Three Day a Week Training Schedule

I normally train 4 days a week ala the Westside Method (i.e. 2 max effort days, 2 dynamic effort days). However due to the nature of my work, I have to do a 12 hour on-call shift at least once a week, and every so often I have to work weekends. So in order to balance work, life and training, I have opted to do a 3 day a week training schedule instead of the usual Westside 4 days.

In effect, my training ‘week’ is approximately 10 days long instead of 7 days, thus volume and intensity also fluctuates in a 10 day cycle instead of the usual 7 day cycle. Also because of this, each training cycle lasts 5 weeks.

On the 5th week, I deload. Deload 1 is a combination of both the ME Sq/Dl and ME Press sessions, while Deload 2 is a combination of both the DE Sq/Dl and RE Press sessions. This in effect means I weight train at the gym one day less that week, but do 2 total body sessions that week.

So here is how my 5 week training cycle would look like. 

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Day 1	ME Sq/Dl	RE Press	De Sq/Dl	ME Press	Deload 1
Day 2	ME Press	ME Sq/Dl	RE Press	De Sq/Dl	Deload 2
Day 3	De Sq/Dl	ME Press	ME Sq/Dl	RE Press

Now I could have opted to do 3 total body sessions per week, but there are weeks where I might need to train two days back-to-back. This would mean my second session might not be as good as it can be, as I might have not recovered enough. Also, more importantly, I have found that I feel better mentally and physically with a 10 day ‘week’, as I have more down and more time away from the gym. So in the end it’s a good compromise.

Do note that I also perform some cardio, mobility, grip and neck work whenever I can fit them in my schedule.