I found that in the beginning (didnt work out for 4 years, 41, female & overweight) I wanted more out of the workout  even having to do a FULL upper/lower body..its hard to explain..The workouts werent too hard, I could handle that aspect of it and I pushed myself to the limit every time..I felt that each muscle group needed a little more concentration but doing a little more and doing it all at once was too much..is that confusing?

... but I do love the concept of the eating plan, the cardio and pyramid format...thats just me though & I KNOW its not by the book (because someone is bound to say then dont do body for life but I do love it), but most of the champions didnt "do it by the book" either & made some adjustments to their workouts..so after 4/6 weeks in (& a shoulder issue) i adjusted my workouts to body parts per day instead of total upper & total lower workouts (i am in week 12 challenge 2 right now and cant wait to get to challenge 3)

Heres an example of my adjustments:  still getting out of the gym in about an hour to hour 10 mins tops

Mon--chest & tri's ( bench press 12,10,8,6,12..flyes 12..incline dumbell 10,8,6,10) tri's (skull crushers 12,10,8,6,12..overhead extensions 12..cable extension 10,8,6,10)  20 min HIIT cardio

Tues--quads & hams..same concept as above..3 exercises per muscle group (some are compound but I usually do 6 different lower body exercises..omitting calves for another day..I get more out of them by doing them alone then trying to squeeze them in on lower body day)  10/15 min HIIT cardio

Weds- back and biceps..abs..20 Min HIIT cardio

Thurs --off

Fri--shoulders, calves/abs  10/15 min HIIT Cardio

Sat-- quads & hams ( or chest/tri's, back/bi's) depending on the mood I'm in & how hard I feel I worked any of them during the previous workout (plus i'm a girl & feel i could always use an extra lower body day lol)

Again..this is just me and how i made the concept of BFL work for me..doesnt mean you have to do this or it will even work for you, I love it and it has treated me kindly..I do follow the eating plan as perfectly as possible tho and THAT helps more then anything else

Have you started yet?  if so, how do you like it??

Jodi

It sounds as though you and I have had somewhat similar backrounds when it comes to workout format. For years I did the full body routines and felt the same way with respect to giving sufficient attention to the muscle groups involved. After 25 years of training and countless, routines and diets I've come to the conclusion that there really is no magic to any of this at all. Because of the fact that muscle is a metabolically active tissue I think that it is important to develop it as much as possible in order to rid the body of excess fat, however, if you are consuming too many calories or not getting enough cardio to offset the caloric intake your progress will remain stagnant. In a nutshell it would appear that any type of viable muscle building program is essential to a successful transformation be it full body or body part separation work outs. Your rep scheme is very similar, however, you have chosen to extend the duration of the second exercise and perform it as you have the first. If that is what works for you then I'd stick with that. As for myself I've found that too many high rep sets don't allow me to honestly put full effort into my heavier ones and as I've learned the heavier ones are the ones that truly build muscle. At any rate, the bottom line is that generally most routines will work as long as you have disipline with your diet and yes you are so right. Most of the champions DID NOT follow the routine by the book, which is very interesting in itself. Thanks for the feedback.

Take care, train hard and train smart

Marty

I use the following format which seems to work well for me.  Of course, you can choose what exercises works best for your body!!  Good luck!!  I workout totally at home, so not alot of heavy weights involved.  Quality not Quantity!!!  :)

Monday – Back (bent over rows/deadlift/side DB rows), Biceps, Triceps

Tuesday – Chest, Shoulders, Calves

Wednesday – Quads, Hamstrings

Thursday – Back (bent over rows/bent over lateral raises/shrugs), Shoulders, Calves

Friday – Chest, Biceps, Triceps

Saturday – Quads, Hamstrings

**Abs (Mon/Wed/Fri) – Crunches, Leg Pulls, Air Bike, Torso Twists (circuit x 3)

**Cardio (Tues/Thurs/Sat) – 15 to 20 min jog

Back:  Bent-Over Rows, Side DB Raises, Deadlift

Biceps – Straight bar curls, Alt DB curls, EZ Curls

Triceps – French Presses, One-arm DB Extension, Dips

Chest – DB Flyes, Push Ups, Incline DB Flyes/Push ups

Calves – Standing Calf Raises, Donkey Raises, One Leg DB Raises

Quads – Squats, Lunges

Hamstring – Straight legged DL

_Marc