BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 1)

BASE BUILDING SPLITS 

2 DAYS A WEEK

Some people fret that training twice a week just is not enough, but the fact is most training splits have you squatting, pressing, and pulling once a week and work very well with that amount of frequency, especially for guys that need a little more recovery or are more advanced. If anything, a twice a week routine would be more ideal for an advanced guy that needs more recovery and already has a decent foundation that he’s trying to build upon, rather than a novice.

Twice a week barbell work can also be ideal for a strongman who wants to train his events on the third day.

One of the benefits of training only twice a week is generally the ability to never take a break. You should be getting plenty of recoveries. I always split the squat and pull up, so that you squat one week and pull the next. If you’re a novice guy that is not as qualified (meaning, you’re not that strong yet) I would not recommend this. I’d stay with keeping the squat and deadlift together every week.

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 1

DAY 1 – Squat – BBM Deadlift – BBM Split squats – 4x20

DAY 2 – Bench Press – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method Barbell Rows – 4x8 Chins – 4 X AMAP 

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 2 – ALTERNATING SQUAT AND DEADLIFT PER WEEK

DAY 1 – Squat/Deadlift (alternate week to week) – BBM Good Mornings/Front Squats (alternate week to week) – 4x10 light/5x5 @ 60% Split Squats – 4x20

DAY 2 – Bench Press – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method Barbell Rows – 4x8 Chins – 4 X AMAP

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 3 – PRESSING TWICE A WEEK/SQUATTINg TWICE A WEEK

DAY 1 – Squat – BBM 138

Bench - BBM Barbell Row – 4x10 Curl – 1x100

DAY 2 – Front Squat – 5x5 @ 60% Deadlift – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method

TRAINING THREE TIMES A WEEK 

Training three times a week has long been a solid standard for training efficiently. There are two main splits I’ve always used for training three times a week. One is the “man maker” which I now just call my “standard” split, where you squat and pull on the same day. The other is the traditional split where you simply bench, squat, and pull on separate days.

TRADITIONAL SPLIT

Day 1 - Bench Bench - BBM Incline - 3x8 Side Laterals - 4x10 Triceps - 4x20

Day 2 - SquaT Squat - BBM Leg Press - 4x10 Lunges - 4x20

Day 3 - DEADLIFT AND BACK 

DEADLIFT - BBM Barbell Rows - 3x8 Chins - 5x7 Curls - 1x100

THE STANDARD

 This has been the way I have settled on training more times than not. I feel like this split, for me, gives me the best balance of being able to get a lot of work in, but allow for adequate recovery. A lot of guys can recover very quickly, either because they are not strong enough to tax recovery reserves hard enough, or because their “supplement” stacks allow them to recover better.

Obviously, I’m not pointing fingers or disparaging anyone here. I’m just pointing out why some guys can train with more frequency than others. For me, every time I’ve tried to add in the 4th day of “big work” (meaning, big compound movements) I find that I’m fatigued more through the day, need more sleep, and overall don’t feel like training as much. When I scale it back to three days a week, my enthusiasm always returns.