# Once or twice a week for each body part...what gave you the best results?



## GetSuperBig (Mar 5, 2014)

Who has given both options a fair chance?

By "fair" I mean that one didn't grossly over-train with excessive volume or intensity with either method, such that they can accurately compare the positive and negative benefits of an optimal application of both strategies.

This question is probably best reserved for those who have trained for many years, know their body well, and can thus actually determine an "optimum" application of both methods for themselves.

Research would indicate that there's greater stimulus for protein synthesis and growth when body-parts are appropriately trained ~2x per week.

I'm considering switching to push..pull..legs...off...doing dogcrapp first three, then next session will be much more volume and pump focused.

Thoughts?


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

I think if you did train twice a week you wouldn't be able to facilitate adequate growth stimulus because of the effort required to break down fibres. You couldn't do this and recover if you trained every body part twice a week. Possibly if you targeted a weak body part and trained that twice but the rest as normal. But certainly at my level the training required means that training every body part twice a week I would quickly become over trained.


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## Hayesy (Aug 15, 2011)

i would say depending on goals etc its ok i have trained like this, i do it like this now, i want bigger legs, i train them twice a week and the rest once, and so on


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

Once a week for me too. I can train bodyparts on a more frequent basis but only if I reduce in other areas be that volume, weights used, or by dropping other body parts down to minimum levels or even completely.

For example when I was squatting 3 times a week that's all I did. If I do two chest workouts a week I would drop back and leg work to a minimum. And if I were to train full body 3 times a week then the weights used would be much lower and sessions would be limited to, maybe, 5 exercises with no more than 20 sets in total including warm ups.


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## Major Eyeswater (Nov 2, 2013)

My training progress suddenly took off again when I switched to 3x a week full body training. I haven't made progress like it since I first hit the gym 30 years ago - and was doing full body 3x week.

You need to cut the volume down though


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## Red Viper (Mar 14, 2014)

the way i see training is that there is 3 main components, volume, frequency and intensity (% of 1rm). as one increases the others have to decrease or change.

personally i believe that hitting everything 2x a week is best for most people, however as you become more advanced you may have to drop the frequency in order to increase the volume to create a greater training stimulus.

but then again it depends on your goals, training styles and preferences


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## SILV3RBACK (Jun 23, 2012)

Training a body part twice a week could work. If you eat right, rest enough and take the right supplements and drugs in the right amounts religiously day in day out for years.


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## GetSuperBig (Mar 5, 2014)

Twice a week isn't that much...think how much the Bulgaria power lifters train and how often.

Just reduce volume slightly


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## Cronus (Jun 5, 2012)

Tried it with legs and would always tend to pick up injuries after a couple weeks. I hit them hard all out once a week and they are slowly but surely growing.


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## SILV3RBACK (Jun 23, 2012)

GetSuperBig said:


> Twice a week isn't that much...think how much the Bulgaria power lifters train and how often.
> 
> Just reduce volume slightly


I bet they don't train naturally though!


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## dazwhite (Apr 2, 2014)

It all depends what your training goals are.

If you want to be able to lift more, then volume training is generally the way to go.

If you want to build muscle (naturally, that is), you need to train intensely and briefly. Then you get out of the gym and eat & sleep until you are ready to train again!


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## sadman (Jul 24, 2013)

for mass at leats thats worked for me once per week,for strength twice!!


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## DutchTony (Sep 25, 2011)

I can't train chest and triceps twice a week. My triceps can never handle it and I get injured. Saying that, I refuse to lower the weight and volume so that's my problem


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

SILV3RBACK said:


> Training a body part twice a week could work. If you eat right, rest enough and take the right supplements and drugs in the right amounts religiously day in day out for years.


Training a muscle twice a week compared to once a week means halving the volume and doubling the frequency. So rather than doing 4 chest exercises every Monday, you'd do 2 chest exercises on Monday and then 2 on Thursday, for example. There's an increasing amount of evidence to show that 2x a week frequency (a good upper/lower split for example) is optimal for most natty trainees. You also have to take into account that bodypart splits only came in because people started using gear - the enhanced recovery ability meant that not only could they hit a muscle with several exercises to create more growth stimulus and expect to recover easily from it, but also because they'd experience no atrophy after leaving the muscle unworked for an entire week (though it was this thinking that lead to Arnold and guys of that era training at full volume twice a week).

My progress has noticeably improved since I got off the 4-day split and started on 2x a week frequency, basically cutting up my routine and spreading it out so I'm still doing the same amount of work per week, but the exercises for each muscle are spread over 2 days of the week rather than done all in one day.


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## SILV3RBACK (Jun 23, 2012)

> Training a muscle twice a week compared to once a week means halving the volume and doubling the frequency. So rather than doing 4 chest exercises every Monday, you'd do 2 chest exercises on Monday and then 2 on Thursday, for example. There's an increasing amount of evidence to show that 2x a week frequency (a good upper/lower split for example) is optimal for most natty trainees. You also have to take into account that bodypart splits only came in because people started using gear - the enhanced recovery ability meant that not only could they hit a muscle with several exercises to create more growth stimulus and expect to recover easily from it, but also because they'd experience no atrophy after leaving the muscle unworked for an entire week (though it was this thinking that lead to Arnold and guys of that era training at full volume twice a week).
> 
> My progress has noticeably improved since I got off the 4-day split and started on 2x a week frequency, basically cutting up my routine and spreading it out so I'm still doing the same amount of work per week, but the exercises for each muscle are spread over 2 days of the week rather than done all in one day.


That way of training a muscle obviously works for you and you're making gains from it. Do you split all of your body parts the same way as your chest, 2 exercises one day then 2 more a couple of days later?


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## RACK (Aug 20, 2007)

At the min I'm training body parts twice in 7 days, got 2 workouts for each body part, 2-3 exercises per part and 2 intense sets.

Working pretty well as always beating the note book. I do it like this;

Mon - chest, bis 1

Tues - legs 1

Wed - rest 1

Thur - delts, tris, calves 1

Fri - back 1

Sat - chest, bis 2

Sun - rest

Mon - legs 2

ect


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## johnnymctrance (Nov 21, 2012)

GetSuperBig said:


> Who has given both options a fair chance?
> 
> By "fair" I mean that one didn't grossly over-train with excessive volume or intensity with either method, such that they can accurately compare the positive and negative benefits of an optimal application of both strategies.
> 
> ...


I used to do once a week per body part! now i do a 2 day split x 3days a week, so that works out technically 1.5 times per week...

But i can honestly say that has worked far better for me than once weekly... My volume isnt crazy either, i used to think doing loads of sets was a good thing, but since i dropped down the volume and increase to 1.5 times per week it has worked alot better than in the past!


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## johnnymctrance (Nov 21, 2012)

Major Eyeswater said:


> My training progress suddenly took off again when I switched to 3x a week full body training. I haven't made progress like it since I first hit the gym 30 years ago - and was doing full body 3x week.
> 
> You need to cut the volume down though


Totally agree mate, too much volume destroys your recovery espicially training more than once per week!


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## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

i had decent growth when i did PPL with a day of lighter all body on supporting exercises, cables, arms, shrugs rear delts. but then i have found even better from doing a 4 day split or chest back off shoulders legs off off and going for low volume.

tried working a body part twice a week on rotation, so one week 2 parts would be hti twice to still allow rest and then next week others, but found that the reduction in rest was effecting other part of training too much so dropped it


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## Big Man 123 (Aug 1, 2013)

Twice a week of course, why would you wait more if a muscle recovers on 48 hours? Once a week and you will have half of the results at the end and I'm talking about natty lifters.

It makes no sense to use gear for training a muscle once a week, it's just absurd: "I'm gonna buy a faster car buy I'm going to drive at the same speed"

Even for a drug free @ 40 years old, training 3 days a week is just an excess.

As everyone know, gaining muscle is a matter of breaking fibers and repairing them so why would you not train a muscle that has its fibers repaired? I have no clue.

For me, I'm going to do a cycle and I'm going to train each muscle 3 times a week and I have the absolute certainty that I'm going to gain more muscle than any log on the net.


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## J_boyd85 (Jun 28, 2013)

Doing a push pull legs routine ar the moment and loving the results


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## johnnymctrance (Nov 21, 2012)

Big Man 123 said:


> Twice a week of course, why would you wait more if a muscle recovers on 48 hours? Once a week and you will have half of the results at the end and I'm talking about natty lifters.
> 
> It makes no sense to use gear for training a muscle once a week, it's just absurd: "I'm gonna buy a faster car buy I'm going to drive at the same speed"
> 
> ...


I agree, on gear u get faster and better recovery so why only do once a week is silly!


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## Big Man 123 (Aug 1, 2013)

johnnymctrance said:


> I agree, on gear u get faster and better recovery so why only do once a week is silly!


As everything in life, this is not a general rule but I have found that at least 90% of the people grow more on low volume high frequency.


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

SILV3RBACK said:


> That way of training a muscle obviously works for you and you're making gains from it. Do you split all of your body parts the same way as your chest, 2 exercises one day then 2 more a couple of days later?


I should also say that everyone is different in their response to things, 1x a week can certainly produce natty gains. Did 1x a week myself for a good year with decent results. Just found 2x a week more effective for me though, which I only tried after seeing Dorian Yates' early torso/limbs split and liking the sound of it, then doing some googling and finding a lot of evidence that that kind of frequency might be most optimal. Do I'm doing a similar split. I work on a 1-on, 1-off schedule, so I train each muscle every 4 days on an AB type split. So on A day I'll do 2 chest exercises, 2 delt exercises, and I treat the lats and upper back as 2 seperate muscle groups so I'll do 2 lat exercises and 2 upper back/rear delt exercises. Then on B day I'll do a bicep and tricep exercise each, then 2 quads, 2 hams, then 1 each on calves and traps. Though I work on a sort of ABCD cycle, so I'll do decline bench and flyes on one day and the next one I'll do incline bench and incline flyes. So yeah, you could do it with any 4-day split really, just divide it up. A lot of people like upper-lower splits as well, which is almost what I'm doing but I'm just moving arms into the lower day to balance out the volume a bit. Also means I can do arms when I'm fresh and give the one direct exercise 100% effort, obviously I wouldn't wanna be training arms before I train chest, shoulders and back lol.


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## nflexp (Feb 21, 2014)

For me two times a week works the best.


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## rick84 (May 11, 2008)

Major Eyeswater said:


> My training progress suddenly took off again when I switched to 3x a week full body training. I haven't made progress like it since I first hit the gym 30 years ago - and was doing full body 3x week.
> 
> You need to cut the volume down though


This for me also. Currently doing 4sets for each body part 3x a week. The only exception is if I feel a body part needs more attention, then I do more sets (2 exercises). Seems to have sparked something for me.


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## Stephen9069 (Dec 11, 2013)

Tried doing body parts 2-3 times a week and found that i was starting to pick up more injuries so dropped it back down to once a week again


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## GetSuperBig (Mar 5, 2014)

What about if you are assisted then...

I'm guessing twice a week definite?

One higher volume and one lower...


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## Bull Terrier (May 14, 2012)

For me personally I've found that I grow better training each body part twice per week. I think that training each body part once per week, completely obliterating it, seems to work well for advanced guys especially when assisted. However for most others - especially when natural - it's usually better to go with lower volume, higher frequency, whilst also - of course - cycling training intensity.


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

I'm natty and once a week hard has always worked better for me, reducing volume to do twice a week means less stimulus anyway so it works out similar anyway IMO. I found injuries easier to come by on twice a week too. Lower back for example needs more recovery than it gets doing back and legs twice a week with not enough rest between them


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## bigjohnc (Apr 10, 2014)

I stick to training each muscle once a week as I feel I need the rest. If I hit too many sets of bench and incline bench on chest day my front delts are a little weaker on shoulders day so no way could I do each body part twice a week with the volume and intensity I use.


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## bigjohnc (Apr 10, 2014)

With that being said, I have seen good progress training a lagging muscle twice a week.

Say I do biceps on Monday and back on Thursday, I'm generally OK to throw a few sets of biceps in at the end of my back workout. 3-6 sets is usually enough.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Big Man 123 said:


> Twice a week of course, why would you wait more if a muscle recovers on 48 hours? Once a week and you will have half of the results at the end and I'm talking about natty lifters.
> 
> It makes no sense to use gear for training a muscle once a week, it's just absurd: "I'm gonna buy a faster car buy I'm going to drive at the same speed"
> 
> ...


CNS recovery takes longer. Depleting the CNS and not recovering eventually leads to immune depletion and getting ill.

Thing is every body has a different genetic make up. There is a DNA test you can take now that can tell you which type of training suits you. I'm pretty sure over the 18 years I've been training I now know what works for me and it isn't one type of training.

I incorporate periodisation of training methods to make consistent gains every year. My gear use really hasn't changed over the years.

Not singling out your post just a general response.


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

GetSuperBig said:


> What about if you are assisted then...
> 
> I'm guessing twice a week definite?
> 
> One higher volume and one lower...


No. I never train a body part within 5 days. Not directly.


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

i train the whole body 3 times a week but in different ways (weight, volume etc) certainly one of the best ways i have trained, i also schedule in reload time as hitting high intensity all the time can be counter productive normally this is a 2 week period every 6-8 weeks.

i have clients training a body part once a week, twice a week or 3 times a week and all make gains and progress there is no one way that gives best results across the board, the key is to look at all the options and find what works best for you.


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## Big Man 123 (Aug 1, 2013)

Tinytom said:


> CNS recovery takes longer. Depleting the CNS and not recovering eventually leads to immune depletion and getting ill.
> 
> Thing is every body has a different genetic make up. There is a DNA test you can take now that can tell you which type of training suits you. I'm pretty sure over the 18 years I've been training I now know what works for me and it isn't one type of training.
> 
> ...


Hey man, what an amazing post THANKS!!!

I gave you reputation, I don't know if I am able to do that yet or if it is even an appreciable quantity but it represents how much I apreciated your post, thanks for helping me to fix this knowledge gap!

Is here any thread that talks about that DNA test you mentioned?

THANKS !!!


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

Big Man 123 said:


> Hey man, what an amazing post THANKS!!!
> 
> I gave you reputation, I don't know if I am able to do that yet or if it is even an appreciable quantity but it represents how much I apreciated your post, thanks for helping me to fix this knowledge gap!
> 
> ...


No it's pretty new.

It's not definitive. It measures what deficiencies you may have and you can extract from that what training styles may suit you.

For instance my friend had it done. He's an ex rugby player very big and strong but had a knee injury so had to stop playing.

His test showed a deficiency in a enzyme or protein that meant his body didn't uptake a particular nutrient essential for proper joint repair. Hence the high impact rugby was high risk. This probably contributed to his knee injury.

So not cut and dry but for instance if you knew that your body recovered faster from certain types of training you could adjust your training patterns to maximise this.

For instance I'm pretty sure my test will show up that maximal load training is not preferential for me. Everytime I've trained to a maximal load I have got injured and not through bad form. But training at 80% for higher reps illicits a better muscle growth response for me.


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## GetSuperBig (Mar 5, 2014)

Tinytom said:


> No it's pretty new.
> 
> It's not definitive. It measures what deficiencies you may have and you can extract from that what training styles may suit you.
> 
> ...


Is it expensive to get something like this done?


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## Big Pumpa (Feb 29, 2008)

I dont train the same body part within 5-7 days


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## Kazza61 (Jun 14, 2008)

Training each body part 3 times per fortnight has really brought me on over the 6 months. Also alternating routines for each body part each workout.

My routine is adapted from the workout described here:

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8050


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## Tinytom (Sep 16, 2005)

GetSuperBig said:


> Is it expensive to get something like this done?


I've been quoted nearly £300. At 34 not sure how much of an investment that is as I've pretty much found out how to get the best out of my training. 10 years ago it would have been invaluable.


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## IGotTekkers (Jun 6, 2012)

Everyone is different. I have a mate thats a US national powerlifter and he squats/deads most days. Ct fletcher is ****ing huge and he spends all day in the gym. Rich piana trains legs once every 3 weeks or so and they are still huge.

There was a competition on here a while back where people trained arms every single day, they still got growth. I gained most of my size from once per week, heavy weight.. 2 exserzes per muscle, 2 sets per excersize. I was in the gym for about 90 minutes per week tops. Now im in the gym for 90 mi utes per time, 5 sets per exsersize, more exsersizes per group. Only been doing it a month and im cutting so i cant comment yet.


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