "advanced" lifters are whacked. Periodization and Deloading are new concepts for me and I'm trying to incorporate them into my workouts more. Once per week workouts never really worked for me -- but I had to come to that discovery by trail and error.

[Tuna Fish]

I say "go for it"... might as well find out if it works for you.

Your Tues/Thurs/Sun workouts will be *relatively* easy on your system, so recovery may or may not be an issue.... just gotta do it and find out....