The Three Day Split Workout - Day One

With any exercise program, whether it is cardiovascular training or strength training, there are a finite number of hours in each 24 hour day that we can effectively use for the workout.  Similarly, there are a finite number of exercises we can fit into each one of those workouts.  It would be very easy for me to suggest that you simply go to the gym and complete every one of the exercises I have described in my previous articles.  Unfortunately, if you could even find the time and energy to do that, the end result would be a complete failure to achieve your muscle gain and strength development goals.  Why?  One word; Rest!

An effective and efficient workout program will allow you to work groups of muscle, and individual muscles, to genuine fatigue at least once per week and then provide for five to seven days of rest for those muscles before working them again.  The reason this is so, is because of the extent of the damage caused to the muscles, at a cellular level, during exercise and the manner in which muscles utilise the food we eat to repair and nourish the damaged muscles; during rest.  To ensure you are getting an adequate volume and intensity of training to build muscle strength, endurance and size and a correspondingly adequate period of rest and recovery time, I have outlined below, and in the next three articles, a weight training program that built around a three day split.  That is, the entire body is exercised across three separate days, with an active rest day in between.

The three day split is a format that allows you to segregate the body into three distinct, and logical, parts.  For example:

• Chest, Shoulders and Triceps;
• Back, Biceps and Core; and,
• Legs.

The program I have chosen is less conventional and separates the body into functional areas, which I believe fits much better with the type of training required for competitive sports.  This functional split is:

• Upper Body;
• Lower Body; and,
• Core.

The workout is as follows:

Day One Split

Exercise 1:

Dumbbell Bench Press

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

     Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough

     that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

Exercise 2:

Lat Pulldown

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

Exercise 3:

Incline Bench Press

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

Exercise 4:

Seated Row

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

Exercise 5:

Standing Biceps Curl

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

Exercise 6:

Triceps Pushdown

Five sets of: 30, 15, 8, 4 and 4

Weights should be increased by around 1 – 2 kgs each set and be heavy enough that you fail at, or just before, the final rep.

 

Rest for 30 to 45 seconds between sets.

 

You will notice that there is a common thread in each one of the exercises described above, that is the increasing of the weight being lifted in each set and that you reach genuine failure before you reach the final rep in each set.  When you can complete every rep in each set, it is time to increase your starting weight and every subsequent weight.

 

Tomorrow, we look at the Day Two Split.