# is once a week realy enough



## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

i dont know if this is the right boad but here goes

i train each body part once a week and wondered if this was enough. now i know alot of people will say if you benefit from this and you think its enough then it is enough but i just thought id ask

cheers

rob


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## powerU (Oct 22, 2003)

definitley enough mate.

i've been the worst offender for overtraining over the years, but for the last couple of months i've switched to training one bodypart once a week for about 10-12 sets, heavy. I've gained about 16lbs and doubled my bench and deadlift. So, enjoy the rest and watch your diet!


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

It is enough to do once a week. For strength and size this is recomended. The only other thing that you can do more than once a week is abs, calves and forearms. These are actually recomended more than once a week. Dont worry if you feel that you are undertraining you probably are not. Generally more is not better in this case and less is best.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Yes I feel once a week is best also. Lets say you do chest on monday and tries on thursday. If on your thursday try work out and you do any close grip bench or dips for tricept then you are indirectly working your chest again. So in theory your actually training more than once a week. Unless you do every excercise in one day and if that was the case at the end of your workout those muscle groups are getting jipped.


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

cheers for the info guys excellent as ever


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2003)

to be honest i dont think once a week is enough to trigger the optimum amount of hypertrophy, as the muscle gets use to the stimulus applied to it it can simply remain in a "non attrophy/non hypertrophy" state, just my 2 cents, but this is comming from a HST lover


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## V-Man (Nov 23, 2003)

what about when your 'on' ?


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

FYI, lifting heavy does more than just tax the muscle. It also taxes the central nervous system. It takes 5 days to recouperate the CNS. If you lift heavy on the same body part like lets say 3 times a week you are in for some trouble. Chronic Fetigue, more chance of injury and loss in strength.

Dont forget: When you lift chest the triceps get hit along with the shoulders.

When you hit Back the biceps and rear delt get hit along with the lower back.

When you hit shoulders your tricept get hit along with lower back.

When you hit legs (squats) your diaphram gets hit along with traps (indirectly) forearms (indirectly), back, butt.

When you hit triceps depending on the exercise you hit chest (close grip), dips (chest some shoulders), pushdowns (abs).

When you hit biceps depending on the exercise you hit back (lower) and even indirectly shoulders.

If you hit the muscles right you can get massive development doing each bodypart once a week and not only be focused on it but hit it hard. Intensity is key. Tickling the muscle is good if you are 70 but not with a guy on gear or his prime at 17-35.

WingS: lets look at your workout and the way you train and I want to be enlightened. Show me what you are talking about

and what is a HST lover?


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

It also depends on how old you are. If you are older, like lets say in your 40's once a week is enough. Like hackskii said there is some overlap going on and the muscle is indirectly hit more than once a week.


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2003)

> Originally posted by hackskii
> 
> *FYI, lifting heavy does more than just tax the muscle. It also taxes the central nervous system. It takes 5 days to recouperate the CNS. If you lift heavy on the same body part like lets say 3 times a week you are in for some trouble. Chronic Fetigue, more chance of injury and loss in strength.*
> 
> ...


www.hypertrophyspecific.com

let the enlightenment begin


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Just as I thought a ! - EDITIED BY CHEATER - 23/12/03 - I can day this dude isnt a scammer 

Direct competition with others on this board.

You lost credibility with me. I am 44 years old and have been lifting for 28 years and can see B.S. when I smell it. Hey, I am not flaming you but you post without saying anything.

How about some constructive criticism, how about some of that vast information on your 3 years of lifting? Fire away. I asked to see your routine and you post a thread for some web page. What is up with that? Would you please post your routine?

Lets just see what your 3 years of training and competition has done. Do you juice? You are either a liar or a salesman.

Oh, how old are you?


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2003)

whoa whoa whoa....easy there big guy, i was just giving you a link to a site that clearly explains HST training...

i do full body training 3 times a week, if you read the article on the site i posted then you would see the principles of HST outlined, im natural and im not quiet sure what my age has to do with anything, whats the hostility for?

anyway i could talk a lot but its better to post up some pics so im new here, maybe you could tell me how its done?


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Ok I do agree with your post. So lets break it down a bit. I had said in my last post that once a week is enough. There is allot of overlapping going on. Lets just say that you work one bodypart once a day. It takes me 5 days to get through the whole body.

Monday-chest

Tuesday-back

Wednesday-off

Thursday-shoulder

Friday-arms

Working chest hits, chest, shoulder, arms.

Back works, back, bies.

Shoulders work, shoulder, tries.

Tries. Now depending upon your lifts. Close grip bench=chest, delts, tries. Dips=chest, front delts, tries.

Bies=Some lower back, Traps, indirect shoulder, and of course bies.

You can say that once a week is not enough. Now dont get me wrong I totally agree with what you are saying. Really I do. This is not a flame. But there is allot of grey area here and I just want to point this out.

This is the same stuff I have been saying since I have been a member.

From your link.

These researchers found that doing a single set of each exercise was equally effective as doing three sets of the same movements in increasing the subjects one repetition maximum (1RM) on bench press. The take home message is that you needn't do more than a single work set to achieve the same relative gains of doing multiple sets. This makes incorporating a whole body workout into your schedule much more feasible.

A sample whole body workout might look like this:

10-15 minute warmup on bike or treadmill

Squats, 1-2 warm up sets and 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Leg curls, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Bench press, 1 warm up and 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Chins or pull ups, 1 work set 6-8 reps. (Add weight as necessary)

Dips, 1 work set of 6-8 reps. (Add weight as necessary)

Seated rows, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Lying tricep extensions, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Preacher curls, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

You will notice that this type of training relies heavily on compound exercises. This is necessary to keep the number of exercises down. Don't worry about this however; compound exercises should be the foundation of any muscle/strength building program.

This is just some of the research used to create Hypertrophy Specific Training. If you want to get the most out of your efforts in the gym, you have got to incorporate new knowledge as science uncovers it. The message here is that by reducing the volume of sets per exercise, and by increasing the frequency that you train each muscle group, you may experience new gains you thought previously impossible. Through a little bit of trial and error you should be on your way to the physique you've always wanted.

These researchers found that doing a single set of each exercise was equally effective as doing three sets of the same movements in increasing the subjects one repetition maximum (1RM) on bench press. The take home message is that you needn't do more than a single work set to achieve the same relative gains of doing multiple sets. This makes incorporating a whole body workout into your schedule much more feasible.

A sample whole body workout might look like this:

10-15 minute warmup on bike or treadmill

Squats, 1-2 warm up sets and 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Leg curls, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Bench press, 1 warm up and 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Chins or pull ups, 1 work set 6-8 reps. (Add weight as necessary)

Dips, 1 work set of 6-8 reps. (Add weight as necessary)

Seated rows, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Lying tricep extensions, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

Preacher curls, 1 work set of 6-8 reps

You will notice that this type of training relies heavily on compound exercises. This is necessary to keep the number of exercises down. Don't worry about this however; compound exercises should be the foundation of any muscle/strength building program.

This is just some of the research used to create Hypertrophy Specific Training. If you want to get the most out of your efforts in the gym, you have got to incorporate new knowledge as science uncovers it. The message here is that by reducing the volume of sets per exercise, and by increasing the frequency that you train each muscle group, you may experience new gains you thought previously impossible. Through a little bit of trial and error you should be on your way to the physique you've always wanted.


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2003)

> Originally posted by winger
> 
> *Ok I do agree with your post. So lets break it down a bit. I had said in my last post that once a week is enough. There is allot of overlapping going on. Lets just say that you work one bodypart once a day. It takes me 5 days to get through the whole body. *
> 
> ...


cool


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Hey, I like that! I did not know what you were talking about. Sorry, I do that and have really good gains.

OOPS


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## Cheater2K (Apr 3, 2003)

Looks like everything alright here then  Calm down people, hehe, i know its christmas and all them drinks are dissapearing somwhere


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

I've been reading the blurb on hst at the site that was posted. I cant say that its something that I would really want to try. Training the whole body in one workout has never been something that I've thought a good idea. You have to push blood all around the body. I much prefer sticking to 1-3 muscle groups and getting a good pump. Whilst I've never been a huge fan of HIT, I can see the science behind that, but HST - I just dont see it. Only 2 sets per bodypart seems pointless to me.

Anyone heard of EDT - Escalating Density Training? There was an article in musclemag a few months ago about it. I cant remember the exact details, but I think you pick two exercises for a bodypart and perform them alternatively for 20 mins - the goal being to do as many reps/sets of each as you can in the 20 mins, and to keep beating your previous workouts. That sounded an interesting one to try.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Nice to see your view Silentbob. I like your insight on training. You stay up on current events and I like that. The whole idea of the forum is to brainstorm. Allot of minds working together.

I have actually tried this myself for a few months. I liked it. Hackskii and I train on our lunch break and only have 17 minutes. So I always look for ways to train around my 17 minute lunch. Here is what I did. This is only the chest and back part.

Monday and thursday chest and back.

Monday I did bench and pullups

Thursday I did incline and low rows or bent rows. The thing I did like about this routine is I was strong during the whole workout. Unlike doing bench and then when it comes to incline I am a bit fatigued already. Unless you arent pushing to failure.

Another thing I kinda liked is if you mis a day it really isn't a big deal cause you kinda have your body covered from your last workout. Like I have said over and over, keep the body guessing and change will do a body good. I might try it in about a month.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Winger,

Funny enough, I have 20 mins now before I close my gym for Christmas and I think I'm gonna squeeze in a quick back workout - I might do the EDT thing with some rows and pulldowns. I'll probably end up closing late and throwing in some bicep work too though!


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I think I am going to go back to the old way that winger mentioned above. This seems to help my strength some and each muscle group can be hit with alot of intensity.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

I love those fast hard intense workouts. On back day I used to superset two excercises and when those were done I would take two more and just rip with no rest. You would almost be winded when you got done. I also like going to strange gyms and working out. Don't know why, I just would get the best workouts in foreign gyms. My wife used to travel allot and I must of been to 20, 24 hour fitnesses.

Silentbob you are the luckiest. I wish I had my own gym. I have always wanted to have one. Its funny, get a good job and throw away what you really want to do. When I was young I used to work at a gym and it seemed like I was the designated spotter. Now that part sucked. But it sure was fun.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Winger, I'm actually in the process of selling my gym. It is great having your own gym, but you can have too much of a good thing. When you spend 60 odd hours a week in a gym, working out starts to become less fun. When you only get to go to the gym for an hour a day like I used to, you look forward to it a lot more. That's how I've started to feel about it anyway although I know plenty of guys who've owned/worked in gyms for years on end and loved every minute. I guess I'm a bit easily bored. Before owning this place, I never trained at one gym for more than about six months straight - I always enjoyed changing gyms and using new equipment.

We're selling up because my fiancee and I had a son a few months ago and I'd like to be able to spend more time at home with him. Gyms are open long hours (most of which I work myself) and with few days off, so it'll be nice to work 'normal' hours. Also, our gym is in the south of England, and we'd like to move back up north to where we used to live. We'll still be running our supplement store though (and will have significantly more cash to throw behind it!). One of our members of staff is buying the gym from us (so long as everything all goes through), so we'll always be able to go back and visit.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Congratulations on your added family member. That is so cool. At least you got to do what you wanted to do. Heck who knows you might even make more money and work less hours. Its all about the advertising. Maybe your supplement store might take off. Good luck and nice to hear from ya as always. Happy New Year.


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## robin_3_16 (Aug 27, 2003)

the guy who owns my gym said to me, when u go to a buolders house look around, you won't see a great amount of building work done because when he comes home he doesn't want to build more, then he said its the same owning a gym, 60 hours a week there put u off training abit!


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by winger
> 
> *Congratulations on your added family member. That is so cool. At least you got to do what you wanted to do. Heck who knows you might even make more money and work less hours. Its all about the advertising. Maybe your supplement store might take off. Good luck and nice to hear from ya as always. Happy New Year. *


Thanks Winger, I'm really enjoying being a Dad. It's a tough decision to sell the gym, and it is something I always really wanted to do, but as you said, at least I've had the chance to do it. The supplement store is doing really well, and with some of the cash from the sale of the gym to use for advertising, I am hoping that it will soon make us more profit than the gym does anyway. Happy new year to you too!


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by robin_3_16
> 
> *the guy who owns my gym said to me, when u go to a buolders house look around, you won't see a great amount of building work done because when he comes home he doesn't want to build more, then he said its the same owning a gym, 60 hours a week there put u off training abit! *


Spot on there mate. I mean, I love KFC, but if I worked in a KFC I'd probably very soon get sick of the sight of it (as well as getting really fat!). I can't say that I'm sick of training, or even particularly bored of it - I just dont look forward to it as much as I used to. I used to look forward to going to the gym all day, whereas now, I'm already there regardless of if I'm training or not.


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

i think this applies to most things in life. motivation is one of the hardest things to keep imo


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

I dont think so. For me it is about setting a time and doing it. If I can just make it to the gym then I got it licked.

I also do a reward thing during the workout. Legs I hate the most and find any excuse not to work them (like most guys) but I will do a set and pick a weight that I can do like 12 times and say to myself that if I get lets say 14 (failure) with that weight I can go home.

Sounds funny but I never end up going home after that and usually do either another set or exercise and play the same game in my head.

Kooky hyh? 

If I dont want to go to the gym then I tell myself that I can just do a couple of sets of my favorite exercise and go home. Bam, I end up doing alot of stuff that I normally dont do, like abs...OOPS!


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## Harry1436114491 (Oct 8, 2003)

Silentbob congratulations on fatherhood you can't beat it. Anyway what's all this about Colchester being South of England, everytime I go that far up I get a nose bleed. LOL. Hope the sale goes well.


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

congrats on the kids mate


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Going to the gym is easy. I have been doing it for decades. My problem is doing house work, bills, what ever. I think I need to change my priorities in the first place.

Happy New Year guys.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Cheers for the congratulations guys.



> Originally posted by Harry
> 
> * Anyway what's all this about Colchester being South of England, everytime I go that far up I get a nose bleed. LOL. *


  Anywhere below Birmingham is south to me! Go too far down the M6 and I have to catch myself from saying grarss instead of gr-a-ss!


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