most productive routine Ive ever used

I think its about time I went back to my most productive routine ever.
No fancy ideas, no going past failure, no wierd excercise, just low volume, compound excercises done with low frequency
Back many years ago I got into my best ever shape using the following routine

Wednesday
bench press 2 warm up sets then 2 sets of 6
front shoulder press 2 warm up 2 sets of 6
close grip bench press 1 warm up 2 sets of 6

Thursday
squats 2 warm up 1 set of 15
pulldowns 2 warm ups 2 sets of 6
barbell curl 1 warm up 2 sets of 6
trap bar deadlift 2 warm up 1 set of 15
shrugs with same weight as deadlifts 1x6
then hold the bar as long as my grip would hold, trying to improve each workout

I did no ab work, and no calf work, but had a 6 pack, and my calves also grew, probably from the indirect work they got from the squats and deadlifts

Thats it untill the following wednesday and thursday.
Starting with weights for the main sets that let me get 2x6 comfortably,built up untill the main sets got difficult then adding SMALL weight increments every workout if possible, but only if I got the 2x6
Last time I did this routine I progressed slightly each and every workout for over a year.
Weights on large excercises were put up between a half and 1kilo per week, while the smaller like curls went up by as little as 200g.
Folks at the gym I trained at then used to laugh at the tiny weights I would add,and my short workouts, but after that year when I had slowly but surely build up to weights greater than most of them were using and had build size on my frame while they generaly all stayed the same, the same people were asking where I bought the small weights lol.
AS before I am not expecting fast results, but will build up slowly with the aim of getting back to my best ever shape in just over a years time.
Will I manage it? who knows, but Im going to have fun trying

That's a balanced enough program, the only thing I'd change would be to do it on non-consecutive days (say Tues, Thurs for example), just to allow some recovery. I know you're working different muscles, but the CNS (central nervous system) gets taxed by any training & so needs some recovery, but if you seem to be adding weight & no signs of overtraining (& more importantly it worked before!) then go for it!

I think that's very similar to the way Clarence Bass lifts... You might want to check out his site:
http://www.cbass.com/

I mean in terms of once a week and low volume.
http://www.cbass.com/success_stories2.htm
(He actually has ten links of such success stories. And if you scroll down that first link you eventually come to 300 articles.) Personally I get a bit antsy with lifting so rarely. But I do find that low volume works best.

Pete
The reason that I do two days on the 5 off is that, as we all know, a split routine is never a real split because you cant properly isolate a muscle group.
When Ive done my chest shoulders triceps workout, those are the bodyparts I get soreness in and feel fully worked, however, my lats and forearms also have a bit of soreness, so if I left my lat back legs biceps workout till a few days later I would be working my lats and forearms with soreness from the previous c s t day.

I have in the past tried doing lats with triceps, chest with biceps, but got poor results because with that split, the tris were getting hit hard while training chest, then again in the opposite workout, same with the biceps being hit hard training lats and again on the opposing workout.
Some can recover and progress working the arms in every workout, I sadly cant.

I know for years of experience that I get sore slightly the day after a workout, properly sore the day after that, but the soreness does not then subside untill at least the 5th day after a workout.
Sooo, I find that for me its better to work all bodyparts over the two days, then stay away from the gym untill all soreness has gone, and then the body has had a few days for overcompensation to take place.

I know Arthur Jones used a similar (but more extreme) version when he first got back to heavy lifting after a lay-off. He'd work out 4 days in a row, then have quite a few days off (suffering DOMS), then he'd be ok to continue without DOMS with his training & a much more abbreviated training style. So, if it works for you, then go for it as we are all unique in one way or another. I've recently had to move from a 4 day split to a 3 day split myself as I'm just not recovering like I used to (& time has become an issue). I've also included some light stuff in the AM for active recovery as it seems to help if I do some bending & stretching & light stuff first thing. So, we all do what well maximises results.

Well Im just back from my christmas day back legs biceps day at the gym, and Im very satisfied with my progress so far.
Weights are slowly creeping up, and Ive put just over 1 and a half stone in bodyweight on since stopping running, 7lb of that being since my first post in this thread.
Obviously it wont all be solid weight, but Im happy to be getting my bulk back.
Now the weights are starting to get harder I will put up by only 200g to 1kilo per workout depending on excercise.
Hopefully I will be able to add this amount every workout for the next 13 months, as the aim is to get back into my best ever shape by my 50th birthday.

I have made 2 changes to my original workout though, theres no squat rack in the gym Im training at now so Im doing leg press, Im also leaving out deadlifts for now due to lower back problems
I havent trained legs at all while Ive been running these last few years and have never used leg press at all.

Nutrition wise my daily food intake looks roughly like this

muesli, or porridge with mixed nuts made with soya milk
vegan multi vit min


3-4 pieces of fruit, maybe a few nuts, or a baked spud

huge salad consisting of loadsa salad veg with olives and a tin of kidney beans or chick peas. dressing made from lemon juice rapeseed oil and encona west indian hot pepper sauce

3-4 pieces of fruit etc


Large evening meal with masses of steamed vegetables and a protein source of seitan, or simular.

snacks through the day if I have them consist of raw veg, green smoothies etc

Great one - wish I had chance to train today, but as the xmas cook....no chance!!