The Semi-Full-Body Mass Workout

Yesterday I listed some caveats to consider before shifting to limited-volume full-body workouts, especially for recovery-challenged drug-free trainees and/or graying geezers.

The most obvious problem is sustaining the workload of full-body workouts. Just the thought of working everything in one session can flip the dread switch…

Also, the muscles you work early get the best stimulation because you lose high-threshold activation on each succeeding set as the workout progresses.

Then there’s full repair—you have to recover from each 10-muscle full-body assault before the next or you just spin your wheels…

There are ways to make it more of a mass-builder—at least for a few weeks. It’s what I call a SEMI-full-body-split workout similar to Phase 1 in the 10-Week Size Surge program…

Monday: Quads, hamstrings, chest, back, delts

Wednesday: Calves, biceps, triceps, abs

Friday or Saturday: Chest, back, delts, quads, hamstrings, calves

Remember, the first sets you do in the workout are the most effective. That’s why you reverse the order of Monday’s workout on Friday (or Saturday(—to get big upper-body muscles upfront.

Also note that you are getting some indirect arm work on Monday and Friday with chest, pushing = triceps, and back, pulling = biceps.

And speaking of arms, you may want to reverse the muscle-training order at each Wednesday workout as well. For example, the following Wednesday might be: Triceps, biceps, abs, calves.

If you do one STX sequence on the ideal exercise for each muscle, you should be able to recover and grow. Even so…

I prefer the upper-body/lower-body split in OMYM and OMYM2.

I’ll tell you why that’s the best muscle-building split and how to use it for bigger gains in the next training newsletter. Or check out the ebooks below.

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.