# anyone train muscle twice a week?



## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

never done it myself (always done 4 day split)

your opinions on it better/worse?


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## shaunmac (Aug 13, 2010)

Ive started doing this because of my new shifts, dont know if it proper counts as twice a week due to rests.

Chest + Back

Legs

Shoulders + Triceps

Deadlift + Biceps + forearms

Chest + Back

Legs

3 or 4 days off

Repeat

Im enjoying it to be honest, MASSIVE pump on chest + back days, by the end of my workout ive got that much blood in my chest and back im nearly ready to be sick or pass out!

thanks

shaun


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

never trained chest and back together don't like training 2 big muscle groups together.


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## NitroJoe (Mar 10, 2012)

Started doing Chest on Mon *&* Fri to see if I can bring it up proportion. So far my strength and weight has increased but haven't actually got the tape out


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Provided training volume is not too high, training big bodyparts two or even three times a week is fine.

Balancing intensity and volume vs frequency is what developing an effective routine is all about.


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

I train the whole upper body twice a week.


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## Rick89 (Feb 27, 2009)

i train most muscles twice a week and sometimes 3-4 depending on my training routine at the time


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## Proteen Paul (Apr 6, 2012)

guvnor82 said:


> never done it myself (always done 4 day split)
> 
> your opinions on it better/worse?


Give it a try for a month Guv, its good to mix it up and keep your muscles guessing. You'll have to cut back on the number of sets, maybe heavy weight low reps, low sets. "Dorian" style.

Personally i need a little extra rest to avoid injury. Muscles always re-coop quicker the tendons and ligaments will due to blood supply. Try it and let me know how it goes.......


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

anab0lic said:


> As long as you are progressively overloading with more reps/weight etc each session you are growing much faster than the 1x a week *fools..*.


Sorry ???

Who are you reffering to as " fools " ?


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

Milky said:


> Sorry ???
> 
> Who are you reffering to as " fools " ?


well if you dont knoooow... 

I do... max effort lifts and dynamic effort lifts... squats mon and wed, bench wed and fri and deads fri and mon...


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## Stuey (Mar 23, 2012)

Milky, did you just Neg the Guy yourself? Your Neg power is terrifying (if you did it)!


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Stuey said:


> Milky, did you just Neg the Guy yourself? Your Neg power is terrifying (if you did it)!


No mate but he's had plenty in the past...


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

thinking of maybe trying a/b routine few body parts really want 2 try bring up thinking hitting them twice a week may help.........


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## Stuey (Mar 23, 2012)

Would you train a specific muscle group because it's better to train an area twice a week Guvnor or just owt' that you wanna work on more??? I'm not too sure on this one, what's best???


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

IME l am too sore to train any part twice a week but hey l am 42 yrs old .


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## Stuey (Mar 23, 2012)

That makes you younger than most leading Hollywood men Milky!


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

Milky said:


> IME l am too sore to train any part twice a week but hey l am 42 yrs old .


least your getting 2 smash the gear and gh m8 im stuck having to go natty.


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## Rick89 (Feb 27, 2009)

guvnor82 said:


> least your getting 2 smash the gear and gh m8 im stuck having to go natty.


why mate?


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Yeah i train bodyparts twice a week, have been for past couple months - low volume, progressing well.


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

Rick89 said:


> why mate?


misses m8 it was her or gear.

and i did fancy moving back home lol


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## Kezz (Sep 3, 2007)

I have started training full body 4 times a week, i pick one exercise per body part and do 3 good sets, the next day a different exercise and so on... seems to be working ok so far


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## H22civic (Oct 6, 2009)

Im fried after training each bodypart once per week, they get a real hammering though. I suppose if you were doing less volume you could get away with twice per week but for me, i like to get into the gym, destroy a bodypart, then let it heal over the next 7 days. :thumbup1:


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

H22civic said:


> Im fried after training each bodypart once per week, they get a real hammering though. I suppose if you were doing less volume you could get away with twice per week but for me, i like to get into the gym, destroy a bodypart, then let it heal over the next 7 days. :thumbup1:


Same as mate...


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## BBaddict (Dec 2, 2008)

I would never train any upper body part more than once a week just to ensure I'm 100% recovered and ready for the following weeks session, the same applies for hams and calves but recently Ive been considering another quad session within the week, after very intense training 3 days and they seem 100%, i'm just super paranoid about recovery and making the most of each workout.


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## empzb (Jan 8, 2006)

Try switching the routine and see. If I had the time I would, from what I've read and seen, providing the kcals are enough and youre getting enough sleep to let the cns repair to do its thing you should grow well. I think a lot is placed on

'Overtraining' but an everyday gym goer is unlikely imo to reach that level in a short amount of time providing they rest enough and get enough food in.


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## andyparry123 (Jul 22, 2005)

Have started doing shoulders and arms twice a week due to the fact that they are lagging behind plus they never hurt for more than a day after a session even when training to faliure


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

guvnor82 said:


> misses m8 it was her or gear.
> 
> and i did fancy moving back home lol


run tabs mate, easy to take and hide.


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

Upper twice a week and lower twice a week. Different exercises for different sessions where possible.


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

Dagman72 said:


> run tabs mate, easy to take and hide.


can't believe im saying this but she ent stupid and will notice.

still tempted 2 try some tbol later in year.


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

gymfreak786 said:


> A muscle will not grow until it's recovered. The
> 
> muscle will not begin to recover until the nervous
> 
> ...


most people on this bored myself included train 2 days in row and still gain well


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

gymfreak786 said:


> A muscle will not grow until it's recovered. The
> 
> muscle will not begin to recover until the nervous
> 
> ...


what??? from what I read this isnt quite true... eg powerlifting esp in the run up to a comp you batter the cns mercilessly... it gets caned... but I have experienced growth in terms of strenght and lean mass... its just too much a quagmire to make definitive and sweeping statements imho...


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

sounds like gymfreak been reading brawn.


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

guvnor82 said:


> can't believe im saying this but she ent stupid and will notice.
> 
> still tempted 2 try some tbol later in year.


increase food before cycle, run creatine and put your gains down to that. Tbol will give you some nice gains at 80mg.


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## Fit4life (Sep 16, 2011)

I do and hey I am fine .good luck


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

think i may just do that got stag do away next month so try when get back.

been toying with the idea for months anyway.

what pct would you run?


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## Dagman72 (Apr 2, 2009)

guvnor82 said:


> think i may just do that got stag do away next month so try when get back.
> 
> been toying with the idea for months anyway.
> 
> what pct would you run?


will pm you in the next few days as we are going of topic which is unfair on op.


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

i was the op:thumbup1:


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## guvnor82 (Oct 23, 2011)

also had bit of gyno last cycle so gotta play safe this time round


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

All the golden era 70's etc bodybuilders trained bodyparts twice a week. Even the likes of Ronnie Coleman done it. I am gonna try it for the first time when this injury heals because so many people recommend it, strength coaches etc. I don't think overtraining is a worry for most people anyway as long as you rest(sleep)etc and eat enough.


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## JusNoGood (Apr 4, 2011)

I've been reading Arnies book and have tried doing the same body part every 2/3 days for the past two weeks. My gains have been great but I'm finding tendons/ligaments are starting to tire and ache...I think another week of this and I'll get my tennis/golfers elbow back again. So I think I'll do 2 weeks on 2 weeks off...but then I'm 42 



Proteen Paul said:


> Muscles always re-coop quicker the tendons and ligaments will due to blood supply. Try it and let me know how it goes.......


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## miguelmolez (Apr 12, 2010)

The key to growing is to mix it up.

So yeah every now and then smash two body parts in a week, then the week after flip your routine again and go back to one a week.

Read somewhere recently that each week you shouldnt train the same bodypart on the same day on consecutive weeks as the body will get used to it, whether theres much truth in that?


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

miguelmolez said:


> The key to growing is to mix it up.
> 
> So yeah every now and then smash two body parts in a week, then the week after flip your routine again and go back to one a week.
> 
> Read somewhere recently that each week you shouldnt train the same bodypart on the same day on consecutive weeks as the body will get used to it, whether theres much truth in that?


I get tendon and ligament issues, but feel I need to train twice a week.

The bit about same days each week has to be nonsense, your body doesn't work in weeks, it's an artificial time!


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## Natty.Solider (May 4, 2012)

I train weak points twice a week to try and catch them up. The 5th day in the gym is always a weak point/ compound day. Except chest lol, I leave that well and tuely alone and always allow my 7 days gap as it always aches liek a mofo!


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## Diegouru (Oct 31, 2010)

I do train each muscle twice a week, always depending on work shifts...


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## gymgym (Mar 20, 2012)

I do. Split routine works best for me.


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## ianm2585 (Mar 14, 2010)

I train upper body twice per week and legs once (mon weds fri) then after a few weeks do legs twice and upper once works ok at the moment


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## Super_G (Feb 20, 2012)

I do my chest twice a week, noticed that my lifts are progressing much quicker than when I was only doing it once


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

I'm currently working with Con that used to post on here way back, he's initially got me doing a full body workout three times a week.

That's including deads and squats.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Smitch said:


> I'm currently working with Con that used to post on here way back, he's initially got me doing a full body workout three times a week.
> 
> That's including deads and squats.


Training how close to ur 1rep max??


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

Fatstuff said:


> Training how close to ur 1rep max??


Can't tell you specifics about the program mate, he wouldn't be happy with me giving his metods away. 

I was surprised when I first read it though.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Smitch said:


> Can't tell you specifics about the program mate, he wouldn't be happy with me giving his metods away.
> 
> I was surprised when I first read it though.


I do a variation on a full body workout myself, squat twice a week, only once is close to max, deadlift once a week though. Basic lifts and not too much volume, more strength based.


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

Fatstuff said:


> I do a variation on a full body workout myself, squat twice a week, only once is close to max, deadlift once a week though. Basic lifts and not too much volume, more strength based.


Strength is my main goal over a bodybuilder look.

Fortunately.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Smitch said:


> Strength is my main goal over a bodybuilder look.
> 
> Fortunately.


Bet ur doin something similar then lol


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## snorkles (May 10, 2011)

yes always. been 3 years since ive done that and it yields great results


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## harryalmighty (Nov 13, 2011)

ive been doing my 4 day split then on saturdays doing a fullbody.

saturday looks like:

incline db x 3

decline bench x 3

wide grip pulls x 4 (till failure)

preacher curls x 2

close grip bench x2

lunges x 5

doing this the past 8 weeks and weight and size has increased


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## Mighty.Panda (Oct 5, 2011)

If its light weight training with the emphasis being more on endurance I reckon you can arguably train 5 days out of 7 without being counter-productive. Some muscles also recover faster than others... Your quads, chest or back might be ****ed for 5 days but you won't ever get that with your biceps or delts really.. You can train big muscles twice a "week" but in my opinion its silly to think of it in terms of a week. If you train a big muscle once every 4 days thats only once a week technically but in 8 days its getting trained twice it just means you don't have labelled days where you're training something and each group jumps a day as the weeks progress.


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## stone14 (Mar 24, 2005)

I plan on training chest legs back x2 a week for strengtg puropses 5x5 sort or routine

Mon. Chest, back

Wed. Legs, shoulders

Fri, chest, back

Sat, legs, core work

Legs chest back will be 3x5, 4x5, 5x5 then repeat. With extras for bbing higher reps and warm up + cool down. While im on my cycle.


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## BBaddict (Dec 2, 2008)

training a muscle twice in one week is too much IMO,

i would much rather hit each muscle hard once and guarantee full recovery for the following week than train it twice and have doubts whether I've overtrained or not


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

Anyone who has a separate arm day is training arms at least twice a week. Any one who does deads on back day is training legs twice a week. Strength training is different than training for muscle growth. The more time you spend in the gym the less time remains for your body to repair and grow.


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## BigTrev (Mar 16, 2008)

Milky said:


> IME l am too sore to train any part twice a week but hey l am 42 yrs old .


Hey milky stop that,,,so am i to,,we are only kids really,,,lol


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

I've recently moved to major muscle groups twice a week, and smaller ones only directly once a week.


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

BigTrev said:


> Hey milky stop that,,,so am i to,,we are only kids really,,,lol


At 42 you are


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## El Toro Mr UK98 (Nov 11, 2011)

I ve train each muscle 1time per week for the last 22 years now, if you train Hard, I meen realy hard not just shouting puffin and blowing then it will take a week to recover.

if I was to pansy foot arround the gm I could do 2 to 3 times a week no problem


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

anab0lic said:


> More times you can progressively overload a muscle per year without overtraining faster you will grow


That's about once a week for me


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Different splits and levels of frequency and intensity can all work fairly equally IMO ... if you correctly balance the intensity and volume against the training frequency.

When people fall down on a split it's usually because they haven't balanced it right for their own recuperative ability.


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## alan1971 (Mar 30, 2012)

i suppose if i wanted to do each muscle twice a week, i would do a sort of a three day split twice a week over 6 days.


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## shinobi_85 (Feb 20, 2011)

when i feel im reaching that point of overtraining, or not providing the correct environment for my body to recover adequately due to lack of sleep etc, i always back off the volume first,but still do two times per week, i can kinda tell when im going into a point of overtraining, i will be still trying to eat a lot, but my appetite will down,and im thinking wtf is going on,not growing anymore???, infact maybe losing muscle mass????i dunno if the cortisol goes to high or something. Anyway, right now i am in a phase ive changed to doing twice per week still but half the volume keeping the weight high as possible so i will stay there for a bit to gauge progress.........


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## Daz1245 (Jan 14, 2012)

guvnor82 said:


> misses m8 it was her or gear.
> 
> and i did fancy moving back home lol


My wife don't know I got all my gear in my car  just hide it


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## LeviathanBodyBuilding (Jan 9, 2012)

for just over a month, just to try it out my workouts have been

mon - upper chest, back thickness, front/side delts

tues - squats,sldl,calfs, bis/tris

weds- off

thurs- lower chest, back width,front/rear delts

fri - legpress, conventional deads, calfs, bis/tris

weekend - off

i split the muscles groups up over the two workouts as to keep the volume low,and intensity up,etc they see 12 sets total, but 6 sets each time they are worked on a 3x12 basis, and my legs on a 3x15 as im on my feet most of the day for my job and as they are mainly type 2 muscle fibres i find they respond to a higher rep range

pros of this, i feel it works very well, bearing in mind to keeping volume low, would prob def lead to cns overload and overtraning if a higer volume was advocated, and since the 19th of june when i took my measurements, iv gained 1/2" on my arms legs and chest, and still fitting into my 32" waist jeans/shorts etc and thats at 3800-4000kcals per day, as there is quite a bit of cardio involved in my line of work thats unavoidable.

cons, working chest and shoulders on the same day i find to be quite compromising, my shoulders seem to not have a decent workout as from the chest movements they are heavily fatigued. i could swap them either side of the back movements but then the chest would suffer a poorer workout

the only way i think to get around it would be

mon -chest/back

tue - legs/shoulders

off

thu -chest/back

fri - legs/shoulders

weekend - off giving no direct work to the bis and tris, however this is more a personal preference and some people like to hit them separately. although from monday im going back to a 4 day split, hitting chest back legs and shoulders just to see how once a week over a 4 day split compares to twice a week over a four day split


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## 36-26 (Jun 30, 2009)

tom17 said:


> training a muscle twice in one week is too much IMO,
> 
> i would much rather hit each muscle hard once and guarantee full recovery for the following week than train it twice and have doubts whether I've overtrained or not


How come every one wonders about overtraining nowadays but hardly anyone worries about undertraining?? Have you honestly ever tried twice a week for a considerable amount of time??


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## carly (Mar 8, 2008)

If i need to bring a body part up, i train them twice, ive had some mental gains from doing this!


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## 2H3ENCH4U (May 23, 2012)

When I need to cut I'll do a 6 day a week push / pull / legs routine alternating between one heavy and one light, gradually going heavier on heavy days with less reps more sets and working in pre-exhaust / supersets on light days.

Absolutely murder tho ...... :wacko:


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

klach79 said:


> That's a lot of volume for a cut! Sounds brutal


When aus cuts I think trains 12 times a week, fancy it?? Lol


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## simonthepieman (Jun 11, 2012)

If you are training your body parts only once a week you are wasting potential.

Many people can adapt to 3x times or more give the right programming. , but 2x is optimal for most trainees and 3x for beginners.

Rules are different for heavy gear users, but those guys will gain regardless


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