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Hello...

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the difference between working body parts twice a week as oppposed to once a week.

Thanks!
t

_________________
Always tie up your shoes.

The former is twice as frequent ! (am I not a smart ass ;-)

In fact there quite a few options. For example if you train three times a week alternating b/n two workouts, you will train a `body part' 1.5 times a week on average.

I guess the math is like this:
1.You should have about 48hrs b/n your workouts.
2.You also should keep you workouts shorter then about 1 hr.
So once your workouts get elaborate (and break the '1hr rule') , you have to split your routine, resulting in some sort of a split sequence. So its not an option, it's a necessity.

If you are getting started though, you should probably do just a few exercises that work most of your body. You'd then repeat this few times a week. Resting 'body part' (its not always as easy done as said!) for a week gives you longer to recuperate. Once your body gets more adopted to training, you'll be able to push your muscles closer to their max ability (that's why rapid gains in the beginning) - and that's when you may need more time for rest. You should though be able to trust your senses to see whether you are overtraining.

Better than a dumb a$$! haha...

I'm currently doing a four day split.... A/B/C/D/X/A/B/C/D/X... with a focus on gaining some lean.. seems to be working for the most part... I guess what I'm wondering is can more muscle be gained doing a body part 1.5 to 2 times a week as opposed to doing it once a week? ie: A/X/B/X/C/XX/A/X/B/X/C and so on. Or, will it depend on weights and reps more than frequency?

t

_________________
Always tie up your shoes.

Weights and reps is the answer, but even with that you cat get quite different advice.
The way I get it your frequency should be so as to let `enough' rest. About 'exact science' - I bet you'll get quite a range of answers. Wait till the pros get in here.

That was me just above.

I think it also depends on how you are training. If you are doing push/pulls, it is fine to work out more. If I hammer one body part, I rest it for a week. It also depends on you and what your body responds to. Just be careful not to overtrain. For example, my chest workout is:
Flat/incline/decline bench press
Flat/incline/decline flys.
If you are doing push/pulls, you could do the press one day and the flys another.

The difference is obvious, you're working the bodypart twice a week versus one time. Which is best for you? Well, according to the NSCA research has shown that as you progress throughout your training age (from beginner, to intermediate, and advanced) you will begin to benefit more from increased sets of exercises versus the gains you may have seen early on in your training from a 1 day or 1 set program.

This thread is pretty far down...but anyways, why isn't it an option to go over an hour for a total body workout? If you do an hour and a half for a total body every other day, three days a week, are you seriously holding yourself back because you aren't getting enough rest or something?

I always thought you weren't supposed to break the one hour rule for motivational reasons.

Well... one is more prone to INJURY the longer the workout.

I've often heard it said that a person is "wasting their time" if they work out more than an hour

But.....if you rent the movie "Pumping Iron", or..just read a bunch of old bodybuilding books, you'll see some guys who obviously did nothing BUT workout. A lot of those old school guys lifted hours and hours a day.

I'll bet if a person can make enough MONEY out of working out all day, then they'd probably do it.<G>

Ideas about lifting have changed over the years, but it's still just building muscle.

I'm sure you won't hurt yourself doing a total body workout for an hour and a half 3 days a week (I've done it)

You'll find out if you are holding yourself back when you stop making progress. And when you stop making progress, you should change what you are doing anyway.

Are you noticing your motivation flagging?

dian

Oh, no, my motivation rarely flags. And spending alot of time working out has never had a negative effect on my motivation/overall mentality. If anything, I feel alot better mentally after kicking my own ass during a long workout. I was just curious about the subject because all I've read about it suggested that there is a high dropout rate amongst beginners when they are working out for more than an hour at a time.

When someone mentioned that you should'nt go over an hour at a time, I was curious, because I know strongmen do huge blocks of time in the gym, with obvious results. I think I remember hearing something about Mariusz Pudzianowski being in the gym for five or six hour blocks.

Personally, I probably wouldn't shorten my workouts unless somebody gave me an excellent reason to.

The suggestion of not going more than an hour at a time is this: the hormones (think the gh and testosterone effects) have been shown to peak in 45-60 minutes. Ddoes that mean you can't do more? Oh heck no. But I would avise doing it in multiple sessions, spaced out. Just look at the USAW when training a team. Multiple session/day, spaced out for around a 45 minute session.
Now, what Dian said is absolutely true, in that in the early 70's and so, marathon sessions were very popular when doing workouts, with extremely high volume, but also, remember, that during that time frame, "chemical assistance' was also becoming very popular. I can't say that without a doubt it was due to volume, assistance , or the length, but I can say that for the begnner, limit your workout to an hour or under.
Tim
Tim

After an hour, traing becomes exponentially less effective. Mostly due to cortisol levels (this causes catabolism). However this is not the case if you are on steroids. When using steroids, marathon workouts are the way to go. The high cost and adverse affect on health would be a good reason not to take steroids and stick with the natural limits. I am talking hypertrophy of course. This may not matter for strength or endurance goals.

Ah, thanks for explaination.

How often you train a muscle will depend on a number of factors like how many sets you perform for a given muscle and how heavy you lift. Generally speaking the harder you train a muscle in a given workout, the longer you'll want to give it to recover. Also, recovery time can vary greatly from person to person.

I prefer to use a split system where each muscle is trained only once a week, with the exception of abs/obliques which are trained twice. Also, I've learned the hard way that I get my best results from a relatively low volume of training. For example, a typical back/biceps/forearms workout for me would consist of 7-10 sets of back, 7-8 sets of biceps, and 6 sets of forearms.

10 sets for one muscle group is low volume? mabye i dont get it is that ALL exersizces you are doing for that muscle set wise? like i do 3 sets per exersize so would my lat pull downs + rows = 6 sets for my back? or what?