LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — Only Have 3 Days Per Week To Train?

A common problem: A sudden change in your lifting schedule has left you with only three days per week to train, although most training programs revolve around a four-day training split. If you find the few programs that actually fit three days a week, you don’t actually like them. Dave Tate has a simple solution. Stretch out your program of choice. A 4-day training week program done over a longer period of time still works. You can train harder, beef up the program a bit, take deloads less frequently, or use any strategy that accommodates for your extra day of recovery each week. The part that becomes more complicated is if you are planning to peak for a meet or a specific day. A simple solution is to arrange your program in reverse from when you plan to max. Don’t let max day sneak up on you, you can plot it out so that you can be better prepared for when you need to have your last heavy lifts.

You can take this to an even greater extreme as well. It isn’t uncommon to only have two days a week to train. Dave Tate has seen this conversion from four days a week to two days a week numerous times. This however requires more modification than the same work done over one week. You almost always want to push a little harder, add some more accessory work or extra volume in your main lifts.

Text By Mason Nowak