anyone can suggest good routine for weekend only (saturday and sunday) gym goer?

i'm currently doing arm and shoulder on saturdays and chest, back and legs on sundays. if it's a long weekend, i rearrange the split to be closer to PPL.

only workout at the gym on weekends only?
I prefer to split the upper and lower body plus cardio on both sessions.

can't do at least 4 days a week?

my current routine

saturday
barbell overhead press
plate raise
dumbbell lateral raise
bent over dumbbell lateral raise
barbell bicep curl
close grip preacher's curl
wide grip preacher's curl
tricep pushdown
skullcrushers
overhead tricep extensions

sunday
squat
deadlift
leg extensions
lunges
close grip lat pulldown
wide grip lat pulldown
overhand bent over row
underhand bent over row
bench press
incline bench press
decline bench press
chest fly (machine)

8-12 reps / set. 5 sets each.

i'm still new to this. i didn't touch the barbell till 2 months ago. started adding deadlift to the routine around a month ago.

Only weekend go gym ? Very little improvement can be observe

Split 2 upper body on monday(back) and Tuesday (chest)

Thurs is arms

Friday is legs

Sat focus on your core

not a sifu here, just a regular gym goer. But i think 2 days are too packed? Try split to 3 or 4 days. Unless your weekdays also have some activities that keep your body engaged like boxing, martial arts or any cardio sesh.

yeah. it's packed. it feels like i'm trying to kill myself on sundays.

well, if i can only go on weekends, there's nothing much that i can do about it. just asking if there's anyone that can suggest a better routine.

not trying to grow huge. i just want to keep my weight after i stop doing cardio.


i do see small improvements. i guess that's just newbie gains. further growth is unlikely.

This post has been edited by spursfan: Aug 1 2022, 10:32 AM

For proper bodybuilding, you need train 1 hour a day, 6 days a week. MINIMUM.
If want 4 days/week, then u need train 1.5 hours a day.

Just run a PPL split.

Don't forget to count ALL your calories, carb, protein & fat by self cooking all your food. So thats another 2 hours everyday.

i am doing 6 hours a week. split over 2 days.

not doing proper bodybuilding. just trying not to go back to obese and maybe gain a bit of strength in the process.

For general/military level fitness, no need waste time/money/petrol go gym.

Do 2~3 sets of pushups and pullups to failure daily.
For legs can do single leg squats/db lunges or just sprints.

Diet eat maintenance calories (use TDEE calculator).
2g protein per kilo bodyweight. So 70 kilo guy eat 140g protein.

After 6 months you shud be able to eyeball this diet quite accurately without counting calories for the rest of your life.

This post has been edited by Armesh: Aug 1 2022, 04:20 PM

U need some energy drink and powder
Low energy, low gain
Water sum sum drink

i'm doing my current weekend workout routine on an empty stomach, and no water.

i know, i'm doing a lot of wrong stuff. i can handle the nutrition part. as for workout, it's strictly weekend only. lots of guys trying to help, but the answer isn't really what i'm asking for.

Just curious, 6 hours workout split over Saturday & Sunday only.. your body can tahan on Monday? For me if I do squat and deadlift on one same day and the 2nd day most likely I cannot workout and need additional sleep in day time…
From what I saw from YouTube if only 1 or 2 days to work out weekly, should just choose those will involve whole body muscles to work out, for example deadlift, squat , bench press, Barbell shoulder press, barbell row , pull up etc

I'm new. Still lifting very light. Plus, I had an old knee injury. First priority is not to break anything.

I think those routine are not done on consecutive days. Nobody same will tell you to squat heavy 2 days in a row. The only choices for weekend warriors are upper body lower body split or push pull split. Progress will be slower, since I only hit those muscles once a week. I'm ok with that.

I don't feel much on Monday mornings. DOMS start to be felt on Monday evening. Tuesday mornings are the worst.

if for 2 days only and over the weekend, I'd go for

Push Saturday (chest and shoulder, slot in tricep if have time)
Pull and Legs Sunday

Im following this split for my weekend workout. And the sunday seems high volume, but the only leg workout I do is few sets of heavy squat and cleans/power cleans. The rest are pull workouts. and can get done in less than 2 hours.

Just curious about how much time you spend completing the routine?
Would recommend you to focus on 1-2 compound lifts + 2-3 accessory lifts each day, no more.

Don't spend too much time on variation (>>> too many curls on Saturday).



2 days seems too packed.
You can get light dumbells/pullup bar/resistance bands for weekday workout at home.
Focus on barbell exercise in the gym.

This post has been edited by chairboy: Dec 27 2022, 05:11 PM

way too long.

I'm still changing the routine. Figuring things out myself as I don't have a trainer. But yeah, I'm definitely cutting the sets and exercises.

Try to limit a session to 45-60 mins.
Intensity > rep count.

Focus on compound movement e.g. squat, deadlift, press, bench, pullup, row.
Those exercises recruit multiple muscle groups and prime your body strength wise, giving best bang of bucks.
Organise your routine to prevent pull and push muscles imbalance.
And oh yeah don’t skip leg day.

Good luck!

This post has been edited by chairboy: Dec 27 2022, 07:30 PM

i did like 3 hours on empty stomach.

if i do say 1 warm up set, then 2 hard sets each for overhand and underhand rows, is that good? or, just stick with 1 variation?

Honestly only weekend u will not see gains

But u will burn some calories to makan makan for the day

Atleast 3 to 4 time a week like Monday, Wednesday, Friday and sat or sun. Days in between is for rest day but u have to go hard on your sessions so rest days to cure DOMS

Rome wasn’t built in a weekend. Key word in any build is consistency

yeah, it's not ideal. i've been doing friday - sunday for 2 months. gonna go back to weekends only soon.

i don't get much doms these days. not as much as when i started.

3 hours are definitely overkill.
Try to plan for an hour session max.
If you perform the sets with right intensity you should gas out within an hour.

For rows pick a weight that wear you out after say 8-12 reps each set.
After 3 sets move on to other exercises.
Forget about variation for now.
Keep everything simple and enjoyable.

You could google “train for strength vs hypertrophy” & “training to failure” to learn more.

i don't really train to failure. most of the time, i'm the only guy in the gym. nobody will be around to help if i screw up. so, if i feel like the set starts to feel easy, i increase the weight.

sets are in that 8-12 rep, depending on the exercise.

This post has been edited by spursfan: Dec 27 2022, 09:15 PM

Use machine. Can go failure, safer and more muscle gains than free weight

any of you guys experienced rotator cuff injury? how did you guys solve the issue?
i have supraspinatus tendinopathy on my left shoulder. it's been bugging me for a while.


not much machines in my gym. it's a very very basic gym.

I had tear in middle of supraspinatus.
Do physio so it does not happen again + 2 months break to let it heal.