Can you split a day in a routine across two days?

Question

I’m trying to get back to working out more regularly after a chaotic year of mostly off gym. I picked up a push/legs/pull split routine from a guide I was using before, switching from an upper/lower/upper/lower routine in the same guide.

I’m mostly happy with it for more or less the same reason that leads to my question: the push and pull days have fewer exercises than the upper body days of the previous one did, the leg day has not.

The routine is essentially:

• bench press, incline press, lat raise, triceps
• squat, stiff leg deadlift, leg press, leg curl, standing calves, seated calves
• pull-ups, rows, rear delt raise, biceps

With the basic split being: push, legs, off, pull, off, (repeat) - i.e. a five day rotation / four days rest for a muscl group.

My issue is that my life is still very packed if no longer prohibitively so: too much to do, too little time, ADHD-impaired inner clock. I invariably get there later than I thought would and every exercise takes longer. I end up only very rarely completing more than half of the leg day before it’s closing time. My advantage being that my gym is five minutes walking away and members have unlimited visits.

Is there a sensible way to separate the leg exercises onto two days? Or some other way to adjust/design a routine towards shorter and more frequent workouts?

Answer 1

Is there a sensible way to separate the leg exercises onto two days?

Why not: push, legs-1, off, pull, legs-2, off, off.

Push:   bench press, incline press, lat raise, triceps
Pull:   pull-ups, rows, rear delt raise, biceps
Legs-1: squat, leg curl, standing calves
Legs-2: stiff leg deadlift, leg press, seated calves

This splits your leg day into two days keeping even quad and hamstring effort.

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Or some other way to adjust/design a routine towards shorter and more frequent workouts?

Ideas:

• Do fewer exercises for a shorter workout.
• Adjust the number of sets.
• Further split up the days (take out the arm workouts and add an arm day?).
• Challenge yourself by reducing rest times.
• Do sets for time (i.e. lightweight squats for 3 sets of 2-minutes, 1-minute rest).

Personally, I definitely understand that life gets hectic. I also understand that not every gym day will I feel like Hercules. My current program has my workouts in descending order of usefulness: main lift, second lift, main accessory, second accessory(, third accessory). If it gets busy my goal is usually just to complete the first two. If I head to the gym, do my main lift, and head home 20 minutes later at least I made it to the gym that day.