How many exercices per work out?

[BelgianFRED]

I currently train Chest with biceps and do 4 exercices for each body part

same with shoulders and triceps, and same again with legs and back ( I don't train shoulders with legs because it's supposed to be less effective)

My reps are usually 12 - 10 - 8 -6 but I was told 8-6 reps were far enough in a mass building program, is that true?

I'd appreciate any help

 

[TheOak84]

i usually do 3 per muscle, but i work each muscle twice a week.. its good

 

[Madcow2]

Unanswerable. Depends on a lot of factors.

1) How heavy are the sets? 80% of your max or 40% (intensity)
2) Are your working sets all with the same weight or are you working upward to a single top set (intensity and volume)
3) How often are you doing this (frequency)
4) What else is in your workout - body is stressed as a system (total workload over a period is sum of volume and intensity for all exercises in the workouts)
5) What is your tolerance to workload (genetics/experience/conditioning/psyche)

Ideal rep numbers are never an absolute as training in different rep ranges over different periods will work synergistically to provide a far better net effect than just sitting in one rep range all the time. What is right for you now will depend on your current state. Judging from the 12-6 range your provide I'd probably suggest you spend time in the 3-8 with most work around 5 reps for a bit.

A lot of training information in this table of contents (see Part II). It's all on this Elite and free. A far better use of your time and it will pay dividends for years and years: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/table_of_contents_thread.htm.

 

[BelgianFRED]

Unanswerable. Depends on a lot of factors.

1) How heavy are the sets? 80% of your max or 40% (intensity)

I'd say I start at 50% first rep to finish at 90% or 100% last rep ( the most I can lift)


2) Are your working sets all with the same weight or are you working upward to a single top set (intensity and volume)

I use different weight ( pyramid scheme ) the more weight the less reps I do

3) How often are you doing this (frequency)

Day 1: Chest/bi
Day2 : Back/legs
Day 3: Shoulders/tri


4) What else is in your workout - body is stressed as a system (total workload over a period is sum of volume and intensity for all exercises in the workouts)

I rest 1 minute between sets and do no cardio ( but I train 4 hour boxing a week ) not sure if I got it right here though?

5) What is your tolerance to workload
(genetics/experience/conditioning/psyche)

I'm a hard gainer I'm 23 189cm, 74.5 KG ( was 70 a month ago but have been following a strict mass bulking diet)

Thanks for your help fella

 

[Madcow2]

Depending on your goals, I'd probably consider a change in your program. If you are training a bodypart once per week, that's a pretty low frequency and even though it might seem standard and what you read in the mags. It's not in any way optimal. That said, you don't want to double your workouts because that then doubles the workload over a week. If you do 6 sets of squats, you'd start with 3 sets 2x per week and then go from there. You can't make a 100% jump although it might be very tolerable after acclimating over 4-8 weeks (there are a lot of people here that can vouch for that who've made incredible gains squatting 3x per week for 5x5).

Also, take more time between sets on the big exercises. 1 min is just no where near enough. This is strength/hypertrophy training which for a given individual, eating appropriately, and not training in purely ultralow reps, are directly related - I give those caveats because everyone seems to like to dispute this with nonsensical logic. If you want strength/hypertrophy and if you want to train for it correctly, you can't try to make it cross training or cardio intensive.

Intensity is a % of your 1RM not really a 'preceived effort' as it's been used in HIT and then the BBing culture. So 100% is really the most you can possibly do for a single rep. Meaning your best set of 5 might be in the 85% range or some such.

So maybe that helps a bit or gives you an idea. In all honesty, I'd spend a lot of time reading those linked topics and working through them in your spare time. You'll thank me for it.

 

[BelgianFRED]

ok I'll browse through thx mate