When I talk to many individuals about their training program I get answers that are all over the board. Some people have an actual plan or are following some program that they have found online. I am still amazed at how many people come to the gym and have no idea what they are going to train until they get there. Rather than having some sort of structure, they decide to train whatever they feel like that day. I also run into a lot of people that try to follow a particular plan, but due to other obligations, they are not able to adhere to it very well.
Optimal does not always mean “the best” when it comes to fitness. By all rights the most optimal plan would include finding the max amount of volume your body could handle and design a plan around that amount of volume hitting each muscle group multiple times per week. The problem with this is it takes a lot of time through trial and error to find the right amount of volume for your body. Then training 4, 5, 6 times a week just isn’t an option for some people, whether because they don’t care to have that level of commitment, work an insane amount of hours, or have other obligations. Therefore we should keep in mind what may be “optimal”, but we also need to focus on what we will adhere to.
I personally love training and make sure I make it to the gym 4 to 6 times a week along with doing active things outside of the gym. Many people I talk to though, are only able or willing to train 2-3 times a week or their schedule differs and the amount of times they can go per week differs. Therefore I believe in having a plan that is both structured and flexible. The degree of flexibility in your plan should reflect your lifestyle. This allows for people to have a structured plan that helps them make gainz, but at the same time allow for life to happen without causing too much of a detriment to your training.
When you assess what you have going on in your life, you need to determine the minimum amount of days you know you will be able to make it to the gym then build from there. Even if it is as little as 2 days a week, there are plenty of different ways to create a workout split. Your optional days don’t always have to be lifting sessions either. If you enjoy other activities such as yoga, group classes (such as Orange Theory), walking/biking in your neighborhood, or sports, then they can easily be worked into your program as well.
Examples:
2 Day Split – then add;
then you can either add on an additional upper and lower day for 4 potential lifting days.
add push pull leg sessions to create a potential 5 day split
repeat the first 2 days for 4 days of lifting
a full body workout for 3 days
other activities you enjoy doing
3 Day Split: Push, Pull, Legs – then add;
an upper and lower day
Repeat push, pull, legs
1-2 full body days
Other activities you enjoy
If you are one of the people who fall into the 2-3 minimum training days and need to follow flexible plans like this, don’t constantly change up what your flexible days are. After you decide how many days you can definitely train, pick what kind of flexible days you want to follow in advance. This will create consistency and keep you from jumping all over the place. You may only need to follow this type of training for a short period of time as well. I was just talking to someone in my gym who normally trains 5 days a week, but when summer rolls around he does a lot with his kids. So I suggested maybe he should tweak his training for a few months and not to stress about having other obligations. Then once things settle back down he can switch back to his normal routine.
If you know you are able to commit to at least 4 days a week, you may like to have the option of throwing in an extra full body session if you have time, or maybe hit a muscle group that you know is lacking. But for the most part, you can create an effective split on 4 days. A helpful flexible tactic that I have learned for individuals that train 4-6 times a week, is keep your rest days floating. I make sure to take my allotted rest days each week so I can recover, but they don’t always fall on the same day. I do my best to pre-plan my week so I know what days I will and won’t make it to the gym. When I was in school it made sense for me to take off days when I had a night class and just go on the weekend instead. I also usually set up my split to hit each muscle group twice in a week, so if I do have a ton of stuff going on and I happen to miss a day, it does not become that detrimental on the seldom occasion.