Best Training Split if You Are Natural 

Dear Meadows Family, Please know that John’s fans deeply appreciate John’s knowledge, strength, and gentleness. He is genuinely a good example for all of us. We all mourned when he died. We wish a thousand times over that he could still be with you.

Bought a John Meadows shirt. It just arrived and is... a little big for me. I think I'll make John proud if I fill it out and grow into it.

We all will make him proud

I genuinely listen to everything this man says because he was one of the smartest people in the entire fitness industry. He had a certain way of speaking that made his advice very relatable and easily understood. Rest in power mountain dog

Dont know who keeps posting old johns video but thank you 1000 times. It feels like hes still here and I can still have my daily dose of great advice.

Can't believe your gone Mountain Dog! I wouldn't know jack without you! Fly high John Meadows!

Still breaks my heart that we lost this hero. Such a tremendous inspiration for countless people, including me. Not just with his training and nutrition wisdom, but his life advice too❤️

When John passed, it felt like I had lost a childhood friend, because he was always so nice, caring and informative. One of the first things I saw in his videos that made me fall in love with the channel is seeing his sons yo-yo tricks. When it hit me he was gone, my heart truly sank for his family. They did not deserve to lose him, it must be really tough. All my love to you guys

Never met this man and it breaks my heart. He loved doing this and the information he spouts is limitless. Enjoyed these vids and will continue to watch. RIP Brother.

As someone else said before, John always had a way of making you feel like he was just having a nice chat with you personally. His warmth and heart shines through the camera and makes you feel like you're talking to a friend. ❤

I am natural and I love this split: upper/lower/rest/upper/lower/day for weak body parts(back and arms for me) and rest on Sunday. I did U/L/U/L for months and I liked it so I just added one day to emphasize my weak body parts more.

RIP JOHN, still giving from beyond.

The more I watch this guy. The more I admire him. No ego, no bs, just solid advice that works.

I was so confused for a minute when I saw this but whoever is putting them out now, thankyou. Thankyou so so much for preserving what is yet to be seen of this man's legacy and getting it out there.

Good to see Mountain Dog living on in my recommendations. What a great guy so sadly missed!

As a huge comic book fan and being a person who likes to lift John’s Chanel has helped so much we miss you John thank you for all the information!!

Keep uploading. No matter if I’ve watched it. I will watch them again. Until the end. Helping the algorithm and the family. He deserved that and more. And meanwhile I will get to lead all that knowledge he was kind to share

Well said. I've found, at the end of my 40's, it is best to treat my recovery day, just like if it was a training session. It wasn't that I was over training, but I was under recovering. So sleep well, eat well and prepare for the next training day. Cheers.

As a natty that also runs a landscaping business (physical work) I've had the best results in mass and strength with Layne Nortons PHAT. Maybe a bit less volume depending how I feel that day but I keep coming back to this split always!

RIP legend... still teaching us and will keep teaching us for years and years to come

Thanks for continuing to put out John's content.

It hurts so much knowing this legend has left us. I stopped working out for a while due to Covid and just losing touch with my health and I used to watch John so much and I wish he was still with us. Much love!

Great advice. I really like rotating bodyparts. Can't focus on everything intensely at once. One bodypart intervenes with the recovery of another, some bodyparts require exercises that are taxing on the same joints which end up not recovering enough (like lower back). Nothing wrong with maintaining certain parts while focusing on building others, then switch. Just like you sometimes focus on endurance, power, strength, etc while maintaining other performance components. You can't do everything at once and keep progressing optimally.

Miss you, John!

My favorite split: Mo: push Tue: pull Wed: legs Thu: - Fr: chest/back/arms Sat: legs/shoulders Su: -

I’m 52 and am getting back into bodybuilding after a 15 yr break. My old workouts were chest/tri’s .. back /Bi’s, legs and shoulders, each twice a week and a one day rest. I was a lot younger then, but it worked out great, always had that pump going. Trying to Pull that routine off again. All natural always.

John Is incredible! One of the greatest of all time who motivates people with positivity and knowledge. A GREAT Man!

Even in death this legend is taking me to school. Thank you. ❤🙏

Remember John from 'back in the day' but only discovered this channel a year and a half ago during the lockdowns. So appreciate John and his sensible, genuine approach. What a blessing to still have him giving us the benefit of all of his training knowledge. Love seeing the videos I haven't watched and I always gather something new with the ones I have seen. We can continue to support John and his family by watching and commenting and I just bought one of his T's and some Granite Vaso Blast, which if you haven't tried it, it is awesome.

Rip Mr Meados, a true gentleman of the sport. His knowledge and experience continue to help and educate people. May your legacy live on sir.

...And we keep learning from our favorite coach, trainer, human being, Angel

Exercise rotations help shifting the emphasis on another muscle every week or two so this could be a viable option. One other method that i use is to throw exercises for quickly-recovering muscles into other days, for example i do seated rows and shrugs for my upper back on leg days and i have found it helps for hypertrophy, frequency is key

Please upload his older videos from when he started RU-vid, will get many views that haven't seen that content, and will never end the stream of John ♥️

Thanks you for keeping the videos coming. It keeps John's memory alive and we still can learn from the wisdom of this great man. Miss you John.

The way these videos are being pumped out makes things feel so normal like John never left this world. Cant thank the person or persons enough that are responsible for posting these clips. And the way John explained the pump is exactly how I feel. The pump absolutely keeps things exciting. The feeling of a muscle loaded with blood is hard to beat. Im not natural, on trt which was needed due to having levels below 100ng/dl at the age of 30. Im sure im cruising a bit above average now but im certainly not flooded with ped's. I do a push/pull/arms/legs/off and repeat. Has been working great. But its been a while so I may switch it up soon. Always made the mistake of doing the common bro split of one muscle group a week and never made progress like I wanted.

Keep releasing these as there were so many great videos in the tank. The subscribers comments truly show what a positive impact John had on the BB community. He wasn't selling stuff, he wasn't feuding, he was there to help.

Dont stop uploading John's videos!!!!

John is immortal. His physical presence may not be here anymore but his wisdom and care for others lives on. REST IN POWER

Great tips that not many people consider! John really is a great loss for the community..RIP LEGEND

The fans love seeing this. Don’t stop!!!

RIP to the best bodybuilding coach out there. Keep re running his stuff for the next generation and generations after that.

My current splits are 1.Chest 2.Back 3.Shoulders 4. Legs/deadlifts 5. Chest/shoulders 6. Back and cleanup day i.e. traps, rear delts 7. Rest day Lost 50lbs in 6 months being in a calorie deficit and doing this split

I am getting old 64, this topic has been playing on my mind, came home from work at midnight, thinking about this turn on my iPad , wam this came up. Loved this guy so much his advice is priceless

a year ago you were taken from this physical world. you forever live on in my heart and always watching over me in my gym w my 24x36 poster.

The legend is still among us. And his insights are as important as ever, if not more. May he continue resting in peace. Lots of love from Kenya.

being almost 64 and natty with 50 plus years lifting all my body parts seem to recover about the same... what does change this is when i over train a certain body part... for years i over trained and ate wrong... in just last couple of years i have been more careful to not over do it... makes a world of difference... i always for the most part feel less flat and can get a pump very easy just thinking about a muscle and doing some flexing...of coarse doing 2-3 good sets really pumps any muscle... its all about mind muscle connections with me... i am always trying to improve my training...

John gives such full explanations that anyone can become better by watching his videos. Dang good man! RIP Legend! 🙏

I DONT KNOW WHY I NEVER TOUGHT OF THIS ! THIS GUY IS A GEM MAY HE REST IN PEACE

My experience is to account for how well your nervous system and joints recover as well as your muscles.

the best workout split info ever, one of the many examples of why john is so sorely missed.

I generally recover stupidly fast, like I could do a workout that is really pushing it, and I’ll feel fine a couple hours later with no soreness the next day, but my legs definitely get more sore, although more importantly, I have shin splints that can’t seem to recover because I do cardio 4 times a week too, so to go easy on my knees I use compression sleeves and do legs once a week, with push and pull cycling strength and hypertrophy, and on the hypertrophy loop instead of legs I do more athletic work, and focus on isolating my weaknesses, since I have less control over them, they aren’t activated as much in my other workouts so I’m not really at risk of being sore for my next workout. I have rest in between each cycle so I workout 6/8 days, and occasionally take the flex day off as a second rest day when I need it. This has been working really well for me.

You were an excellent coach, humble and down to earth.

Keep rerunning them I don’t care. Helps the algorithm and helps future generations. Johns knowledge is too valuable to be forgotten to time

Miss you John

Praying for family. Thank you for videos they are inspiring and educational.

Misss you john ❤️

48 hours after the workout is actually the peak of my soreness.

John this helped me a lot. I've been doing full body 6 months and one body part per day for 6 months. I can stick with full body but sometimes it gets boring because it takes 2.5 to 3 hours per session

I’ve come to love this dude . Rest easy bud

I didn’t understand why some body parts recovered quickly and others took such a long time. This video helped me a lot. I was struggling with this aspect and having difficulty figuring out how to plan my split. 👍

Lifting these past days, I found myself working a bit harder with more sets. Thanks John Meadows!

I'm so glad these are still popping up on my algorithm. His videos are beneficial to everyone

Dang… I didn’t know he passed. He had great information, and I greatly appreciate his work. God keep him 🙏🏽

God bless you John ❤️ you left us far too soon, but the best always do. You genuinely seemed like the nicest most sincere person around, your videos are an amazing legacy of your knowledge which help so many people daily. Thanks for everything you did god bless you ☘️

Cardio, upper, lower. Repeat with different exercises and then take 1 day off. This has been golden for me.

His expertise is the gift that keeps on giving and even now that he's gone, will continue to do so. Thank you John; for your insight and instruction with ALL of these very informative videos.

I just discovered this channel, then found out he passed. You never know when your time is done. Thanks for the gift of his videos to keep helping people improve their life.

to whoever runs this channel now, THANK YOU! though I just a new sub I'm already a fan. so THANK YOU for keeping this running!

Keep them coming!!!! God Bless Johns Family!!! Rest In Paradise John!!!!

Talk about leaving a legacy behind. Thank you John for these videos i watch these from time to time for training advice

Always loved his good honest advice.

My current split is arms+legs Monday. Arms morning, legs afternoon. Chest, back, shoulders Tuesday. Chest/delts morning, back afternoon. Break Wednesday - Cardio + stretching Repeat Monday + Tuesday on Thursday and Friday. Break Sat/Sun with Cardio and stretching then repeat. Works for me

Keep his videos coming, new gym goers need to learn from John. RIP sir. 🙏

I'm a natty and I do, push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, rest. So 6 days on, one day off. Each workout is heavy and intense, (failure and beyond failure) but because of the intensity and frequency each workout is only 10-14 sets, and no deadlifts. But If I do deadlifts on leg day then I dont do squats. Im 42, but my central nervous system cant handle deadlifts and squats and heavy weights and beyond failure techniques in the same routine. This routine would be for intermediate to advanced lifters.

God Bless this man. A true gem. 💪 Thanks for everything you gave us sir!

Awesome video & advice! Really sad that John is no longer with us. Your videos are fantastic and extremely educational. Big thank you for everything John. Cheers, Billy

I guess I have to figure out how to "feel the pump". Never felt it, never heard of it. That's my gem from this video. Thanks sir.

Still watch all johns posts

it's still my favorite channel! John you are always with us!

Every time you come back to any of his videos after trying out one of his routines, you still learn something new

Love you and miss you John. Your videos keep inspiring me to better myself. Such a knowledgable dude. Love re watching his videos

I wish 15 years ago I had access to all this knowledge about training. So I was in the army for ten years and was a runner so most my training was around cardio. I got knee injuries and had to stop running so I turned to weights round about the start of last year. I used to lift but I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m natural also. I did PPL like advised 5-6 days a week. Not a bad split but I felt my arms didn’t grow and shoulders as much as my chest, back, legs etc. the volume was tiring I was on the gym about 1 hour 20 most days. It got on top of me with work and kids and my weights and reps began to lag. So I switched to bro split. Still couldn’t break the plateau then when work calmed down I switched to Arnold split. I have to say from the three I preferred Arnold split because the volume on your arms and shoulders is better then PPL but then again fatigue began to set in again. I looked at other training routines and looked into HIT. Not mentzer but Dorian Yates. I started his type of training I was in and out the gym in 30-40 minutes each session and my reps and weights are flying up. That’s not bullshit either. Do I have pic to prove? Not really. Muscle for a natural is slow about 3-4lbs 11 weeks. But my record states my weight and reps are going up so it must be working.

RIP Big John. Thanks for all of the knowledge that you shared brother man.

Not only is this chap a great instructor , he is a great mentor.

I love the way you explain things it’s so simple when you get it ..

I followed the bodybuilders in the 00s and have always done each muscle group only once per week, but to failure (15-16 sets- 4 excercises x 4 sets, or 5 exercises x 3sets) being it seems to help muscle confusion when going to failure, letting them fully refresh, and Blasting them again 6-7 days later UNLESS you're working out for athletic conditioning! I do try to hit Bi's/Tri's on a day by themselves to have full arm strength rather than only finishing them off after Back day and Chest day though, but some weeks that may be all I do.. Smaller muscle groups do great at 2x per week, large muscle groups are fine at once per week but many feel that is "Undertraining". All in all, if you "Split guys" ever get lazy, dont quit, just do once per week and u may actually see more gains, if not, its DEF gonna keep you swole as long as you hit em hard!

Just got back from the gym, did back today using a number of John's exercises, including the Meadows row. Let the gains commence.

The legacy of a great man will always outlive him. Thank you, MD.

John’s family must find peace in the fact that he lives on through these videos and this channel. Many people who’ve lost love ones don’t have that luxury. It’s a reminder for all to do things in your life that will persist after you’re gone. Leave your mark on the world.

Will always be thankful for the knowledge.

Good these are still being put out. Hopefully, his great library of videos can help provide for his family.

John is a legend!

WE MISS YOU JOHN GOD BLESS YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DID FOR EVERYONE AND GOD BLESS YOUR FAMILY . WE ALL LOVE YOU

Exactly what I was looking for John. Thank you Legend we miss you man.

I'm a 59 year old natural that is just lean muscular. I cant build bulk. I love how John can talk to everyone about how to train, and not put down natural lifters. Thank you John!! You are missed more than you realize, and your sincerity and training tips will live on in everyone that has followed your channel. I for one hope there are many more training videos left in the vault!!!

Love seeing all his videos, God bless John

Even tho he is not here with us physically his advices will be here for a lifetime thank you for everything John

Miss this man.

Honesty & being knowledgeable is John's biggest strength. Legendary! RIP

thx for knowledge John, Legends never die!