How many days a week?

**Natural Mac** · 08-31-2004, 09:39 AM

How many days a week is it ideal to work out? I hear that 5x is too much and that you don't give your body enough time to rest. Also, how many times a week do you hit each muscle group? Are there any muscle groups that can be hit more than once a week, without getting overworked? Thanks

**max2extreme** · 09-01-2004, 06:42 AM

Ive done different workouts. Depends on what you are looking for and how your body reacts. For what I want and how my body is, the workout below is perfect. May not be good for you, depends, but hope it helps.

Mon= chest and short run
tue = shoulders and abs
wed = long run
thurs = back and abs
fri = arms and short run
sat = legs and abs

Keeps my bf% down, keeps me in good cardio shape, and still builds decent muscle size.

-max

**GoingBiG** · 09-01-2004, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Natural Mac

How many days a week is it ideal to work out? I hear that 5x is too much and that you don't give your body enough time to rest. Also, how many times a week do you hit each muscle group? Are there any muscle groups that can be hit more than once a week, without getting overworked? Thanks

All of your muscles can be hit more than once a week...

Actually you could train fullbody 6-7 times a week without overtraining... It depends on a lot of things...

**brian11** · 09-01-2004, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by GoingBiG

All of your muscles can be hit more than once a week...

Actually you could train fullbody 6-7 times a week without overtraining... It depends on a lot of things...

What?!

thats the second crazy piece of advice ive seen from you. first not to stretch before lifting bc it makes you weaker and now to train full body 6-7 days a week?

not flaming or anything, but if you are giong to advise things like that, at least give some sort of reasoning or explanation.

**RoNNy THe BuLL** · 09-01-2004, 03:56 PM

Well...

If you extensively stretch before workouts, there is a slightly higher chance that you may get injured, especially going with heavy weights.

And about the variables in training your whole body 6-7 times a week, that has a touch of truth to it, mainly being your rep range, intensity and duration of exercise.

Low reps, low duration, low intensity = low cortisol release.

Theoretically and physiologically, you can. But it wouldn't be that great.

**RoNNy THe BuLL** · 09-01-2004, 03:57 PM

And sorry, muscles tend to recover within 48-72 hours, it's your CNS that needs a long rest time. So you can hit the muscles twice in a week, but your gains would slow down and you'd burn out after a few weeks. Not recommended for the average lifter though.

**brian11** · 09-01-2004, 04:04 PM

thanks for shining a little light on the subject ronny. what you are essentially saying is that you can use these practices but wont maximize your efforts. also with the stretching...i cant say that i have studied the physiology of it myself, but it does seem that what you say makes sense. not having enough tightness in your muscles does seem like it could make them buckle under the pressure of high weights.

**Hypertrophy** · 09-01-2004, 04:13 PM

You training volume will determine your training frequency, because volume is a predictor of total training stress.
GoingBig Q: If you train your whole body 7x/week, when does supercompensation occur?

**RoNNy THe BuLL** · 09-01-2004, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by Hypertrophy

You training volume will determine your training frequency, because volume is a predictor of total training stress.
GoingBig Q: If you train your whole body 7x/week, when does supercompensation occur?

When you sleep. The total volume would've been spread over a number of days, not one day, which wouldn't require the amount of compensation needed in one intense "normal" routine.

But it wouldn't do much for muscle growth if you were to follow it to the guidelines I proposed before.

It would be excellent for cutting however. The whole point of it would be to maintain lean muscle mass without stimulating the release of cortisol.

**houseofpain** · 09-02-2004, 12:20 AM

i train 4 times a week bro, SUN/MON/WED/THUR i train and TUE/FRI/SAT i take off.

**RON** · 09-02-2004, 12:28 AM

WTF is some of this crap being spead here. You can at most work each body part twice a week. Few guys with great genetics get good results from this. Most people work each body part once a week. I go to the gym 6-7 days a week myself. Some days are just for cardio or abs but I still hit it.

**RoNNy THe BuLL** · 09-02-2004, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by RON

WTF is some of this crap being spead here. You can at most work each body part twice a week. Few guys with great genetics get good results from this. Most people work each body part once a week. I go to the gym 6-7 days a week myself. Some days are just for cardio or abs but I still hit it.

Not necessarily. You can manipulate your workouts to train everything three times a week. Keep in mind that it won't be a 'regular' routine. You won't be doing 16 sets for chest, it'll more or less be 3-6 sets at MAX with reps going no higher then 3.

**bluethunder** · 09-02-2004, 06:15 AM

Very experience bodybuilders can do 6-7 days as there bodies have adaptive to it. But if inexperienced then not a good idea IMO. However, everyone has different body compositions so it may not hurt for one individual but hamper gains in another. Bottom line is the muscle requires to heal from the damage of myofibrils & free radicals and only proper nutrition & time can do it. Although I have worked out 6-7 days a week its only one bodypart per visit. The KEY to working out 7 days a week is three things. 1. adequate sleep 2. better than normal nutrition 3. keeping cortizone stress hormone in check(which is tricky as many factors are involved) just my 2cents

**brian11** · 09-02-2004, 06:34 PM

whateva, i agree with Ron

the rest of you are overtraining punks

**sharp eye** · 09-10-2004, 02:46 PM

Normaly I hit each body part once a week but my football coaches do upper body m,w,f and lower body t,thurs
Is this enough time for my muscles to rest. Thats doing chest three times a week. I think thats to much. any input would be appreciated

**anabolicwannabe** · 09-11-2004, 08:58 AM

you can hit each body part 14 times a week if you want. but point is, intensity. you can't hit it with max intensity 14 times. but if you're going to do 1 set each time, then 14 sets a week per body part would equal if you just hit it once a week and do 14 sets. (but of course, this is just the number, cortisol release etc not included, but the point is there, if you're going to train light, you can train more.) just what i feel, but correct me wherever wrong.

**Jantzen4k** · 09-11-2004, 09:34 AM

imo 4 days on 3 days off

**anabolicwannabe** · 09-12-2004, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by Jantzen4k

imo 4 days on 3 days off

same for me here. it's like my perfect split, where body parts don't "cross" each other. like i would NOT train tri and chest on the same day cause benching requires SOME tri. 4 days split, 1.5 hours for 3 days, another day 45 mins, 3 days rest. only 5.25 hours spent working out.

**Sammy1980** · 09-22-2004, 07:33 AM

5-6 times is best

**JdFlex** · 09-22-2004, 08:05 AM

I train 5 days a week...Mon - Fri.....each muscle once per week. I train my chest on Mondays and it is still feels hints of muscle tightening from the soreness on Friday. I don't think there is any way I could efficiently train it twice per week....it just wouldn't have enough time to fully recover.

I just got done reading Arnold's encyclopedia of bodybuilding. He recommends training each body part 3 times a week and at maximum intensity. I don't know how he can say that. You would think the guy knows what he's talking about. But I just don't understand that.

**anabolicwannabe** · 09-22-2004, 09:03 AM

well, i'm not a professional on arnold. but they all say he has great genes. great genes = great recovery = training 3 times a week. however, it is commonly known that he spread false information just so no one would be as big as he was. everything is personal here. the point is, what works for EVERYONE just might not work for you. so do what fits you best, if it's sore, don't push it.

**Sammy1980** · 09-22-2004, 01:40 PM

5 times is minimum, morning and evening is better...

**bluethunder** · 09-22-2004, 03:29 PM

mmm morning & evening better???? Perhaps advanced lifters.

**anabolicwannabe** · 09-23-2004, 04:20 AM

if you're thinking of going professional, 4-5 times is the minimum. in terms of morning and evening, this is subjective. it could mean two things, you have 8-10 actual lift sessions OR you split your training from 1.5 hours in the gym to become 45 mins in the morning, then 45 mins at night. i think 8-10 times might be ok, but do you really want to hit the gym just to do calves then head home? i doubt it. unless you're thinking of training each body part twice a week, which MIGHT be too much for some people.

**Sammy1980** · 09-23-2004, 10:01 AM

na, i think everybody who has time can do double split...

**Sammy1980** · 09-23-2004, 10:03 AM

and if you double split do, keep sessions to 30-45min.

**znak** · 09-24-2004, 05:37 AM

Originally Posted by Sammy1980

na, i think everybody who has time can do double split...

Come work out with me for a couple days. I work out 4 x a week. You do my work out then come back that night. I don't care what body part you do. In three weeks, you will be so fricking catabolic that I bet you a hundred bucks that we could get you burning muscle mass at a rate of 3-5 pounds a day.

If you work a muscle before it has recovered, it won't grow. If you beat the sh*t out of it twice a weeks, it will actually eat itself for fuel.

**Sammy1980** · 09-24-2004, 07:08 AM

well if you do double split, you cant do regular workout you have to do less, thats why i say 30-45min.

**sensaispike** · 09-29-2004, 08:32 AM

i am thinking of switching to a 3 day split from my current 5 day split...which is as follows

mon chest
tue back
wed shoulders
thu legs
fri arms

but i am not really sure how to split it up in to 3 days ...maybe
mon chest and legs
wed back and shoulders
fri arms

but i am not really sure if that sounds good....

**Sammy1980** · 09-29-2004, 09:05 AM

if your gonna do 3days a week, this is good:
Mon:
Chest,shoulders,triceps
Wed:
Back, biceps, abs
Fri:
Quads, hams, calves

**radar1234** · 09-29-2004, 07:51 PM

i workout 4 days a week and get reults.i see guys at the gym that do a body part 2x a week and say they are not getting anywhere.i guess not!i could see if your on the juice and eating like a bear where you could do that and get results but most people 1 bp a wk is more than enough.your body needs rest too grow.rest!!!rest!!!

**sensaispike** · 09-30-2004, 06:31 AM

Originally Posted by radar1234

i workout 4 days a week and get reults.i see guys at the gym that do a body part 2x a week and say they are not getting anywhere.i guess not!i could see if your on the juice and eating like a bear where you could do that and get results but most people 1 bp a wk is more than enough.your body needs rest too grow.rest!!!rest!!!

i could not agree more however you could work out 6-7 times a week and still only do 1 body part a week..... i am thinking of changing to a 3 day split to scchock my body......

**andy78139** · 10-07-2004, 02:00 PM

Has no one heard of mike mentzer's high intensity training?

**IronReload04** · 10-07-2004, 03:13 PM

i hit each muscle ounce every 10 days. bench pressing, squatting, deadlifting done hard needs 3-4 days rest for each. for me anyway. shoulders arms and upperback heal quickly for me. i dont even see how i used to be able to do the mt woff tf thing like i used to.

**Cuttup** · 10-08-2004, 03:33 PM

start off three days per week, all different groups,.no 5 days isnt too much,..you have to build up to that though,..infact,..if you dont eventualy get up to 5 days per week,..you muscles will stop growing

**radar1234** · 10-08-2004, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by Cuttup

start off three days per week, all different groups,.no 5 days isnt too much,..you have to build up to that though,..infact,..if you dont eventualy get up to 5 days per week,..you muscles will stop growing

what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Pork Chop** · 10-19-2004, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by znak

Come work out with me for a couple days. I work out 4 x a week. You do my work out then come back that night. I don't care what body part you do. In three weeks, you will be so fricking catabolic that I bet you a hundred bucks that we could get you burning muscle mass at a rate of 3-5 pounds a day.

If you work a muscle before it has recovered, it won't grow. If you beat the sh*t out of it twice a weeks, it will actually eat itself for fuel.

I'm impressed.
This guy knows what he's talking about.
I agree.

***Narkissos*** · 11-10-2004, 11:42 AM

My training split as always revolved around training bodyparts twice a week..AND with high volume.So i can't completely agree with what's said here about an 'ideal' number of training days per week.There is none.That being said...recover..adaptation to training volume/stimuli, i believe, is highly individualised...

**beefydragon** · 11-10-2004, 11:51 PM

So I guess it really has to do with individuals. I wonder how many days Arnold works out? I wonder what gym he's hitting in Sacramento?

When I worked out 5-6 times per week before summer, even being on juice and supplements and lots of proteins and calories, I still get very tired easily. Don't know why, but since I cut back, not really as bad. So I think I'll stick with 4-5 times a week. PS. I do weight for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours depends on body part. Then I do an hour of cardio on the treadmill (low impact) for burning fat. So far so good.