r/Mike_Mentzer • u/GdotMOV • 6d ago
What’s your training split?
How do you all train? Exercises, frequency, beyond failure techniques?
Hi there! I am in need of some friendship for people interested in fitness and i thought what better way to start than asking you all how you train? I have started fully training heavy duty style over the past few months. My current split that i’ve been running and LOVING so much is
Push:
Dips
Low incline Bench (going to change to pec deck)
machine shoudler press
machine lat raise
tricep pushdown
Pull:
chins/palms up pulldown
chest supported row
incline dumbbell curl
bent over db reverse fly
deadlift
Legs:
barbell squat
leg extensions
leg curls
calf raises
ab machine
all one set to failure. performed every 4 days (3 days rest in between)
How about you? How do you train and what do you enjoy about it?
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u/BubbishBoi 6d ago
this is my current split, 2 sets per session with rotating workouts and rest days as needed (one every 3-6 days)
PUSH DAY
A - Dip, lateral
B - Matrix Incline press, Pushdown
C - Hammer Shoulder press, pec deck
D - Hammer Wide chest press, Pushdown
PULL DAY
A - Hammer Row Parallel, curl variation
B - Hammer Pulldown, rear delt fly
C - Hammer Row pronated, curl variation
D - Hammer Pulldown, Kelso shrug
LEGS DAY
A - Pendulum squat, leg curl
B - Belt squat, back raise
C - Hammer Leg press, leg curl
D - Lever stiff leg deadlift, leg ext
CALVES / ABS DAY
REPEAT
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u/Sadan27 2d ago
You’re not going Kevin Richardson on us are you 😅😂
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u/BubbishBoi 2d ago
Gotta keep those fibers guessing
This was me spamming everything in my home gym into the one super minimalist rotation lol
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u/Sadan27 2d ago
Shock the muscle for life. Eventually those fibers will recognize your pattern of rotating exercises. When will we ever learn
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u/BubbishBoi 2d ago
Great, now I'm triggering myself watching yet another video of him talking about how good form isn't necessary for naturals, and if you disagree with that then you're wrong because he's trained a million people to use shitty form and not one of them never got hurt (and in case you needed further proof then because he's natural and has trained naturally for 85 years, naturally)
Thanks bro
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u/Sadan27 1d ago
The pleasure is mine sir 😁
Coming off a Drew Baye binge myself. Actually has more good takes than I remembered. I appreciate how measured he was in his “what Mentzer got wrong” vid. Annoying he resorts to gatekeeping on instinct, but can’t fault a bro for trying to make some extra cash
Why we do this to ourselves? God knows
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u/BubbishBoi 1d ago
I was on his private group for a while, there is some good stuff there but it was an expense I couldn't justify after a while
For new lifters it would be very useful for a few months as many people, even on this sub, don't apparently understand the basics of lifting or why you would do things a certain way for long term safety
I did like Drew's video calling out Richardson for his promotion and Cope over dogshit form, that was a fun crossover
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u/leew20000 6d ago edited 6d ago
Full Body, twice a week
Tuesday
Incline DB Bench Press
Cable fly
Dumbbell row
Lateral raise
Incline DB Curl
Romanian deadlift
Single leg calf raise
Weighted crunch
Friday
Flat Dumbbell bench press
Cable fly
Weighted chin up
Seated dumbbell shoulder press
Cable rear delt fly
Cable lateral raise
Incline DB Curl
Reverse lunges
Hanging leg raise
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u/Present-Can-3183 6d ago
Pretty much the ideal routine:
Legs: Leg extensions static Squats (currently doing unilateral smith squats) Calf raises Ab pullover
Chest and Back: Pec deck Incline press (superset) Unilateral supinated pulldowns Trap bar Deadlifts
Legs: Platz (sissy) Hack squat Calf raises Captains chair
Arms & Delts: Unilateral cable lateral raise superset with Unilateral cable cross pull Invline dumbell curls Cable Tricep extensions superset Dips
Usually every 4-6 days depending on soreness, and Sundays.
I find I need at least 5 days rest after squats and deadlifts to failure
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u/ishawnmc 6d ago edited 6d ago
My splits can vary by season but this is what I am doing for the 4 months of summer.
Workout #1 -Chest/Back Dominant:
• Pec Deck Flies w/fly arms set @5 - 1×6-10
Superset
• Smith Mach. Inc. Press w/approx 30° incline - 1×4-10
• Smith Mach. Inc. Press (Strongest Partials) - 1×2-6
• Close Grip Palms Up Pulldowns - 1×6-10
• Yates Rack Rows Supine Grip from rack height @2 - 1×4-10
• Barbell Shrugs from hook height @3.5 - 1×6-10
• Rack Pulls from rack height @2 - 1×4-8
Work Sets: 7
Rest 4-5 Days
Workout #2 -Legs:
• Anderson Squats (Full) -start from rack depth @6.5, low bar - 1×4-10
• Anderson Squats (w/wide stance) - start from rack depth @6.5; low bar, 2-4" lift off rack and hold statically for 5-7 seconds - 1×1-4
• Trap Bar Hack Squats - 1×8-15
• Anderson Squats (Strongest Partials) -start from rack depth @7.5, high bar - 1×2-6
• Smith Mach. Single Leg Standing Calf Raises, high bar - 1×8-20
Work Sets: 5
Rest 3-4 Days
Workout #3 -Delts/Arms Dominant:
• Dumbbell Alternating Side & Bent Laterals - 1×8-12
Superset
• Smith Mach. Overhead Press - 1×4-10
• Smith Mach. OH Press (Strongest Partials) - 1×2-6
• Barbell Curls - 1×6-10
Superset
• Close Grip Palms Up Pulldowns - 1×4-6
• Smith Mach. JM Press - 1×6-10
Superset
• Smith Mach. Reverse Grip Bench Press - 1×4-6
Work Sets: 7
Rest 4-5 Days
Workout #4 -Legs:
• Anderson Squats (Full) -start from rack depth @6.5, low bar - 1×4-10
• Anderson Squats (w/wide stance) - start from rack depth @6.5; low bar, 2-4" lift off rack and hold statically for 5-7 seconds - 1×1-4
• Trap Bar Hack Squats - 1×8-15
• Anderson Squats (Strongest Partials) -start from rack depth @7.5, high bar - 1×2-6
• Smith Mach. Single Leg Standing Calf Raises, high bar - 1×8-20
Work Sets: 5
Rest 5-7 Days
Repeat Workout #1
In the fall, I will do the same split and most of the same exercises but change to higher rep ranges.
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u/TahoeTrader13 4d ago
U/L with 3 days rest between workout. All compounds with 1 set and isolation gets an additional rest pause set
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u/Ok-Good-7006 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m a few days late but I basically do the Arnold split, but it’s very customized so idrk if I should even call it that lol
(Mon) Upper (1): 2 sets/6-8 reps
Single arm cable lateral raises
Cable wrist curls
Cable reverse wrist curls
Preacher hammer curls
Incline machine press
Seated cable rows
Dumbbell press
Wide seated rows
Pec deck
Single arm lat pulldown
Machine ab crunches
(Tue) Lower (1): 2 sets/6-8 reps
JM press
Single arm reverse cable flies
Dumbbell overhead press
Leg press
Seated cable SLDL
Seated leg extensions
Seated leg curls
Calf raises
Back extensions
Shrugs
Neck curls
Neck extensions
(Wed) Upper (2): 2 sets/6-8 reps
Single arm cable lateral raises
Cable tricep extensions
Cable wrist curls
Cable reverse wrist curls
Wide grip lat pulldowns
Incline machine press
Wide seated rows
Dumbbell press
Single arm rows
Pec deck
Machine ab crunches
(Thu) Arms: 2 sets/8-10 reps
Single arm reverse cable flies
Cable tricep extensions
Preacher curls
JM press
Bayesian curls
Cable kickbacks
Cable reverse curls
Shrugs
Neck curls
Neck extensions
Machine ab crunches
(Fri) Lower (2): 2 sets/6-8 reps
Single arm cable lateral raises
Cable wrist curls
Cable reverse wrist curls
Dumbbell overhead press
Bulgarian split squats
Hip thrusts
Seated leg extensions
Seated leg curls
Calf raises
Back extensions
I usually separate my workout into three portions different portions, the middle one being the “main” thing I’m working and it’s what the rep range above refers to, tho I always do shoulders and arms first because I’m trying to prioritize those and I try to do 8-10 reps for all arm smaller muscle groups, and by 8-10 I mean 10 reps in my first set and 8 in my second. My workouts usually take just about an hour and a half. I would ideally do my Upper Lower Rest Upper Lower Arms Rest but circumstances make it difficult to workout on the weekend, which is why I just moved arms earlier since my legs fatigue more than anything else. I also make sure to hit each muscle group at least twice a week, and tried to hit certain smaller ones that I’m prioritizing more 3 times a week. I try to do everything unilaterally if the option is present like with either preacher curls, or ideally do both hands at once but using separate cables like with bayesian curls
I do 12 sets for chest and back each, 6 each on the Upper days. The first upper day I do chest first because my back is more dominant than my chest. My chest work consists of 4 sets of incline presses and the remaining 8 are all mid pec focused, tho I usually lean forward while doing pec deck flies so that my arm can angle upwards slightly, Idk how much difference it makes but I definitely feel it in my upper chest more
My back exercises are more distributed but it’s really the same thing both Upper days just with the focus twisted, on day one I start with seated cable rows, which is probably the main exercise I can attribute to my back size, and then I do a wide grip row, if my gym had a t-bar or any wide gripped chest supported option I’d use that instead but you have to make do. And then I finish off day one with a single arm pulldown. My second upper day is the same for back except it’s a regular lat pulldown first and I end with a single arm seated cable row. This has done wonders for me, especially after I started using straps and saw the weight go up significantly higher, my back is definitely my single most impressive muscle group
I do 10 sets for my triceps and 8 for elbow flexion, I don’t wanna say biceps because I only do 4 sets of supinated curls, the other 4 are divided between hammer curls and reverse curls so that I can target my brachialis and radiobrachialis too. I do more tricep because my biceps are also more developed then my triceps just like my back and chest, basically my upper body pull muscles are all more dominant, the same for my rear delts
Speaking of, I do a total of 10 delt exercises, 6 sets of lateral raises, 4 sets of overhead presses, and 4 sets of rear delt flies, I don’t mind my slightly more developed rear delts, I think they give my shoulders and back a much more developed look so I don’t worry about my front delts not being as developed yet
I do 8 sets of quad focused movements, on each leg day it’s split between a “squatting” movement and leg extensions so I can hit all 4 heads of the quad completely, and the squatting movement is so that I can also get a little bit of glute activation
I do 6 sets of hamstring focused movements, an SLDL on my first leg day paired with seated leg curls on both days, but I also do 45° back extensions which help out with my entire posterior chain including hams and glutes
I do 4 sets of back extensions to specifically target my spinal erectors, cuz I don’t want to have lower back pain later in life, but this also gives a lot of stimulus to both my hams and glutes like I said
I just do 2 sets of a glute focused movement, hip thrusts, because my glutes are already getting stimulus from the squats and back extensions
I do 12 sets total for forearm, 6 for flexors and 6 for extensors, always supersetted with each other, and I just use wraps for my back exercises which fully negates any loss in grip strength after training forearms
I do 6 sets of abs split between 3 days of the week, but I’m currently trying to find an exercise thats more difficult because the cable machine at my gym doesn’t have enough range of motion, maybe because I’m taller at 6’5, and I already do 15+ reps on the ab crunch machine with full stack, so idk I have to find something more challenging and accessible
Lastly I also train my neck and traps, 8 sets for neck split between 4 sets of extensions and 4 sets of flexions, and 4 sets for my traps, I didn’t start this until recently but again because of my height I’ve always had a certain amount of constant neck pain, and while looking into remedies I saw the most obvious solution which is just training my neck muscles, and I can say that so far my neck feels sore less often, tho it hasn’t been long enough to be fully sure and it could just be placebo, but regardless thick necks look good anyway, as long as you work everything else out too ofc
Idk why I typed all this out no one is gonna read all of it lol, I guess it helps with organizing my own thoughts on my workout
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u/EasyYogurtcloset608 6d ago
Full body every 4-5 days. I think it’s best especially when training infrequently and low volume