Thanks so much, there honestly isn't much in the way of evidence based approaches to natural bodybuilding. Just mostly copy and paste of what drug using athletes have been doing for decades. So trying to do my best with what I have seen and share it as much as possible. Thanks again!!!
That is an excellent split with plenty of recovery time. I will give it a try just to mix things up. As an older natural lifter, I found that growth and strength really require loading the spine via free weights. In a perfect schedule, I work out every other day with the following split: Workout #1: Free weight squats of your choosing...I prefer goblet squats over traditional barbell back squats but any free weight squat will work. Once warmed up, ramp up the intensity and go at it for 30 to 40 minutes, rest between sets as needed. After at least one free weight squat exercise you can add in leg press, hack squats, etc to add variety to the squat workout. When done with your squat regimen, you shouldn't have anything left in the tank to even attempt another body part. Workout #2: Chest and Tri's Workout #3: Back....after an intense back workout I have nothing left for arms, etc. Workout #4: Quads, hamstrings and calves. Leg extensions, leg curls, adductors, abductors, stiff leg deadlifts are my normal go too movements. Workout #5: Shoulders and Bi's Overall I incorporate a lot of partial movements and a lot of time under tension. Free weights really allow you to load the spine and keep your natural hormones working towards a size/strength ratio. I also feel that your central nervous system understands free weights and adapts versus a lot of machine work which is innately foreign and will overload the nervous system causing your growth to stall. Because of my age and wanting to avoid getting injured, I do a lot of reverse pyramid free weight lifting so I can control the heaviest weight when I'm at my strongest.
this is so true. before i used to train 5-6x a week and have noticed slow growth, sometimes i even looked smaller. but now i noticed alot more gains by letting my body recover at least 3 days a week.
Hello Kevin, another very nice video! As you recommend, I'm now doing a 3 day split instead of a 4 day split. I'll just break it down a little differently. Monday - biceps + triceps + abs Wednesday - legs Friday - chest + shoulders + back My focus is on the upper chest, which is very difficult for me to grow. My shoulders and back are very well developed and can be “neglected” a little bit. I can still train both very well after chest training. And I have two days off on Saturday and Sunday after these several sets. I train biceps and triceps very hard and can't do chest before that (like you do). Greetings
Really good video, wish I found you earlier. I have a question about the Back&Shoulder and Chest&Arms workouts. Today when I workout chest, I feel like I work my shoulder as well, which chest exercises could I do to not feel them? Is there a difference between doing chest with dumbells and machines?
Thanks for tuning in and my chest has always been a hard part for me as my shoulders would get involved. Best approach is to do everything, dumbbells and machines (Hammer Strength ones are amazing!) and more so incline and decline barbell presses, not flat bench presses. And all manner of flyes and pullovers. Variety is the spice of growth and it will help you as well find what really isolates your chest muscles. Thanks again and me know how it goes.
This is awesome this man knows the body well im adapting this training i also have a very physical job so training 5 days a week buggerd me time to try this for 3 months at least thank you for the wisdom 👍
WOW!!…. 😄Kevin!!! I have only watched three of your videos!…. And I am blown away by your detailed content! Bro!.. You give the best explanations! And you’re giving the whole freaking enchilada! 🔥🔥🔥👋Holding nothing back. /// Over the past week I have binge watched 20+ other videos on high intensity training and read a book and still was confused about the relationship between the heaviness of the weight, the science, repetitions, intensity, muscle groupings, and rest days splits. It’s like I was getting a broad introduction but no clear specificity. Thank you!! /// I’m starting as a totally de-conditioned 62 year old with a goal of creating a totally fit work of art by 65: and now I know exactly how to do it without injuring myself. And because of your commitment to giving if I ever run into a roadblock or get stuck for any reason you’re the first and ONLY person I’m gonna call for ONLINE training!!! YOU ARE THE HIGH INTENSITY MAN! Thank you for being THE GIFT that guides seekers like me from the Pit to the Pinnacle! God bless ya brother. 👊🏼🙏🏻🏔️🏋🏻
Question..on chest and arm day do you hit tri first since they are already loaded with blood or bicep first..? I also always destroy my forarms after biceps... many years ago i loved super setting between biceps and triceps..thanks for sharing
Awesome video, very logical. I do have a quick question though. Would this type of split also work for a routine that's geared more towards powerlifting lifts. Basically keeping the same idea, but taking a block of time to work on high weight, low rep squats on leg day, deadlift on back day, and bench press on leg day. And then doing all the other exercises at higher reps to maintain hypertrophy? Do you have any experience training people in this fashion? Thank you.
First off thanks for tuning in and I have indeed worked with powerlifters in the past and the best practice seemed to be when they went all out with it during a period of their off-season and then transitioning to a more specialized approach. Since each workout is different it isn't an opportunity to master one movement, which is required in powerlifting, but the ones who committed did see an increase when they shifted gears back to their more conventional prep and were able to beat some PR's. I have only worked with a little less than a half dozen or so who were serious over the years so I don't know if I have enough data there to draw a definitive conclusion. But I think the time to develop auxiliary muscles with a more bodybuilding approach for a time could be beneficial.
@@naturallyintense Thank you for the reply. This is actually what I've had in mind. I've been doing powerlifting style workouts for awhile now but I've been following a bodybuilding routine like this one for the past 3 weeks and plan to do so for at least 6 more before transitioning back to a more powerlifting geared routine. I feel like this is actually helping a lot, as well as giving my joints a break. Thank you again.
Same principle more or less, keeping the blood in the same area for as long as possible, but I found in the early stages when I was trying combinations that after doing back my chest pump would almost disappear. But that's my personal experience, and I don't know if everyone else seems to have that outcome.
Do you consider using L-citriline NO2 and other supplements that are not drugs as natural ? Those supplements seem to help me to recover quicker . I’m 53 and train 2 days off a day 2 days on them weekends off . If I drop to this split what kinda of muscle gains can I. Expect at my age. And I do train hard and heavy. Thank you
I would never recommend them but they are indeed natural. As for what you can expect following my recommended split, all I can say is that it's worked universally this far to help increase muscle mass and lowering body fat with the correct dietary protocols and a blistering degree of intensity. You would be doing a very modified version of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training as it's not the same as training directly with me or my staff. I which case I could give a very detailed account of what you would expect, that said, it should certainly make a difference while being far easier on your joints. Hope that helps!!!
I honestly haven't seen much in the way of increasing returns among those who did work small muscles every day. My calves were by no means fantastic but I would demolish them on leg day and got really great gains from just that one session, even though they would most likely recover before the 6-7 day period between workouts. What made the difference was intensity more than frequency and I believe (as I couldn't measure it) that the overall anabolic effect that comes from extended rest carries over to all muscle groups. Which is a logical deduction as muscles do not exist in isolation of each other.
@@naturallyintense OK, thanks. BTW I just recently discovered your channel and it's been very interesting and helpful. As a 63-year-old lifter I'll take all the good advice I can get!
I noticed that Back and Shoulders Day on Wednesday comes before Chest and Arms Day on Friday. Have you seen any issues with the front delts not being recovered from the pressing work on Back and Shoulders day by the time you get to Chest and Arms day?
Kevin you did not mentioned how many exercises and sets should we do in your three days working split ? and kindly do tell after three days split can we do cardio for the next 2 days or should remain in 3 days window ?
An incredibly underrated channel with an excess of highly valuable information. Your explanations make so much sense. You give me hope. I have tried to train high volume for years and repeatedly failed spectacularly.
Thanks so much, I honestly didn't think it would even be as popular as it is and I would never say you failed. It was part of your experimentation process and now you have the data to act on moving forward. Thanks again and all the best!!!
great video, you were very clear regarding number of times per week to train each muscle, but what about volume? How many sets per week for each muscle?
@@naturallyintense Thanks! I recently discovered your channel, and as a fellow natural bodybuilder (58 years old) I love the channel! I'm looking forward to watching all the videos
Interestingly enough not from what I have observed over the years. I've trained as I mentioned with a leg day in between at times and sometimes without. Same with clients, and there wasn't any difference as long as there was a 6-7 day span between training days.
Hi Kevin, thank you for your videos, I am greatly enjoying them. However, I have run into a problem. I am 71 years old and have trained off and on since grade school. I have tendinitis in my rotar cuffs although I have never had a tear. I like your 3 day split but I find that the shoulder envolvement on the non leg days accumulatively leave them sore. I used to work out legs and shoulders together and that worked better however you suggest that is not best. Any ideas as to what I should do? Thanks Peter
First off, thanks so much for tuning in and my question would have to be are you doing shoulder movements that hurt while doing it, and is it soreness you are feeling after training them or is it an injury that's being aggravated?
It is soreness after I have done to much volume and intensity. I train hard and Chest work already hits triceps hard then when you add tricep work on top of that it's to much. When I was a sophomore in high school I had the regional bench press record in my weight class. I weighed 158 and was benching 320 , I could climb the rope in the gym hands only with 50 lbs strapped to my waist, I had every strength record the school had. Unfortunately I had open heart surgery 2 years ago and a stroke, but I digress. I have had tendinitis in both my shoulders for the past 15 years , it has taken me a long time to lift hard again, I do lots of warm up for shoulders. I just noticed that when I go past 6 heavy sets for shoulders with any kind of presses they can't take much more and there are repacussions.
I am really happy to hear that you made it back to the gym, and you do have to be very careful with your shoulders. I stopped doing heavy bench presses when I was 19 after I had a rotator cuff tear, and I stopped behind the neck presses when I was about 21. As those put a little too much stress in the wrong places. There is also the option to not do any shoulder press movements at all as you already sound like you have a foundation and could make significant progress with other shoulder movements. Hope that helps and keep it going as it sounds like you truly have that warrior spirit!!!
If I keep the shoulder involvement in moderation it can be tolerated very well, I just have to keep the volume moderate also. I use higher reps and lower weight. Another tool is using Myo sets, cuts down on weight, reps and time. I am sure you know about them, if people are unfamiliar with them they can look them up on RUclips , they are a little like rest pause but different. They are a great workout tool.
I have put together 2 additional splits that I am going to try to work around this shoulder issue. Both splits are a spin off of your split , however I have tweeked both of them to accommodate my shoulder issues while mostly keeping the core of your split, it wouldn't be my preference to do it this way, but it has to be done if I want to continue working out. If you can't afford the Lamborghini then go with the fancy corvette or some other muscle car, they will all get you tickets on the highway.
So you put more importance on giving muscle groups 7 days of rest. What if I hit back, then the next day hit arms, then legs. Wouldn't the blood flow/pump be worse and more spread out? Which results in less growth until I finally hit legs and take a break and let the blood stay there for a few days. Wouldn't a 2 day break in between each workout be better?
Thanks for watching and that is an excellent question, one that I in the beginning surmised to be the case, but very often conjecture doesn't hold up under real world conditions and this was one of those cases where I was very wrong. As it made absolutely no difference in client outcomes whether they trained three days in a row or spread it out. Reduced gains only came among those who trained more than three days and so had less rest time between muscle groups. Without long term observations of dozens of people, I don't think I would have known. And I hope that helps.
@naturallyintense thanks I was thinking it would make recovering worse, thinking that the body would put let focus on strengthening the other muscles but would instead just bring it back to what it previously was in order to heal the latest damaged body part to quicken recovery. that clears up what I was thinking. I appreciate your response. Thanks for all the content you make 🙏
Great video @naturalintense Really clear and helpful guidance and as a PT in the first couple of months of training clients this kind of info is amazing. Question on sets etc per day How many sets would you do for say biceps? Thanks for the immense work and editing 🎉
Really gald it was helpful and as for biceps, you can see my routine and recommendations here- ruclips.net/video/pQvOWsxV3Qo/видео.htmlsi=NsMUx17vqmi5VQFO and thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work!!!
Hi Kevin! Been watching you for only 3 days and damn feels so legit. I have also been spoon fed the idea of training each muscle twice a week but your points about recovery seems legit. I am 19 years old and been in the gym for 3 months doing a PPL split. Though I have made progress, but I wanna try this split. However, I want to make some modifications- Day1- chest and shoulders Day2-back Day3- legs Day4-arms Taking into consideration that there is a gap of 6-7days in training each muscle again and don’t do junk volume as people often on a bro split do, is this split good? Or is yours the only best one? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for watching and if you look at my videos you will see that the splits are distilled from significant trials and errors and are in essence a distillation of best practices. I was always able to verify it being the most effective way to optimize results as I always had people who would make their modifications and they served over the years as a confirmation that this particular split works best for this particular type of training. So in the spirit of evidence based assessments, I would not recommend that split that you suggest. Hope that helps.
@@naturallyintense ok I understand that. But I feel doing chest+arms together would take a toll on my body and back and shoulders are pretty big muscles by themselves too so I thought my intensity would take a hit.
I don't want to sound hard headed but I started training my arms every day since a few months ago, because I felt like they were lagging a bit from absence of load during my daily activity and I hadn't learned enough muscle control and refined a good routine, and they still grew out very well. There are definitely other muscle groups that need more rest time and are more prone to injury though (Also I could already do around 85 push-ups without pausing before starting this). Also you've made fantastic progress I just found your channel.
Not hard headed at all and bear in mind that I always remind folks that there is more than one way up the mountain, and this is the path that I have walked and have guided others on for many years. That said, do be careful as when the years start going by you may find yourself with some nagging elbow issues and I wouldn't want that for you at all. It's hard sometimes to think this way, but remember the minimum dose idea, sometimes we do more than we need to effect a change, and credit all that we did for the change when it may have been half of what we did being truly responsible. And the only way to know is to test it!
@naturallyintense Yeah in this case it's not necessarily about building the most muscle base possible, but learning more and putting time in to get a better handle on conditioning and controlling the muscles in that group. In my opinion muscle control requires somewhat of an obsession factor to be really good at it naturally, so to me it's almost like a form of meditation and review to learn more techniques over time. There's still plenty of time for me to cut volume later on and the routine is challenging, but the intensity is still nowhere near the people training to do 1500+ pull-ups in one day for example (Some powerlifters may even consider these warm-up sets as well). I originally got the idea from Patrick Moore, and believe as long as someone doesn't overdo the intensity and they continue studying decent as well, an intermediate lifter could do this for 6 months to 2 years and become quite advanced at conditioning the arms. The elbows also seem to be much less prone to inflammation compared to the knees, so i'm less concerned about injuries considering it's a fairly controlled routine at this point and doesn't involve the most extreme exercises. With my chest and back I was already fairly minimalist, since they were already growing well with a more common training split as my weight increased. I had a full write out of the arm routine but it was lost on Wordpad so i'll write it out again later after I finish moving to my new place, was also planning to record the video of the workout routine at the park. It basically consists of pullovers with elbows leveraged against a pull-up bar and lunging forward with one knee (1 set unilateral to medium burn and single arm to moderate failure), an inverse of this exercise to target the front delts, 1 set of 15 chin ups, standing pull-up bar curls leaning back on the feet and pulling the bodyweight until the pull-up bar touches the chest, 1 set of bodyweight or backpack weighted tricep extensions against a bar (1 set unilateral and single arm to moderate failure), 1 set of incline single arm pushups starting out on the knees and shifting up on the bench surface as needed to increase the weight (20 reps on each arm), and a shelf hanging isometric hold for 60 seconds (Setting elbows over a padded surface and suspending bodyweight for 60 seconds, can progressive overload wth a weighted backpack as well). Generally it takes me around 35 min to go through the routine, and it starts out with the pullover and curl calisthenics exercises being in one superset, then a 2 min rest between the set of incline single arm pushups and the isometric hold. Here's a recent conditioning check prnt.sc/QMcmqFcuJtsX , and when the park is full I just train at home with strict curls on resistance bands, and other calisthenics exercises which generally mimic the same set of exercises from that routine. Also controlling the eccentric and staggering/pausing in between the reps at different ranges of motion can help with proximity to failure on the easier exercises, but you've probably already heard of that technique. I additionally make sure i'm not depleted and already ate properly for the day (or had a large meal the previous night if training in the morning), before going into this workout.
I don't believe in good or bad, I only look at what parameters lead to differences in overall results. I can't tell you the threshold limit of time whereby cardio adversely affects your gains, as that would be conjecture, which I try not to engage in when people want answers about something that is truly important to them. However. I can tell you that cardio certainly can make a difference from all of my observations. Not saying whether you should do it or not, but rather have a sense of what the outcomes could be and make the weighted evaluation of what's most important to you. Hope that helps.
Brilliant split. I'm going to adopt this. I actually just injured my triceps tendon above the elbow because i was stupid enough to workout triceps on friday then again on monday (12 sets each day). The muscles felt good to go again but clearly the tendon was not. I learned the hard way!
Hope you healed fully and always remember that slow and steady wins the race and that recovery time is the name of the game for us naturals. Thanks for watching and Excelsior!!!
@@naturallyintense Thanks! It's almost there i can actually do tricep pushdowns again and dumbell pressing. Not going to tempt fate with dips or skullcrushers just yet though! Loving this split 👌
Quick question kevin....you say this workout can be done 3 days in a row, but were you referring to putting leg day in between if we do it 3 days in a row? Im confused because if you work chest one day is it ok to follow with shoulders the very next day? Ty love your knowledge and amazing patience explaining everything so nice and detailed.
It can indeed be done back to back with and without a leg day between shoulders and back and chest and arms. And yes, you might think there would be a drop off in performance with back to back upper body workouts, but that doesn't seem to be the case based on my observations. So I always say, pick what feels best and go with it. Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work and I hope this helps!!!
Thanks for watching and every workout is different so there is no set rule, per se. And there are no dedicated warm ups, the first few sets serve well enough to get muscles and tendons ready to work. Hope that helps.
I’m starting this training today! I have always been “fit” but recently started at the gym 5 days a week doing lots of reps/sets but not seeing a ton on change at all. I’m excited to see what come ms of 5 months of this type of workout. But what about glutes?! Women want nicely defined glutes and I love training people for glutes as it’s so important for a healthy low back, and lateral gluteal for great balance. Excited to have found you, Kevin!
Thanks for tuning in and I know that you will not only see a difference with the three day split, but you will have more energy as well overall. As for glutes, there's a video in the pipeline on Kevin's pick for best glute and leg exercise, so stay tuned!!!
I have always been natural since day one(began training in 1990 & am now 47 years young). I have tried many different training splits(upper lower, full body, push pull, heavy duty(HIT), etc… I finally found in 2002 that “bro split” of training everything once per week(5 days for first year & 6 days per week thereafter) worked best for me. I still utilize a push pull system by hitting: monday-shoulders, Tuesday-biceps/forearms, wednesday-triceps, Thursday-lower body(quads, hams, calves) & abs, Friday-chest & Saturday-back. I used to train high volume but now train with more moderate volume of approximately 4 exercises per bodypart & 12 working sets. I am currently 5’10” man at 180 lbs at 8-10% bodyfat year round. There is no cookie cutter training that will work for everybody due to to many other factors fat come into play(genetics, rest 💤 & recuperation, diet, supplementation, etc..) so beat of luck to all out there & please remember to be patient when it comes to building a physique naturally as the old proverb applies: “ Rome was not built in a day”👌👍🤔
No offence taken I did not mean to imply your video suggestions for optimal training splits for naturals was “cookie cutter”. All that meant to do in my long rant was to hopefully encourage people to not only remain natural(be patient & realistic in one’s expectations etc…) but also to try various training splits & be honest with themselves as to which split works best for them individually. I also neglected to mention that although I have always historically trained on the higher side of volume & more days per week, I am not dogmatic & recognize that many people thrive with less frequency & lower volume of sets/reps. According to my experience & anecdotal research that I have looked at, many factors can determine this including an individual’s muscle fiber makeup. Congratulations on your journey & success as a natural bodybuilder & God bless you & loved ones moving forward💪
@@marcdanieltheriault3955 No offense taken either and I keep saying there are many ways up that proverbial mountain and this is one that I have had the blessing of being able to test over the course of several decades. And as such I wish to share it with full humility and a desire to help others succeed. Thanks so much for the kind words and wishing you all the best along your path as well my fellow brother in iron!!!. Much love!!!
Yes it does. I can't remember a time when I haven't always had some muscle group that hurt. But you get used to it over time and becomes like background noise. It's there but you don't really pay attention to it.
Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work and I don't know him personally or know much about his training philosophy but truly appreciate your tuning in!!!
I go by how i feel. I often train three days in a row but I also often take an extra day rest in between. But as far as results are concerned, it makes no difference as all that seems to matter is that you get 6 to 7 days between muscle groups. So as long as you do that you should be absolutely fine.
@@naturallyintense thank you alot for this advice as I was training almost 6 days a week each body parts twice I am pretty strong but I found I was getting too much sore and muscle fatigue I will start this training spilt because it makes sense since I am natural and need rest
It depends. Each workout is different and while it's usually the last set that I go all out, on a second exercise for example I may go to failure on the first set. And do two drop sets after. Working on a video to go a bit deeper on the issue so look out for it and thanks for tuning in!!!
I have been using your workout advice for a couple of months now and have clearly seen increased muscle size and less bodyfat. However, arm and shoulder strength seem to have declined. Could it be that arms and shoulders are trained too frequently? After all, if I do 3 sets of pulldowns and 3 sets of rows on Tuesday, then my biceps will be fried and perhaps not fully recovered for the Thursday arms workout. Likewise shoulders get trained directly on Day 1 and then indirectly on Chest day, which could be two days later. Same for triceps, which are indirectly trained both with shoulder presses and any pressing movement for the chest.
Thanks for tuning in and first off, If you are training with the type of intensity you should be training with all of your lifts in all muscle groups should be going down as it takes quite a while for them to go back up. A while being over the course of years. And here's the other problem. As a natural athlete you said you saw clear increases in muscle size and reduced body fat- what else could anyone possibly ask for in a training protocol as a natural. You have to stop micro analyzing as it leads so many off paths that will objectively get them to their destination. If you watched the video you would have heard me talk about the years, decades even of observations of what works best with hundreds of people. And that it all takes time, so I would strongly advise you to start celebrating your gains, as what you have done thus far in itself deserves to be applauded!
@@naturallyintense Yes, I guess I have to focus more on muscle gains than lack of strength gains. I am still a bit brainwashed by the Mike Mentzer idea of "if you do not gain strength in every workout, you are overtrained".
He actually said that? That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard and only some deluded by being heavily on steroids could make such a nonsensical claim. I apologize for the harsh words but I get very upset when I hear people being mislead when they are trying to realize their dreams and aspirations.
@@naturallyintense Yes, in his two last books, he clearly states that if you are not getting stronger, then you need more time off between workouts. His reasoning is that if you train intensely, you must have stimulated muscle growth, so if muscle growth is not taking place, it is due to the body not having had enough time to recover and then overcompensate. He also says that the stronger you get, the more time off between workouts you will need, since the heavier loads place a larger burden on your recovery ability. This is how some of his clients ended up only doing two sets once a week or even less.
As someone who knows several of his former clients, I would disregard it all and I am sorry there's so much out there that just causes more confusion and pathways to the wrong directions because of it.
Another amazing video Kevin! I have a bit of a dilema. Due to work/family/dog/business I can only train twice a week. Basically do a 2 day split of 1) Chest Press, Curls, Bent Flyes, Rows, Calf Press and 2) Leg press, Shoulder Press, Lat pulldowns, Tricep pushdowns, leaning lat raises, Dips. Usually do a few warm up sets then 2-3 sets. Seeing good progress, but always wondering if this is enough. I can't do squats or deadlifts anymore as they always mess up my back (I am 46 and years of martial arts have messed up my back lol). Although I am wiped out after the workouts and takes a couple days recovery, so must be doing something right. Wondered if you could do a video on what you would do if you could only train in the gym twice a week for optimal growth etc. I am sure there are many people in the same situation to me. Thank you and would love to see or hear your advice on this.
Thanks as always for tuning in and I do indeed address what I have seen over the years with clients training twice a week and once a week- you can see it here- ruclips.net/video/QriBDy_Phj0/видео.html
Only once. Every workout is different and it's important to keep variety going as your muscles will quickly adapt otherwise. Take a look at this video- ruclips.net/video/dE2ZMUrpHkg/видео.htmlsi=afG2eCShZMGGcd_R
Everything you've presented seems so sincere and legit. My only question is that is it true that detraining and loss of muscle mass occurs if you don't train a muscle at least twice a week (Losing muscle after a week of not subjecting the muscle to training they say). Thank you for the free precise knowledge by the way....the big channels spend over 2 hours just to explain bicep curling
Thanks for watching and everything I talk about is based on years of experience and decades of observations of a large number of men and women of varying ages and fitness levels. So there's enough of a sampling size and consistent repeatable results over time to say that yes it does work Hope that helps and thanks again for the kind words!!!
@@naturallyintense Hy Kev, I also like 3 working sets per exercise. As many reps as possible each and ideally above 6 reps with the most challenging weight possible. Is that solid or 1 all out set is better?
The complicated part is that muscle growth is an adaptive response to unaccustomed stimulus, so think of that protocol as a starting point as my workouts change each time I train.
@naturalintense: I wonder how you put so many exercises in just 20minutes of training per session? For example leg day consists of hamstring, calves and quads. So you do for each of them several exercises? Then you do a warm-up-set, I guess and an all-out-set. How do you fit that into 20minutes? After my squats to complete failure I need several minutes to be able to go on with the next exercise. I do only three leg exercises and that alone requires 20min+!
It was never designed to be done on your own power. Rather with someone pushing you to keep going when you get to that dark place and feel like you need to stop and catch your breath. It took me about 5 years to be able to do it on my own and I am always happy to take you through a workout to see what it feels like.
This is great advice! For me personally I’ve found 3 x full body workouts with a day off in between them each week works best. Since transitioning to this, lowering volume (around 6-8 sets per muscle per week) and increasing intensity I’ve seen my best ever results
so if you do 6 to 8 sets per muscle per week, how do you break that up over 3 full body work outs per week? So like for chest, back and legs for example. Thanks!
Sir i do chest /triceps ( 2 chest exc and 1 trice * 3 sets ) back/biceps (2 back exc and 1 biceps)legs,shoulders..4 days a week ..is it ok to do like this ? Please reply
If you watched the video you would have heard my years of observations of what works best with this particular form of training. Which is a specific three day split. All else consistently produced less results.
Over three decades of both personal experience and working with hundreds of others, I have found there to be no difference in terms of results. You can train three days in a row, or break it with days in between and the results are the same as long as there is 6-7 days of rest between muscle groups.
Hi Kevin, even though it’s 7 days “recovery” from each targeted body part, the body’s nervous system operates as a whole. So, it maybe that the muscles fibers in a targeted muscle group recovered within 7 days but one’s ability to fully recover varies from person to person. That’s why some who teach HIT advocate 1 or 2 workouts a week to allow for the body’s nervous system to fully recover and not just the muscle fibers, if one is truly going to momentary muscle failure which most people don’t do, hence people will add drop sets or negatives etc. to ensure they did. However, in doing so, one may increase a greater muscle inroad and potentially result in more time for recovery, or lead to over training. As a side note, original HIT training teaches about rep tempo being slower and controlled with strict form, not to use momentum to get the weight up. If one has to do that, the weight is too heavy and need to start with a lighter weight. I noticed in some of your older montage training footage that you use a lot of momentum to get the weight up with a fast rep tempo. Rep tempo is debated among the HIT crowd. Some will do a 4/2/4, 5/2/5 or even a real slow temp of 10 sec up, 2 sec pause, 10 sec lowering. Not sure if you mention this in any of your videos, but I do noticed yours is fast and use momentum to get the heavier weight up. Guess it doesn’t matter since you’ve had good progress over the years, just something to mention. Arthur Jones talks about slow and controlled, Mentzer taught it too. Yates, even though he did HIT, he also flung the weight up with momentum.
Thank for watching and I think you are overthinking, which is often the problem. Everything I do is based on trial and error, observations and notations. I don't know that much about what other high intensity protocols call for as my focus has been exclusively on trying to find what works and then see if it works for everyone while at the same time following the rule of science. Which is that explanations don't matter, nor does conjecture, just repeatable optimized results, and that's what a three day split with this form of training does. I've looked into almost every other possibility for splits and this is the one that always produced the best results, regardless of who was doing it, and give my new video on Deloads a watch here as it goes a bit more into what happens when there are even more rest days- ruclips.net/video/-n63AV9MFIc/видео.htmlsi=8mg2pRX9Mlh2xfBk As for rep cadence, same thing. You can intellectualize for hours on end but it comes down to what works in the trenches, which often contradicts what you think should work. Hope that helps.
@@naturallyintense okay my english is not so well but i try to explain you..... How much set per muscle group suitable..mens in one training session how much max set we can do for muscle grp with 3 day workout split
@@nikunjpanchal5871 Not a problem and it's three to six depending on the muscle group and here's a full explanation of how it works- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.html
Great Video! What are your thoughts on Mike Mentzer's ideal workout routine? He has you doing Chest/Back rest 72 hours then legs rest 72 hours then Shoulders/arms rest 72 hours then legs again. Some of your techniques are what he used, just wanted to see what you thought of resting 72 hours in between workouts.
It's not a bad idea, but I did find that after a chest workout, doing back drains most of the pump and so I preferred not to do chest and back, and I did try different spacings in terms of time between workouts. And what seemed optimal was 6-7 days between muscle groups, regardless of the training order.
@@naturallyintense I know you advocated for 3 sets per movement. What do you think of two warm up sets and one all out set? So really one working set? Sorry for all the questions your videos are great
what your training routine? for example legs = leg extension 1x 12/15 leg press 1x 12/15 leg curl 1x 12/15 calf seated + stand super set 15/20 + 12/15 reps.....
This is a basic breakdown of what I do but it's not canonical as every workout I do is different to the last one- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.html
I can tell you what I observed over the years with myself and the people who I worked with over so many years and it's that three days a week with this form of training yields the best results. I can't speak to other more conventional approaches as I haven't dedicated my life to studying and observing them, but that's what I have seen for this type of high intensity training with natural athletes. Hope that helps!!!
That hasn't been my experience over the past few decades with this form of high intensity training and you can learn more about sets here- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=ka3SM21vGLkMJ13u. Thanks for watching.
@@naturallyintense sounds ideal workout, like you stated so many ways on Internet of different workouts sets and reps , splits total body , gets fucking confusing, especially for natty, your program make sense, mark uk Thanks
happy new year! Thank you for the amazing video. I have a question tho, when training back n delts the day before bicep and chest; will I still be able to have a HIT and progressive overload over time (For chest n bicep)? wont my bicep and chest already be 'used'/sore due to the back and delts worktout? Thank you so much for the amazing content!
Happy New Year and thanks so much for tuning in! To answer your question, it doesn't in my experience make any difference whatsoever in terms of overall progress, but like I did for some years, you can do back and shoulders first, then legs then chest and arms. It's more a matter of preference though, as observed results were always the same. Thanks again!!!
Dorian trained four days a week and I think that might work for someone who isn't natural, but in my experience, three days was always the sweet spot for maximum gains among the natural athletes I work with.
It's my current split and surprisingly it works!!! That being said for many years it was back and shoulders then legs then chest and arms. And for some of my clients that spacing works best for them as well.
Since Back workouts also work Biceps, if you do Back/Shoulders on one day, and the next day you do Chest/Arms, aren't you working your Biceps two days in a row? Wouldn't this negate your rest/recovery for Biceps?
That's an excellent question and it's a perfect example of what I also figured would happen from a logical point of view but it doesn't seem to make any difference in practice. Sometimes I put legs between the upper body workouts and sometimes I space the workouts with a full day between them. But none of those things made any difference in long term results in my observations. All that mattered was there was at least 6-7 days between the workouts. Thanks for tuning in and for a great question!!!
Sir but don’t we need to hit every muscle group twice per week ? Coz when i googled i got this info…. Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS): MPS is elevated for about 48 hours after a workout. Training each muscle group twice a week helps maintain elevated MPS levels, leading to more effective muscle growth over time. How about this ?
The problem with Googling an answer is that it will give you a response but the onus is on you as a logical and rational based individual to never blindly accept it and do the work to see if it's really true or not. If you took the time to fix the actual studies and peer reviewed commentary on the studies you would see that this finding never in any way was linked to any increase in overall muscle mass over time. It's just conjecture and other studies state firmly that no correlation between temporarily increased testosterone and muscle mass increase has ever been found from multiple training sessions. But even more importantly, what I present is what I have observed over decades, so I would strongly advise you to NEVER simply expect a Google search to be a credible answer to every question. Hope that helps.
The only issue I have with training 3 days in a row is the systemic effect on the nervous system, this is where age comes into play , when your young ( 40 and under ) you can get away with that , 50 and older it gets trickier, sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t , I’m 61 and been training since ‘78, doing hit the last 30 years as well ( volume prior ), and it really becomes a guessing game as to which version of you shows up on any given day .😊
Thanks for watching and I think it could be something that may be trainable as I have a number of clients in their 60's, 70's and early 80's who trained three days in a row without any issues. But they were also training with me for a very long time, at least three to five years. But since there's no difference in results putting more days between workouts or doing them nonstop, I always say go at the pace you find works best!!!
I changed my Push Pull Leg from Back Bizeps and Shoulder Trizeps, Legs to youre Plan. i try it 3 Months it feels wrong to do Bizeps 2 Days after Back but i believe you and try it. thx i am allmost 50 and my arm is also almost 50cm and i only take Creatin.
Hello Kevin how many sets should I do and reps per body part I am all new to this when I work out I do go all out I will be Doing Mon Wed and Friday due to my schedule thank you for your help
I think it depends on the intensity. I need to rest each muscle 2 weeks before hitting again. After a leg workout it takes me 5 to 7 days to be able to walk properly again.
If fat burning isn't a priority I don't see anything wrong at all with a 2 week break between workouts. I've seen clients with very hectic schedules who would pop in and out with 2 week breaks still make good progress in terms of muscle mass, but a little less in terms of fat loss. That being said, it takes as long as it takes and I honestly am limping at times for 5-6 days after legs.
I never liked sitting in the gym for hours, but I thought it was necessary, that I needed a lot of exercises, a lot of sets, and I've been following your plan for a few weeks and I feel great, even with one exercise for biceps and triceps, after 3 sets, my arm has grown by 0.5 cm, it seems like it's not much, but it's been constant for a year. I'm shocked that 20 minutes at the gym can give such results!
Finally some split for naturals ... Most content in my country is about anabolic horses ... This kind of training for naturals sucks ... I had split 4 +1 Legs, Back , Chest + Shoulders and Arms .. and day off, Repeat .. I am gonna try this plan 3+1 🙂
When I started out there was nothing about natural training. The Internet didn't exist and all we had were muscle magazines filled with enhanced athletes saying that you could be just like them if you trained the way they did and took the supplements they used. So I always made sure to share what I learned along the way but I was surprised that even today with so much information at our fingertips there still isn't that much credible information on natural training. So trying to change that and thanks so much for tuning in and all the best with that split!!!
Hey Kevin as no single workout is the same for you and you change exercises every workout did you ever log or track the exercises you was doing throughout your career even though you never did the same one the following week
Good question and I did. I logged every workout for about 15 years. I had books upon books in the beginning before I got a pocket pc and started using it for my notes, and even that would fill up!!!
@@naturallyintense thanks for the swift reply,and did you notice any changes in strength muscle soreness etc when performing different exercises every workout
@@Lemon-squeezer Absolutely. It's why I kept training this way for the past 31 years and it's one of the key forces behind my natural bodybuilding career and the fact that I can still train heavy while approaching 50.
@@naturallyintense ok that seems logical I started high intensity after doing full body workouts for years and through habit I’ve made the mistake of performing to many exercises per muscle group and going to full failure on every exercise leaves me tired or I’m subconsciously holding myself back going all out attack on it so I’m going to cut my exercises to just 2 per muscle group as you have instructed and run it from there and change my exercises every workout
@@Lemon-squeezer That's the ticket, keep your volume low so you can really focus on the exercises you do and keep varying it. It makes a huge difference as well in terms of not feeling like you need to keep something in the tank to complete the rest of the workout. And so you can really be focused and in the moment during your training. Let me know how it goes!!!
Good news Kevin! Just realized I can build a traditional 3x5 power cycle into this routine without interrupting this very effective program. If the reps drift above 5 by failure, so be it.
Be careful with those 5 reps and make sure you are warm as you don't want it to come back to haunt you in your later years. Remember it's all about doing now what will allow you to keep doing what you love several decades from now as that is how you realize your potential.
Only 3 days a week severely diminishes psychological returns for me, also for general fitness. I would gladly sacrifice some muscle size to get more of the other benefits of working out.
Thanks for watching and it always comes down to what most important for you as an individual, but as you get older I would strongly recommend the path of less training days only because I have seen over the years the prevalence and almost acceptance of overuse injuries as just being part of long term training. And it doesn't have to be. Hope that helps!!!
@@naturallyintense Thanks. To get the results you get in just 3 workouts a week is very interesting. I will check out your other videos to find out what you're doing in each in terms of volume, intensity etc .
I remember going to the gym and a guy asking me why he wasn't getting results and he even felt he was getting weaker. I asked what he was doing for workouts and he told me he was working out every day and each muscle 3 times a week. I was like holy shit, dude! I explained to him what you said in the video and he started seeing results shortly after. People don't get that steroid/drug freaks can recover 100 times faster than an all-natural bodybuilder. I remember reading Arnold, The Education of a Bodybuilder and thinking what the f*** is he doing??? the diet in the book was awful too. it was an inspiring story but training the way he did was nuts. Since January 1st, 2024 I have been training one body part a day for 5 days: chest on Monday neck, traps, & shoulders on Tuesday back on Wednesday legs on Thursday arms & abs on Friday it's working ok but I think I will switch back to 3 times a week using the split you use. ok, I have to go change my routine and daily schedule thanks to you LMAO! BTW, I went back to school to study computer graphics and drafting with AutoCAD.
Outstanding story and thanks so much for sharing and really glad I was able to help!!! The adage more is better still persists these days thanks to the training stories of all those high volume drug users, and glad you were able to help him out! And I highly recommend the three day split to you as well!!! All the best and thanks again!!!
Watch the video. I explain the working theory behind this particular split and the fact that it's the product of years of trial and error that evolved as best practice for this form of high intensity training.
5:36 that is not the case for your arms tho, they are being trained indirectly on the 2nd day through overhead pressing and back, so that rule isn't being applied to arms yet you got some very nice arms, which contradicts that only roid users can recover from that frequency same for the shoulders, they are being trained on back day but also they are being trained hard on chest day through flat press and dips
It's not a contradiction at all. The training protocol yields best results with a rest period of 6 to 7 days between muscle groups as in 6-7 days after legs, 6-7 days after back and shoulders and 6-7 days after chest and arms. Biceps always get some work during back training, triceps always get worked during shoulder workouts and shoulders also get stressed during a chest workout. Which underlines even more the importance of training only three days a week. Hope that helps clarify things a bit!!!
Typical protocol would be to work the same muscle groups more than once a week, as in have two full leg days, two full back and shoulder days and two chest and arm days. Which, with this training won't work for a natural athlete but it makes sense for someone on drugs to train that way as they recover far faster. But it's not optimal for a natural athlete training at high intensity.
I absolutely love this video! We natural athletes training science get ignored often .
Thanks so much, there honestly isn't much in the way of evidence based approaches to natural bodybuilding. Just mostly copy and paste of what drug using athletes have been doing for decades. So trying to do my best with what I have seen and share it as much as possible. Thanks again!!!
literally 98% of all body building studies are done on natural people .
so wtf are you talking about XD ?
So important to have REAL natural builders on RUclips, too many misinformation videos based on steroid cycles and over eating .
I could not agree more!!!
Amen to your Comment 🙏👍💪
That is true. Even a vegan will gain substantial muscle on a properly designed steroid cycle.🤔
I've trained for over 30 years from a young age, this is true wisdom for those who are willing to listen. Great video!
Thanks my friend. Means a lot to hear that.
Day 1 - Legs
Day 2 - Back/shoulders
Day 3 - Chest/arms/abs
chest arm abs at the same day? TOTALLY not optimum.
Yes but when to train and when to rest ? Nothing was mentioned about that 🤔
Three days a week at your convenience.
@@josephb.konsdorf8264 yeah , that makes sense , thanks .
Day 1, chest,shoulders and tri's. Calfs
Day2, back and guns. Calfs. Abs
Day3, legs.
Day 4 Jujitsu, Abs
Day 5, Cardio.
That is an excellent split with plenty of recovery time. I will give it a try just to mix things up. As an older natural lifter, I found that growth and strength really require loading the spine via free weights. In a perfect schedule, I work out every other day with the following split:
Workout #1: Free weight squats of your choosing...I prefer goblet squats over traditional barbell back squats but any free weight squat will work. Once warmed up, ramp up the intensity and go at it for 30 to 40 minutes, rest between sets as needed. After at least one free weight squat exercise you can add in leg press, hack squats, etc to add variety to the squat workout. When done with your squat regimen, you shouldn't have anything left in the tank to even attempt another body part.
Workout #2: Chest and Tri's
Workout #3: Back....after an intense back workout I have nothing left for arms, etc.
Workout #4: Quads, hamstrings and calves. Leg extensions, leg curls, adductors, abductors, stiff leg deadlifts are my normal go too movements.
Workout #5: Shoulders and Bi's
Overall I incorporate a lot of partial movements and a lot of time under tension. Free weights really allow you to load the spine and keep your natural hormones working towards a size/strength ratio. I also feel that your central nervous system understands free weights and adapts versus a lot of machine work which is innately foreign and will overload the nervous system causing your growth to stall. Because of my age and wanting to avoid getting injured, I do a lot of reverse pyramid free weight lifting so I can control the heaviest weight when I'm at my strongest.
Sounds like you are on the right track, George!!! Keep it going!!!
this is so true. before i used to train 5-6x a week and have noticed slow growth, sometimes i even looked smaller. but now i noticed alot more gains by letting my body recover at least 3 days a week.
It makes a tremendous difference.
As a 32years old lifter. Training every other day is the sweetspot for me.
Why you making 32 feels like 62 dawg
same bro 32 aswell and nothing beats every other day
32 ?😂 why mention that age ? that's relatively young for lifters? no way should you feel tired or over trained at that age,
Wow!!!!
Mind blown that's crazy so i definitely gonna finish today out and change everything next week
Hello Kevin,
another very nice video!
As you recommend, I'm now doing a 3 day split instead of a 4 day split.
I'll just break it down a little differently.
Monday - biceps + triceps + abs
Wednesday - legs
Friday - chest + shoulders + back
My focus is on the upper chest, which is very difficult for me to grow.
My shoulders and back are very well developed and can be “neglected” a little bit.
I can still train both very well after chest training.
And I have two days off on Saturday and Sunday after these several sets.
I train biceps and triceps very hard and can't do chest before that (like you do).
Greetings
GREAT video!!!!! This is the information we need to hear!! Just the truth…. Thank you
I really need to do this. I have written it down. Thank you!!
I’m 51 needing more rest days so i haven’t found a split that actually makes sense but this really does…nice video
Thanks so much, and really glad you found it!!! Let me know how it goes!!!
@@naturallyintense I def will thanks🤘🏾
@@jasonbrown5886 👊🏽
Best way to do this is learning from the natural bidybuilding champion himself ..thanks Kevin..i learnt alot from you
Thanks so much, Munis!!! It's an honor to know that my work is helpful my friend!!!
This guys is one of best naturals out there
Thanks so much for the kind words. Really appreciate it
Another great video!
Thanks so much, Robert. Really appreciate you tuning in!!!
@@naturallyintense 😢e3😊eeesxs🎉❤is
It's my pleasure and keep me posted as to how it works out for you!!!
Really good video, wish I found you earlier. I have a question about the Back&Shoulder and Chest&Arms workouts. Today when I workout chest, I feel like I work my shoulder as well, which chest exercises could I do to not feel them? Is there a difference between doing chest with dumbells and machines?
Thanks for tuning in and my chest has always been a hard part for me as my shoulders would get involved. Best approach is to do everything, dumbbells and machines (Hammer Strength ones are amazing!) and more so incline and decline barbell presses, not flat bench presses. And all manner of flyes and pullovers. Variety is the spice of growth and it will help you as well find what really isolates your chest muscles. Thanks again and me know how it goes.
This is awesome this man knows the body well im adapting this training i also have a very physical job so training 5 days a week buggerd me time to try this for 3 months at least thank you for the wisdom 👍
You are very welcome and I know it will make a world of difference! Thanks again for watching!!!
Intensity and recovery is key. Love these videos
Thanks so much for watching and intensity and recovery are indeed the key!!!
Great information
Really appreciate your taking the time to watch!!!
Thanks for watching!!!
WOW!!…. 😄Kevin!!! I have only watched three of your videos!…. And I am blown away by your detailed content! Bro!.. You give the best explanations! And you’re giving the whole freaking enchilada! 🔥🔥🔥👋Holding nothing back. /// Over the past week I have binge watched 20+ other videos on high intensity training and read a book and still was confused about the relationship between the heaviness of the weight, the science, repetitions, intensity, muscle groupings, and rest days splits. It’s like I was getting a broad introduction but no clear specificity. Thank you!! /// I’m starting as a totally de-conditioned 62 year old with a goal of creating a totally fit work of art by 65: and now I know exactly how to do it without injuring myself. And because of your commitment to giving if I ever run into a roadblock or get stuck for any reason you’re the first and ONLY person I’m gonna call for ONLINE training!!! YOU ARE THE HIGH INTENSITY MAN! Thank you for being THE GIFT that guides seekers like me from the Pit to the Pinnacle! God bless ya brother. 👊🏼🙏🏻🏔️🏋🏻
Thank you so much for watching and really appreciate your taking the time to let me know how helpful my work was, as it means a lot! Thanks again!!!
I love your videos Kevin! One question, when would you work the lower back with a hinge movement like deadlift? Legs or day 2 of your split? Thanks!
I don't do deadlifts very often, just stiff leg deadlifts from time to time. And that's it for direct lower back training.
Question..on chest and arm day do you hit tri first since they are already loaded with blood or bicep first..? I also always destroy my forarms after biceps... many years ago i loved super setting between biceps and triceps..thanks for sharing
No, I always do triceps after biceps as I tend to need some time for them to recover to be honest.
Awesome video, very logical. I do have a quick question though. Would this type of split also work for a routine that's geared more towards powerlifting lifts. Basically keeping the same idea, but taking a block of time to work on high weight, low rep squats on leg day, deadlift on back day, and bench press on leg day. And then doing all the other exercises at higher reps to maintain hypertrophy? Do you have any experience training people in this fashion? Thank you.
First off thanks for tuning in and I have indeed worked with powerlifters in the past and the best practice seemed to be when they went all out with it during a period of their off-season and then transitioning to a more specialized approach. Since each workout is different it isn't an opportunity to master one movement, which is required in powerlifting, but the ones who committed did see an increase when they shifted gears back to their more conventional prep and were able to beat some PR's. I have only worked with a little less than a half dozen or so who were serious over the years so I don't know if I have enough data there to draw a definitive conclusion. But I think the time to develop auxiliary muscles with a more bodybuilding approach for a time could be beneficial.
@@naturallyintense Thank you for the reply. This is actually what I've had in mind. I've been doing powerlifting style workouts for awhile now but I've been following a bodybuilding routine like this one for the past 3 weeks and plan to do so for at least 6 more before transitioning back to a more powerlifting geared routine. I feel like this is actually helping a lot, as well as giving my joints a break. Thank you again.
What about Chest,Back/Legs/Shoulder,Arms. Would that be the same principle or is there something wrong with that split?
Same principle more or less, keeping the blood in the same area for as long as possible, but I found in the early stages when I was trying combinations that after doing back my chest pump would almost disappear. But that's my personal experience, and I don't know if everyone else seems to have that outcome.
@@naturallyintense Thanks for your reply great information bro.👍
@@steelphantom9105 Anytime!!!
I used that split before its good but back is tough after chest..less taxing to train arms after chest.
@@matthewcarbone2108. Thanks for the feedback.
Do you consider using L-citriline NO2 and other supplements that are not drugs as natural ? Those supplements seem to help me to recover quicker .
I’m 53 and train 2 days off a day 2 days on them weekends off . If I drop to this split what kinda of muscle gains can I. Expect at my age. And I do train hard and heavy. Thank you
I would never recommend them but they are indeed natural. As for what you can expect following my recommended split, all I can say is that it's worked universally this far to help increase muscle mass and lowering body fat with the correct dietary protocols and a blistering degree of intensity. You would be doing a very modified version of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training as it's not the same as training directly with me or my staff. I which case I could give a very detailed account of what you would expect, that said, it should certainly make a difference while being far easier on your joints. Hope that helps!!!
Great video kevin how many sets and reps should we be doing
Thanks for tuning in and give this a watch- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=dlZ-ZWbCoiCPy-r-
Thank you Kevin.
Kevin, what do you think about training smaller muscles with a higher frequency? For example, can I train my calves in every workout?
I honestly haven't seen much in the way of increasing returns among those who did work small muscles every day. My calves were by no means fantastic but I would demolish them on leg day and got really great gains from just that one session, even though they would most likely recover before the 6-7 day period between workouts. What made the difference was intensity more than frequency and I believe (as I couldn't measure it) that the overall anabolic effect that comes from extended rest carries over to all muscle groups. Which is a logical deduction as muscles do not exist in isolation of each other.
@@naturallyintense OK, thanks. BTW I just recently discovered your channel and it's been very interesting and helpful. As a 63-year-old lifter I'll take all the good advice I can get!
@@eetechsun451 Really appreciate it!!!!
I noticed that Back and Shoulders Day on Wednesday comes before Chest and Arms Day on Friday. Have you seen any issues with the front delts not being recovered from the pressing work on Back and Shoulders day by the time you get to Chest and Arms day?
Not at all but beat in mind that the workouts can be spread as far out as you need them to be over the week to aid recovery.
The next one I do is legs and I'm already excited to do it. Thi's new way of training is really got me amped up.
Kevin you did not mentioned how many exercises and sets should we do in your three days working split ? and kindly do tell after three days split can we do cardio for the next 2 days or should remain in 3 days window ?
Give this a watch- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=9KMNsWerAmzDsUxD then this- ruclips.net/video/DJV9I7eRv8o/видео.html
An incredibly underrated channel with an excess of highly valuable information. Your explanations make so much sense. You give me hope. I have tried to train high volume for years and repeatedly failed spectacularly.
Thanks so much, I honestly didn't think it would even be as popular as it is and I would never say you failed. It was part of your experimentation process and now you have the data to act on moving forward. Thanks again and all the best!!!
great video, you were very clear regarding number of times per week to train each muscle, but what about volume? How many sets per week for each muscle?
Thanks so much for tuning in and great question! Here's a breakdown of my sets and reps- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=l98YwfM8Hmna1Nd9
@@naturallyintense Thanks! I recently discovered your channel, and as a fellow natural bodybuilder (58 years old) I love the channel! I'm looking forward to watching all the videos
@@NJN23 Really appreciate it, Nick!!!
Wouldn't the upper body days overlap and hinder recovery? Shoulders/back than Chest/arms would be taxed?
Interestingly enough not from what I have observed over the years. I've trained as I mentioned with a leg day in between at times and sometimes without. Same with clients, and there wasn't any difference as long as there was a 6-7 day span between training days.
Just add a rest day in between or you can do back and shoulders ,legs next day off chest and arms rest Repeat. 💪
High kev wat else can i pre exhaust chest with besides flys ..😅thank champ
Thanks for watching and there's literally a million things that you could do, enough to write a book! Try dumbbell cross bench pullovers for a start!
Hi Kevin, thank you for your videos, I am greatly enjoying them. However, I have run into a problem. I am 71 years old and have trained off and on since grade school. I have tendinitis in my rotar cuffs although I have never had a tear. I like your 3 day split but I find that the shoulder envolvement on the non leg days accumulatively leave them sore. I used to work out legs and shoulders together and that worked better however you suggest that is not best. Any ideas as to what I should do? Thanks Peter
First off, thanks so much for tuning in and my question would have to be are you doing shoulder movements that hurt while doing it, and is it soreness you are feeling after training them or is it an injury that's being aggravated?
It is soreness after I have done to much volume and intensity. I train hard and Chest work already hits triceps hard then when you add tricep work on top of that it's to much. When I was a sophomore in high school I had the regional bench press record in my weight class. I weighed 158 and was benching 320 , I could climb the rope in the gym hands only with 50 lbs strapped to my waist, I had every strength record the school had. Unfortunately I had open heart surgery 2 years ago and a stroke, but I digress. I have had tendinitis in both my shoulders for the past 15 years , it has taken me a long time to lift hard again, I do lots of warm up for shoulders. I just noticed that when I go past 6 heavy sets for shoulders with any kind of presses they can't take much more and there are repacussions.
I am really happy to hear that you made it back to the gym, and you do have to be very careful with your shoulders. I stopped doing heavy bench presses when I was 19 after I had a rotator cuff tear, and I stopped behind the neck presses when I was about 21. As those put a little too much stress in the wrong places. There is also the option to not do any shoulder press movements at all as you already sound like you have a foundation and could make significant progress with other shoulder movements. Hope that helps and keep it going as it sounds like you truly have that warrior spirit!!!
If I keep the shoulder involvement in moderation it can be tolerated very well, I just have to keep the volume moderate also. I use higher reps and lower weight. Another tool is using Myo sets, cuts down on weight, reps and time. I am sure you know about them, if people are unfamiliar with them they can look them up on
RUclips , they are a little like rest pause but different. They are a great workout tool.
I have put together 2 additional splits that I am going to try to work around this shoulder issue. Both splits are a spin off of your split , however I have tweeked both of them to accommodate my shoulder issues while mostly keeping the core of your split, it wouldn't be my preference to do it this way, but it has to be done if I want to continue working out. If you can't afford the Lamborghini then go with the fancy corvette or some other muscle car, they will all get you tickets on the highway.
So you put more importance on giving muscle groups 7 days of rest. What if I hit back, then the next day hit arms, then legs. Wouldn't the blood flow/pump be worse and more spread out? Which results in less growth until I finally hit legs and take a break and let the blood stay there for a few days.
Wouldn't a 2 day break in between each workout be better?
Thanks for watching and that is an excellent question, one that I in the beginning surmised to be the case, but very often conjecture doesn't hold up under real world conditions and this was one of those cases where I was very wrong. As it made absolutely no difference in client outcomes whether they trained three days in a row or spread it out. Reduced gains only came among those who trained more than three days and so had less rest time between muscle groups. Without long term observations of dozens of people, I don't think I would have known. And I hope that helps.
@naturallyintense thanks I was thinking it would make recovering worse, thinking that the body would put let focus on strengthening the other muscles but would instead just bring it back to what it previously was in order to heal the latest damaged body part to quicken recovery. that clears up what I was thinking. I appreciate your response. Thanks for all the content you make 🙏
Great video @naturalintense
Really clear and helpful guidance and as a PT in the first couple of months of training clients this kind of info is amazing.
Question on sets etc per day
How many sets would you do for say biceps?
Thanks for the immense work and editing 🎉
Really gald it was helpful and as for biceps, you can see my routine and recommendations here- ruclips.net/video/pQvOWsxV3Qo/видео.htmlsi=NsMUx17vqmi5VQFO and thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work!!!
Hi Kevin! Been watching you for only 3 days and damn feels so legit. I have also been spoon fed the idea of training each muscle twice a week but your points about recovery seems legit. I am 19 years old and been in the gym for 3 months doing a PPL split. Though I have made progress, but I wanna try this split. However, I want to make some modifications-
Day1- chest and shoulders
Day2-back
Day3- legs
Day4-arms
Taking into consideration that there is a gap of 6-7days in training each muscle again and don’t do junk volume as people often on a bro split do, is this split good? Or is yours the only best one?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for watching and if you look at my videos you will see that the splits are distilled from significant trials and errors and are in essence a distillation of best practices. I was always able to verify it being the most effective way to optimize results as I always had people who would make their modifications and they served over the years as a confirmation that this particular split works best for this particular type of training. So in the spirit of evidence based assessments, I would not recommend that split that you suggest. Hope that helps.
@@naturallyintense ok I understand that. But I feel doing chest+arms together would take a toll on my body and back and shoulders are pretty big muscles by themselves too so I thought my intensity would take a hit.
Thoughts??
I don't want to sound hard headed but I started training my arms every day since a few months ago, because I felt like they were lagging a bit from absence of load during my daily activity and I hadn't learned enough muscle control and refined a good routine, and they still grew out very well. There are definitely other muscle groups that need more rest time and are more prone to injury though (Also I could already do around 85 push-ups without pausing before starting this). Also you've made fantastic progress I just found your channel.
Not hard headed at all and bear in mind that I always remind folks that there is more than one way up the mountain, and this is the path that I have walked and have guided others on for many years. That said, do be careful as when the years start going by you may find yourself with some nagging elbow issues and I wouldn't want that for you at all. It's hard sometimes to think this way, but remember the minimum dose idea, sometimes we do more than we need to effect a change, and credit all that we did for the change when it may have been half of what we did being truly responsible. And the only way to know is to test it!
@naturallyintense Yeah in this case it's not necessarily about building the most muscle base possible, but learning more and putting time in to get a better handle on conditioning and controlling the muscles in that group. In my opinion muscle control requires somewhat of an obsession factor to be really good at it naturally, so to me it's almost like a form of meditation and review to learn more techniques over time. There's still plenty of time for me to cut volume later on and the routine is challenging, but the intensity is still nowhere near the people training to do 1500+ pull-ups in one day for example (Some powerlifters may even consider these warm-up sets as well). I originally got the idea from Patrick Moore, and believe as long as someone doesn't overdo the intensity and they continue studying decent as well, an intermediate lifter could do this for 6 months to 2 years and become quite advanced at conditioning the arms. The elbows also seem to be much less prone to inflammation compared to the knees, so i'm less concerned about injuries considering it's a fairly controlled routine at this point and doesn't involve the most extreme exercises.
With my chest and back I was already fairly minimalist, since they were already growing well with a more common training split as my weight increased. I had a full write out of the arm routine but it was lost on Wordpad so i'll write it out again later after I finish moving to my new place, was also planning to record the video of the workout routine at the park.
It basically consists of pullovers with elbows leveraged against a pull-up bar and lunging forward with one knee (1 set unilateral to medium burn and single arm to moderate failure), an inverse of this exercise to target the front delts, 1 set of 15 chin ups, standing pull-up bar curls leaning back on the feet and pulling the bodyweight until the pull-up bar touches the chest, 1 set of bodyweight or backpack weighted tricep extensions against a bar (1 set unilateral and single arm to moderate failure), 1 set of incline single arm pushups starting out on the knees and shifting up on the bench surface as needed to increase the weight (20 reps on each arm), and a shelf hanging isometric hold for 60 seconds (Setting elbows over a padded surface and suspending bodyweight for 60 seconds, can progressive overload wth a weighted backpack as well). Generally it takes me around 35 min to go through the routine, and it starts out with the pullover and curl calisthenics exercises being in one superset, then a 2 min rest between the set of incline single arm pushups and the isometric hold.
Here's a recent conditioning check prnt.sc/QMcmqFcuJtsX , and when the park is full I just train at home with strict curls on resistance bands, and other calisthenics exercises which generally mimic the same set of exercises from that routine. Also controlling the eccentric and staggering/pausing in between the reps at different ranges of motion can help with proximity to failure on the easier exercises, but you've probably already heard of that technique. I additionally make sure i'm not depleted and already ate properly for the day (or had a large meal the previous night if training in the morning), before going into this workout.
Can I do 15 minutes of light cardio after training or is that bad for building muscle?
I don't believe in good or bad, I only look at what parameters lead to differences in overall results. I can't tell you the threshold limit of time whereby cardio adversely affects your gains, as that would be conjecture, which I try not to engage in when people want answers about something that is truly important to them. However. I can tell you that cardio certainly can make a difference from all of my observations. Not saying whether you should do it or not, but rather have a sense of what the outcomes could be and make the weighted evaluation of what's most important to you. Hope that helps.
Brilliant split. I'm going to adopt this. I actually just injured my triceps tendon above the elbow because i was stupid enough to workout triceps on friday then again on monday (12 sets each day).
The muscles felt good to go again but clearly the tendon was not. I learned the hard way!
Hope you healed fully and always remember that slow and steady wins the race and that recovery time is the name of the game for us naturals. Thanks for watching and Excelsior!!!
@@naturallyintense Thanks! It's almost there i can actually do tricep pushdowns again and dumbell pressing. Not going to tempt fate with dips or skullcrushers just yet though! Loving this split 👌
Quick question kevin....you say this workout can be done 3 days in a row, but were you referring to putting leg day in between if we do it 3 days in a row? Im confused because if you work chest one day is it ok to follow with shoulders the very next day? Ty love your knowledge and amazing patience explaining everything so nice and detailed.
It can indeed be done back to back with and without a leg day between shoulders and back and chest and arms. And yes, you might think there would be a drop off in performance with back to back upper body workouts, but that doesn't seem to be the case based on my observations. So I always say, pick what feels best and go with it. Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work and I hope this helps!!!
@@naturallyintense thanks Kevin I'll do just that appreciate you taking your time to answer questions to many of us....
How many warmups per exercise, Also y say 3 sets so every set is high intensity. When do y increase weight?
Thanks for watching and every workout is different so there is no set rule, per se. And there are no dedicated warm ups, the first few sets serve well enough to get muscles and tendons ready to work. Hope that helps.
I’m starting this training today! I have always been “fit” but recently started at the gym 5 days a week doing lots of reps/sets but not seeing a ton on change at all. I’m excited to see what come ms of 5 months of this type of workout.
But what about glutes?! Women want nicely defined glutes and I love training people for glutes as it’s so important for a healthy low back, and lateral gluteal for great balance.
Excited to have found you, Kevin!
Thanks for tuning in and I know that you will not only see a difference with the three day split, but you will have more energy as well overall. As for glutes, there's a video in the pipeline on Kevin's pick for best glute and leg exercise, so stay tuned!!!
how was it?
I have always been natural since day one(began training in 1990 & am now 47 years young). I have tried many different training splits(upper lower, full body, push pull, heavy duty(HIT), etc… I finally found in 2002 that “bro split” of training everything once per week(5 days for first year & 6 days per week thereafter) worked best for me. I still utilize a push pull system by hitting: monday-shoulders, Tuesday-biceps/forearms, wednesday-triceps, Thursday-lower body(quads, hams, calves) & abs, Friday-chest & Saturday-back. I used to train high volume but now train with more moderate volume of approximately 4 exercises per bodypart & 12 working sets. I am currently 5’10” man at 180 lbs at
8-10% bodyfat year round. There is no cookie cutter training that will work for everybody due to to many other factors fat come into play(genetics, rest 💤 & recuperation, diet, supplementation, etc..) so beat of luck to all out there & please remember to be patient when it comes to building a physique naturally as the old proverb applies: “ Rome was not built in a day”👌👍🤔
It wasn't indeed and wishing you all the best on your path, my brother in iron!!!
No offence taken I did not mean to imply your video suggestions for optimal training splits for naturals was “cookie cutter”. All that meant to do in my long rant was to hopefully encourage people to not only remain natural(be patient & realistic in one’s expectations etc…) but also to try various training splits & be honest with themselves as to which split works best for them individually. I also neglected to mention that although I have always historically trained on the higher side of volume & more days per week, I am not dogmatic & recognize that many people thrive with less frequency & lower volume of sets/reps. According to my experience & anecdotal research that I have looked at, many factors can determine this including an individual’s muscle fiber makeup. Congratulations on your journey & success as a natural bodybuilder & God bless you & loved ones moving forward💪
@@marcdanieltheriault3955 No offense taken either and I keep saying there are many ways up that proverbial mountain and this is one that I have had the blessing of being able to test over the course of several decades. And as such I wish to share it with full humility and a desire to help others succeed. Thanks so much for the kind words and wishing you all the best along your path as well my fellow brother in iron!!!. Much love!!!
Does it not cause continuous soreness, not repeating the same exercise for months?
Yes it does. I can't remember a time when I haven't always had some muscle group that hurt. But you get used to it over time and becomes like background noise. It's there but you don't really pay attention to it.
Found your channel via John Heart’s channel. You familiar with him? You two seem to be on the same page about training. Love your content.
Thanks so much for taking the time to look at my work and I don't know him personally or know much about his training philosophy but truly appreciate your tuning in!!!
Hi do u train three days straight or train and rest a day in between can u help me with the answer please?
I go by how i feel. I often train three days in a row but I also often take an extra day rest in between. But as far as results are concerned, it makes no difference as all that seems to matter is that you get 6 to 7 days between muscle groups. So as long as you do that you should be absolutely fine.
@@naturallyintense thank you alot for this advice as I was training almost 6 days a week each body parts twice I am pretty strong but I found I was getting too much sore and muscle fatigue I will start this training spilt because it makes sense since I am natural and need rest
How much rest between sets and exercise?
Just enough time to change the weight or have my partner finish her set.
Hi, on your split do you apply only 1 set to failure for each exercise?
It depends. Each workout is different and while it's usually the last set that I go all out, on a second exercise for example I may go to failure on the first set. And do two drop sets after. Working on a video to go a bit deeper on the issue so look out for it and thanks for tuning in!!!
I have been using your workout advice for a couple of months now and have clearly seen increased muscle size and less bodyfat. However, arm and shoulder strength seem to have declined. Could it be that arms and shoulders are trained too frequently? After all, if I do 3 sets of pulldowns and 3 sets of rows on Tuesday, then my biceps will be fried and perhaps not fully recovered for the Thursday arms workout. Likewise shoulders get trained directly on Day 1 and then indirectly on Chest day, which could be two days later. Same for triceps, which are indirectly trained both with shoulder presses and any pressing movement for the chest.
Thanks for tuning in and first off, If you are training with the type of intensity you should be training with all of your lifts in all muscle groups should be going down as it takes quite a while for them to go back up. A while being over the course of years. And here's the other problem. As a natural athlete you said you saw clear increases in muscle size and reduced body fat- what else could anyone possibly ask for in a training protocol as a natural. You have to stop micro analyzing as it leads so many off paths that will objectively get them to their destination. If you watched the video you would have heard me talk about the years, decades even of observations of what works best with hundreds of people. And that it all takes time, so I would strongly advise you to start celebrating your gains, as what you have done thus far in itself deserves to be applauded!
@@naturallyintense Yes, I guess I have to focus more on muscle gains than lack of strength gains. I am still a bit brainwashed by the Mike Mentzer idea of "if you do not gain strength in every workout, you are overtrained".
He actually said that? That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard and only some deluded by being heavily on steroids could make such a nonsensical claim. I apologize for the harsh words but I get very upset when I hear people being mislead when they are trying to realize their dreams and aspirations.
@@naturallyintense Yes, in his two last books, he clearly states that if you are not getting stronger, then you need more time off between workouts. His reasoning is that if you train intensely, you must have stimulated muscle growth, so if muscle growth is not taking place, it is due to the body not having had enough time to recover and then overcompensate.
He also says that the stronger you get, the more time off between workouts you will need, since the heavier loads place a larger burden on your recovery ability. This is how some of his clients ended up only doing two sets once a week or even less.
As someone who knows several of his former clients, I would disregard it all and I am sorry there's so much out there that just causes more confusion and pathways to the wrong directions because of it.
I want to try, but how many set do you do in one training?
Give this one a watch- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=dhzlSYAG9Ua8ObiK
Another amazing video Kevin! I have a bit of a dilema. Due to work/family/dog/business I can only train twice a week. Basically do a 2 day split of 1) Chest Press, Curls, Bent Flyes, Rows, Calf Press and 2) Leg press, Shoulder Press, Lat pulldowns, Tricep pushdowns, leaning lat raises, Dips. Usually do a few warm up sets then 2-3 sets. Seeing good progress, but always wondering if this is enough. I can't do squats or deadlifts anymore as they always mess up my back (I am 46 and years of martial arts have messed up my back lol). Although I am wiped out after the workouts and takes a couple days recovery, so must be doing something right. Wondered if you could do a video on what you would do if you could only train in the gym twice a week for optimal growth etc. I am sure there are many people in the same situation to me. Thank you and would love to see or hear your advice on this.
Thanks as always for tuning in and I do indeed address what I have seen over the years with clients training twice a week and once a week- you can see it here- ruclips.net/video/QriBDy_Phj0/видео.html
@@naturallyintense amazing! I will watch this later when I'm at work. Thank you.
Should i do the exact exercise mentioned herw?
Only once. Every workout is different and it's important to keep variety going as your muscles will quickly adapt otherwise. Take a look at this video- ruclips.net/video/dE2ZMUrpHkg/видео.htmlsi=afG2eCShZMGGcd_R
Everything you've presented seems so sincere and legit. My only question is that is it true that detraining and loss of muscle mass occurs if you don't train a muscle at least twice a week (Losing muscle after a week of not subjecting the muscle to training they say). Thank you for the free precise knowledge by the way....the big channels spend over 2 hours just to explain bicep curling
Thanks for watching and everything I talk about is based on years of experience and decades of observations of a large number of men and women of varying ages and fitness levels. So there's enough of a sampling size and consistent repeatable results over time to say that yes it does work Hope that helps and thanks again for the kind words!!!
@@naturallyintense Hy Kev, I also like 3 working sets per exercise. As many reps as possible each and ideally above 6 reps with the most challenging weight possible. Is that solid or 1 all out set is better?
The complicated part is that muscle growth is an adaptive response to unaccustomed stimulus, so think of that protocol as a starting point as my workouts change each time I train.
@@naturallyintense Alright, thanks a lot. I hope to properly adopt your approach as I ease into it
@naturalintense: I wonder how you put so many exercises in just 20minutes of training per session? For example leg day consists of hamstring, calves and quads. So you do for each of them several exercises? Then you do a warm-up-set, I guess and an all-out-set. How do you fit that into 20minutes? After my squats to complete failure I need several minutes to be able to go on with the next exercise. I do only three leg exercises and that alone requires 20min+!
It was never designed to be done on your own power. Rather with someone pushing you to keep going when you get to that dark place and feel like you need to stop and catch your breath. It took me about 5 years to be able to do it on my own and I am always happy to take you through a workout to see what it feels like.
@@naturallyintense So you us rest shorter than 2min? I am impressed!
@@jakoblochner4784 Only as long enough as it takes to increase the weights most times.
This is great advice! For me personally I’ve found 3 x full body workouts with a day off in between them each week works best. Since transitioning to this, lowering volume (around 6-8 sets per muscle per week) and increasing intensity I’ve seen my best ever results
so if you do 6 to 8 sets per muscle per week, how do you break that up over 3 full body work outs per week? So like for chest, back and legs for example. Thanks!
@@NJN23
Lets say kn chest day you do total of 12 sets . Converting it to 3 fullbody you will do 4 sets =12 sets
4 sets each day
is it day1 then day 2 then day 3 and then 4days rest or there is gap between day 1 , day2 and day 3?
It doesn't matter as long as there is 6-7 days between muscle groupings.
Sir i do chest /triceps ( 2 chest exc and 1 trice * 3 sets ) back/biceps (2 back exc and 1 biceps)legs,shoulders..4 days a week ..is it ok to do like this ? Please reply
If you watched the video you would have heard my years of observations of what works best with this particular form of training. Which is a specific three day split. All else consistently produced less results.
Thank u sir
Kevin why don't you do legs wensday to split up upper body a bit for recovery?
Valid question and I do. Give this a watch for a full view of how I split things up and why ruclips.net/video/HCOhM2LE85w/видео.html
Have you ever experimented with more infrequent training days, like for example exercising a muscle once every 10 days or 14 days?
Yes but three days was always the sweet spot in terms of muscle growth and fat loss as well.
My biggest doubt about your training is: should I rest between one training day and another or should I do all of them in a row?
Over three decades of both personal experience and working with hundreds of others, I have found there to be no difference in terms of results. You can train three days in a row, or break it with days in between and the results are the same as long as there is 6-7 days of rest between muscle groups.
Hi Kevin, even though it’s 7 days “recovery” from each targeted body part, the body’s nervous system operates as a whole. So, it maybe that the muscles fibers in a targeted muscle group recovered within 7 days but one’s ability to fully recover varies from person to person. That’s why some who teach HIT advocate 1 or 2 workouts a week to allow for the body’s nervous system to fully recover and not just the muscle fibers, if one is truly going to momentary muscle failure which most people don’t do, hence people will add drop sets or negatives etc. to ensure they did. However, in doing so, one may increase a greater muscle inroad and potentially result in more time for recovery, or lead to over training. As a side note, original HIT training teaches about rep tempo being slower and controlled with strict form, not to use momentum to get the weight up. If one has to do that, the weight is too heavy and need to start with a lighter weight. I noticed in some of your older montage training footage that you use a lot of momentum to get the weight up with a fast rep tempo. Rep tempo is debated among the HIT crowd. Some will do a 4/2/4, 5/2/5 or even a real slow temp of 10 sec up, 2 sec pause, 10 sec lowering. Not sure if you mention this in any of your videos, but I do noticed yours is fast and use momentum to get the heavier weight up. Guess it doesn’t matter since you’ve had good progress over the years, just something to mention. Arthur Jones talks about slow and controlled, Mentzer taught it too. Yates, even though he did HIT, he also flung the weight up with momentum.
Thank for watching and I think you are overthinking, which is often the problem. Everything I do is based on trial and error, observations and notations. I don't know that much about what other high intensity protocols call for as my focus has been exclusively on trying to find what works and then see if it works for everyone while at the same time following the rule of science. Which is that explanations don't matter, nor does conjecture, just repeatable optimized results, and that's what a three day split with this form of training does. I've looked into almost every other possibility for splits and this is the one that always produced the best results, regardless of who was doing it, and give my new video on Deloads a watch here as it goes a bit more into what happens when there are even more rest days- ruclips.net/video/-n63AV9MFIc/видео.htmlsi=8mg2pRX9Mlh2xfBk As for rep cadence, same thing. You can intellectualize for hours on end but it comes down to what works in the trenches, which often contradicts what you think should work. Hope that helps.
@@naturallyintense Thanks Kevin for your reply.
When do you do cardio?
I don't- ruclips.net/video/DJV9I7eRv8o/видео.htmlsi=fm3V4g7wt5ZjW_Xk
@@naturallyintense Thank you for your response appreciated
Question? Do you train 3 days in a row? Or train every 3rd day?
3 days a week not in a row
Heyy buddy can you pls explain how much set to do with intensity
I don't think I fully understand the question.
@@naturallyintense okay my english is not so well but i try to explain you..... How much set per muscle group suitable..mens in one training session how much max set we can do for muscle grp with 3 day workout split
@@nikunjpanchal5871 Not a problem and it's three to six depending on the muscle group and here's a full explanation of how it works- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.html
okay sir thank you so much@@naturallyintense
Great Video! What are your thoughts on Mike Mentzer's ideal workout routine? He has you doing Chest/Back rest 72 hours then legs rest 72 hours then Shoulders/arms rest 72 hours then legs again. Some of your techniques are what he used, just wanted to see what you thought of resting 72 hours in between workouts.
It's not a bad idea, but I did find that after a chest workout, doing back drains most of the pump and so I preferred not to do chest and back, and I did try different spacings in terms of time between workouts. And what seemed optimal was 6-7 days between muscle groups, regardless of the training order.
@@naturallyintense I know you advocated for 3 sets per movement. What do you think of two warm up sets and one all out set? So really one working set? Sorry for all the questions your videos are great
@@dougdozier8782 That should work as well
what your training routine? for example legs = leg extension 1x 12/15 leg press 1x 12/15 leg curl 1x 12/15 calf seated + stand super set 15/20 + 12/15 reps.....
This is a basic breakdown of what I do but it's not canonical as every workout I do is different to the last one- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.html
@@naturallyintense thank you i go watch
What do you think about the muscle's ability to incorporate protein, you don't have to train a specific muscle several times a week?
I can tell you what I observed over the years with myself and the people who I worked with over so many years and it's that three days a week with this form of training yields the best results. I can't speak to other more conventional approaches as I haven't dedicated my life to studying and observing them, but that's what I have seen for this type of high intensity training with natural athletes. Hope that helps!!!
@@naturallyintense thanks for your answer!💪🙌
@@arnoldnemeth17 Anytime! Always happy to help!!!
Any chance to get this workout laid out as far as sets and reps and what workouts to choose from?
That would require a training program package and if you are interested you can contact via my website at www.naturallyintense.net
@@naturallyintense thanks for responding
@@naturallyintense the website isn't pulling up. It says error
@@dougdozier8782 Any and everything time, my brother!!! Always happy to help!!!
@@dougdozier8782 I was lazy in not copying the full address, here it is- www.naturallyintense.net/
Does intensity mean you train to the point of muscle failure?
Not necessarily within this form of high intensity training and look for a video on that very soon!!!
Sir is it ok to do chest/back day 1 -legs day2 - shoulder delts /arms day 3??please reply
I wouldn't recommend it and I go into detail in the video.
@@naturallyintensei have been doing the same ..do i need to change and follow the workout split you mentioned ?
@@naturallyintensewhich video ?
@@DsMac46 This one ruclips.net/video/bzH6sl4pi_c/видео.htmlsi=1-jRfya1if4Irypr&t=559
@@naturallyintensecant open the video ..sir should i follow the legs/arms-chest/back-shoulder routine ?
So you train 3 days a week? You rest the other 4 days?
That's right.
Yea great, but how many sets per body part
Also I thought it was best to train each bodypart 2 to 3 times a week if natty?
That hasn't been my experience over the past few decades with this form of high intensity training and you can learn more about sets here- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=ka3SM21vGLkMJ13u. Thanks for watching.
@@naturallyintense sounds ideal workout, like you stated so many ways on Internet of different workouts sets and reps , splits total body , gets fucking confusing, especially for natty, your program make sense, mark uk
Thanks
@@naturallyintense thanks for taking time to reply
Respect
Hi Kevin
Gonna try your 3 day workout chest arms
Legs
Back and shoulders
Can you send me link
Thanks dude
Did you mean a link to coaching programs or one on one personal training?
happy new year! Thank you for the amazing video. I have a question tho, when training back n delts the day before bicep and chest; will I still be able to have a HIT and progressive overload over time (For chest n bicep)? wont my bicep and chest already be 'used'/sore due to the back and delts worktout? Thank you so much for the amazing content!
Happy New Year and thanks so much for tuning in! To answer your question, it doesn't in my experience make any difference whatsoever in terms of overall progress, but like I did for some years, you can do back and shoulders first, then legs then chest and arms. It's more a matter of preference though, as observed results were always the same. Thanks again!!!
What’s your opinion on Dorian Yates workout split?
Chest+Biceps
Legs
Shoulders+Triceps
Back
Will try yours out for sure tho!
Dorian trained four days a week and I think that might work for someone who isn't natural, but in my experience, three days was always the sweet spot for maximum gains among the natural athletes I work with.
I prefer a PLP split, less overlap
Once or twice a week?
Day 2 Shoulders, and next day Chest ? How ????
It's my current split and surprisingly it works!!! That being said for many years it was back and shoulders then legs then chest and arms. And for some of my clients that spacing works best for them as well.
How many sets per body part with this split?
Give this a look for my sets- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.html
Since Back workouts also work Biceps, if you do Back/Shoulders on one day, and the next day you do Chest/Arms, aren't you working your Biceps two days in a row? Wouldn't this negate your rest/recovery for Biceps?
That's an excellent question and it's a perfect example of what I also figured would happen from a logical point of view but it doesn't seem to make any difference in practice. Sometimes I put legs between the upper body workouts and sometimes I space the workouts with a full day between them. But none of those things made any difference in long term results in my observations. All that mattered was there was at least 6-7 days between the workouts. Thanks for tuning in and for a great question!!!
Monday - back/shoulders
Wednesday - Legs
Friday - Chest/tri/bi
Sir but don’t we need to hit every muscle group twice per week ? Coz when i googled i got this info….
Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS): MPS is elevated for about 48 hours after a workout. Training each muscle group twice a week helps maintain elevated MPS levels, leading to more effective muscle growth over time.
How about this ?
The problem with Googling an answer is that it will give you a response but the onus is on you as a logical and rational based individual to never blindly accept it and do the work to see if it's really true or not. If you took the time to fix the actual studies and peer reviewed commentary on the studies you would see that this finding never in any way was linked to any increase in overall muscle mass over time. It's just conjecture and other studies state firmly that no correlation between temporarily increased testosterone and muscle mass increase has ever been found from multiple training sessions. But even more importantly, what I present is what I have observed over decades, so I would strongly advise you to NEVER simply expect a Google search to be a credible answer to every question. Hope that helps.
@@naturallyintensethanks ❤
The only issue I have with training 3 days in a row is the systemic effect on the nervous system, this is where age comes into play , when your young ( 40 and under ) you can get away with that , 50 and older it gets trickier, sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t , I’m 61 and been training since ‘78, doing hit the last 30 years as well ( volume prior ), and it really becomes a guessing game as to which version of you shows up on any given day .😊
Thanks for watching and I think it could be something that may be trainable as I have a number of clients in their 60's, 70's and early 80's who trained three days in a row without any issues. But they were also training with me for a very long time, at least three to five years. But since there's no difference in results putting more days between workouts or doing them nonstop, I always say go at the pace you find works best!!!
I changed my Push Pull Leg from Back Bizeps and Shoulder Trizeps, Legs to youre Plan. i try it 3 Months it feels wrong to do Bizeps 2 Days after Back but i believe you and try it. thx i am allmost 50 and my arm is also almost 50cm and i only take Creatin.
Glad to hear it and do let me know how it goes!!!
So if I train Mon Wed and Friday with days off in between is that good
Absolutely!
Thank you for your quick response and Videos I am learning a lot from you God Bless
@@silviomassa10 Always happy to help, my friend!!!
Hello Kevin how many sets should I do and reps per body part I am all new to this when I work out I do go all out I will be Doing Mon Wed and Friday due to my schedule thank you for your help
@@silviomassa10 Give this video a watch- ruclips.net/video/tZijeO7Xu-M/видео.htmlsi=wECzQ1uyJAOuuO96
I think it depends on the intensity. I need to rest each muscle 2 weeks before hitting again. After a leg workout it takes me 5 to 7 days to be able to walk properly again.
If fat burning isn't a priority I don't see anything wrong at all with a 2 week break between workouts. I've seen clients with very hectic schedules who would pop in and out with 2 week breaks still make good progress in terms of muscle mass, but a little less in terms of fat loss. That being said, it takes as long as it takes and I honestly am limping at times for 5-6 days after legs.
I never liked sitting in the gym for hours, but I thought it was necessary, that I needed a lot of exercises, a lot of sets, and I've been following your plan for a few weeks and I feel great, even with one exercise for biceps and triceps, after 3 sets, my arm has grown by 0.5 cm, it seems like it's not much, but it's been constant for a year. I'm shocked that 20 minutes at the gym can give such results!
It can indeed and wait until what you see after several years of doing it!!! Thanks for watching!!!
Finally some split for naturals ... Most content in my country is about anabolic horses ... This kind of training for naturals sucks ... I had split 4 +1 Legs, Back , Chest + Shoulders and Arms .. and day off, Repeat .. I am gonna try this plan 3+1 🙂
When I started out there was nothing about natural training. The Internet didn't exist and all we had were muscle magazines filled with enhanced athletes saying that you could be just like them if you trained the way they did and took the supplements they used. So I always made sure to share what I learned along the way but I was surprised that even today with so much information at our fingertips there still isn't that much credible information on natural training. So trying to change that and thanks so much for tuning in and all the best with that split!!!
Hey Kevin as no single workout is the same for you and you change exercises every workout did you ever log or track the exercises you was doing throughout your career even though you never did the same one the following week
Good question and I did. I logged every workout for about 15 years. I had books upon books in the beginning before I got a pocket pc and started using it for my notes, and even that would fill up!!!
@@naturallyintense thanks for the swift reply,and did you notice any changes in strength muscle soreness etc when performing different exercises every workout
@@Lemon-squeezer Absolutely. It's why I kept training this way for the past 31 years and it's one of the key forces behind my natural bodybuilding career and the fact that I can still train heavy while approaching 50.
@@naturallyintense ok that seems logical I started high intensity after doing full body workouts for years and through habit I’ve made the mistake of performing to many exercises per muscle group and going to full failure on every exercise leaves me tired or I’m subconsciously holding myself back going all out attack on it so I’m going to cut my exercises to just 2 per muscle group as you have instructed and run it from there and change my exercises every workout
@@Lemon-squeezer That's the ticket, keep your volume low so you can really focus on the exercises you do and keep varying it. It makes a huge difference as well in terms of not feeling like you need to keep something in the tank to complete the rest of the workout. And so you can really be focused and in the moment during your training. Let me know how it goes!!!
Thanks kev
Honored to be able to help!!!
Good news Kevin! Just realized I can build a traditional 3x5 power cycle into this routine without interrupting this very effective program. If the reps drift above 5 by failure, so be it.
Be careful with those 5 reps and make sure you are warm as you don't want it to come back to haunt you in your later years. Remember it's all about doing now what will allow you to keep doing what you love several decades from now as that is how you realize your potential.
I could never train triceps same day as chest with high intensity. My triceps would be too tired after chest,
Chest + biceps supersetted then finish off triceps + abs superset. Don't need to 'go hard' on triceps since they've been worked from chest exercises
@@Dirk_van_Tonder Thanks!.
Only 3 days a week severely diminishes psychological returns for me, also for general fitness. I would gladly sacrifice some muscle size to get more of the other benefits of working out.
Thanks for watching and it always comes down to what most important for you as an individual, but as you get older I would strongly recommend the path of less training days only because I have seen over the years the prevalence and almost acceptance of overuse injuries as just being part of long term training. And it doesn't have to be. Hope that helps!!!
@@naturallyintense Thanks. To get the results you get in just 3 workouts a week is very interesting. I will check out your other videos to find out what you're doing in each in terms of volume, intensity etc .
Thanks and honored to be able to help!!!
👍💪
I remember going to the gym and a guy asking me why he wasn't getting results and he even felt he was getting weaker. I asked what he was doing for workouts and he told me he was working out every day and each muscle 3 times a week. I was like holy shit, dude! I explained to him what you said in the video and he started seeing results shortly after.
People don't get that steroid/drug freaks can recover 100 times faster than an all-natural bodybuilder.
I remember reading Arnold, The Education of a Bodybuilder and thinking what the f*** is he doing??? the diet in the book was awful too. it was an inspiring story but training the way he did was nuts.
Since January 1st, 2024 I have been training one body part a day for 5 days:
chest on Monday
neck, traps, & shoulders on Tuesday
back on Wednesday
legs on Thursday
arms & abs on Friday
it's working ok but I think I will switch back to 3 times a week using the split you use.
ok, I have to go change my routine and daily schedule thanks to you LMAO!
BTW, I went back to school to study computer graphics and drafting with AutoCAD.
Outstanding story and thanks so much for sharing and really glad I was able to help!!! The adage more is better still persists these days thanks to the training stories of all those high volume drug users, and glad you were able to help him out! And I highly recommend the three day split to you as well!!! All the best and thanks again!!!
Kevin's ab exercise is flexing his abs in the mirror
When I was younger that would actually be 100% true!!!🤣
how many days in between anyone?
Video coming out on that soon, but as long as you have 6-7 days between workouts you should be fine.
I really dig this split but I like legs in- between lol
Why not push, pull, legs?
Watch the video. I explain the working theory behind this particular split and the fact that it's the product of years of trial and error that evolved as best practice for this form of high intensity training.
@@naturallyintensewhat about the exercise you use?
Still the best split I have tried! Start the week off with legs, then back/delts..chest/arms
5:36 that is not the case for your arms tho, they are being trained indirectly on the 2nd day through overhead pressing and back, so that rule isn't being applied to arms yet you got some very nice arms, which contradicts that only roid users can recover from that frequency
same for the shoulders, they are being trained on back day but also they are being trained hard on chest day through flat press and dips
It's not a contradiction at all. The training protocol yields best results with a rest period of 6 to 7 days between muscle groups as in 6-7 days after legs, 6-7 days after back and shoulders and 6-7 days after chest and arms. Biceps always get some work during back training, triceps always get worked during shoulder workouts and shoulders also get stressed during a chest workout. Which underlines even more the importance of training only three days a week. Hope that helps clarify things a bit!!!
Typical protocol would be to work the same muscle groups more than once a week, as in have two full leg days, two full back and shoulder days and two chest and arm days. Which, with this training won't work for a natural athlete but it makes sense for someone on drugs to train that way as they recover far faster. But it's not optimal for a natural athlete training at high intensity.