I have always done a push/pull split workout. I would like to switch things up doing a full body workout. My question is how long should a rest between workouts? I would like to do at least 3 full workouts per week, is this too much?
Could someone give me examples of their full body workout schedule?

Thanks for your help!

All day every day you move with your entire body. Athletes train their entire body with phenomenal effects. The main question I have is what are you trying to accomplish?

rest as normal maybe a little more for starters as you won't be using any light isolation exercises...choose 1 exercise from each section and 2 - 4 sets of depending on what ever is your weakness/es

1a - Lower Body Quad Dominant (squats, lunges etc)

1b - Lower Body Hip Dominant (Deadlifts etc)

2a - Upper Body Horizontal Pull (rows etc)

2b - Upper Body Horizontal Push (benches, push ups)

3a - Upper Body Vertical Pull (chins, pull ups/downs etc)

3b - Upper Body Vertical Push (shoulder press etc)

no curls, crunches etc...compounds will be more than enough...might want to do something like this:

mon - section 1 focus, 2 and 3 maintenance

wed - 2 focus, 1 and 3 maintenance

fri - 3 focus, 3 and 1 maintenance

or

mon - 1 heavy, 2 mod, 3 light

wed - 2 heavy, 3 mod, 1 light

fri - 3 heavy, 1 mod, 2 light

Thanks swan!

Trainerty, I am trying to increase lean mass slowly. Not really interested in bulking and then cutting. I mainly would like to change my routine up to shock my body and to keep it from becoming too accustomed to my routines.
I think I could show more gains by switching up routines frequently.

train every 48hrs or m.w.f. or t.th.sat. you can do cardio inbetween

That was my plan to train every other day, just wanted to make sure that was correct and allowed enough recovery time.

It should be but that all depends on genetics, body type, and age. If you notice after doing it for a couple of weeks, you either arent seeing gains, or you arent getting stronger, theres a good chance you'll need more rest.

but give it a good 3 weeks or so before making this decision. Since its new, your body may take a little while to adapt to the increase in stress

Thanks junkfood.

While being a little older (47) my body recovers pretty good. That is as long as I keep my nutrition good to replinish my muscles and get adequate rest.
Not too bad for an old man! LOL

as long as you dont go to faliure it doesnt matter what your genetics,age,body type,is we are meant to work every day people worry to much about overtraining and end up not doing enough..dont go to faliure and you cant overtrain simple..
here is some info from hypertrophy-specific.com

Also read the Planning Your Training Frequency article.

The reason HST calls for more frequent training is because the acute anabolic effects of training, such as increased protein synthesis, muscle-specific IGF-1 expression, and other factors involved in modulation of short term protein synthesis, only last for 36-48 hours. There is also mounting evidence of a "summation" effect by exercising while levels of these signals and responses are elevated, as should be expected.

This does not mean that the structural repairs to the tissue have been completed. Research has demonstrated that you can train a muscle before it is fully recovered structurally and not inhibit its ability to continue to recover. So, HST uses this evidence and calls for repeated loading (training) every 48 hours or so to keep the anabolic activity of the muscle high, while trying to stay slightly ahead of the structural recovery curve by constantly increasing the load each workout. Staying ahead of the structural recovery curve is really key to elicit real growth in a person who has lifted for quite a while. Of course, injuries can develop over time if care isn't taken to take time to heal, and prepare the tendons for repeated heavy bouts of lifting (SD and 15s serve this purpose in HST).

"Recovery" can refer to several different things.

1) "Recovery" can refer to the structural repair process of fixing the microtrauma. The damaged proteins can takes several days to be repaired and all evidence of damage removed. Even at the end of seven days after significant muscle damage from eccentric muscle actions, you may still see some small fibers regenerating.

2) Strength - this can be acute recovery as in the necessary time to rest between sets. Or it can mean the days that it usually takes to regain baseline strength after muscle damaging exercise.

So the trick is to have the CNS "recover" just in time to hit the muscle again as the acute anabolic effects are wearing off. That way you can stay anabolic more of the time. Training once every 7 days will still allow you to grow, it just takes longer for the gains to accumulate. Training more frequently is more efficient if your goal is just to get bigger

To understand, you have to consider the total volume over time. A week is easiest to consider, so, over the course of a week, it is the total volume that is important. So 9 total sets for chest can be done in one workout or in several workouts. Both will stimulate growth. However, you will be anabolic more of the time if you can actually create that stimulus more often. In the case of HST, 3 times as often. There is a physiological benefit (acute anabolic effects of training) in doing 9 sets as 3 sets X 3 workouts, as opposed to 9 sets all at once - and then nothing for the next 7 days.

Very good info buzz!
Thank you

This is a solid program imo.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031

4 maybe 5 compounds. Different rep schemes, one day heavy, one moderate, one light. Include one upper push, upper pull, lower push, lower pull/hip dominant in every workout...just read the article.

Excellent article AJP, thanks!

Provides great variation.

The amount of muscle mass you will be able to put on really falls heavily on your caloric intake. The whole "shock" the body thing can get a little carried away. For the most part sets/reps dictate the form of training you are utilizing NOT exercises themselves. So, if you are interested in barraging your body with a lot of shock.....change the volume more than exercises.
The frequency you are in the gym depends heavily on your progression and what phase of training you are in now.
Don't be afraid of training FULL BODY more than every 48 hrs. Understand how to efficiently program yourself and you can use full body training practically everyday.
Don't fear going to failure in training. When periodized correctly, this form of training will bring a good deal of hypertrophy and build mental focus.

There are many ways to bulk up without gaining fat. The KEY for the program to work for you will come from your ability to balance energy in and energy out.
I personally always do full body these days and any new client I train get I take through a full body adaptation phase......No matter what his/her goals are he/she must become accustomed to basic movements first....unless I have to go through rehab first.

Thanks trainerty good advice.
I've done this long enough to have developed good form and know it's importance. The program AJP recommended has a lot of variation and changing volume and reps. I am going to try it and see what happens. I know from past experience each time I change routines I see improvement so that is my goal. Thanks again.

Sounds good, stick to it for a while and see how it goes.