Work body parts 1 or 2 times a week?

**J-Bud** · 09-23-2003, 01:57 PM

When on or off gear is it best to work major groups 1 or 2 times a week, or just have say 5 days between? Speaking for mass building mostly. Abs and Calves I usually hit 2 times weekly always.

**DBarcelo** · 09-23-2003, 02:48 PM

It really depends on the person. Some people do best by working a muscle group once a week, some people do best working a muscle group three times per week. We can tell you what works best for us, but nobody can tell you what's going to work best for you. You have to pretty much figure that out for yourself with trial and error.

**Go Time** · 09-24-2003, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by DBarcelo

It really depends on the person. Some people do best by working a muscle group once a week, some people do best working a muscle group three times per week. We can tell you what works best for us, but nobody can tell you what's going to work best for you. You have to pretty much figure that out for yourself with trial and error.

I definitely agree...Everbody Is Different...you have to what works for you....anybody else that tells you different either just started working out or is small..

**t-rex** · 09-29-2003, 10:50 PM

Yes while every body is different at least give your body part that you worked out at least 6 days of rest and time to recoup if you dont you will just continue to tear down the muscle hence the over training. I personally work out each body part only one time per week. yes that even includes abs and calves, because why would you treat those muscles any different than the others. Remember you dont grow in the gym you actually grow outside the gym. To make you understand a little better let me give you an example, that a professional gave me once to help me understand. If you were to miss legs for a couple of weeks and then finally blast them one day, How long would they be sore? The answer is if you hit them hard enough, I mean if you were intense and tore every muscle fiber in your quads, hams then you would be very sore for the first 4 days then it will start to subside the last 3 days, all in all about a weeks worth of sorness. Well thats how long it takes your muscle to fully repair. Same thing goes for abs and calves for if you put them through the same scenerio they would also be sore for a week. So you answer is if you are training a body part anymore than once every 6 days then you are definitly overtraining. I used to work out every body part twice a week but I just got burnt out and never really got any bigger, but since I have started working every body part just once a week I have a lot more energy, and can't wait to get back to the gym, plus I finally started growing and by leaps and bounds.

**bermich** · 09-29-2003, 11:17 PM

It also depends on your workout. You may be lifting to failure every time and your muscles need longer to recover. Some people lift just enough to where they know it takes 3 days to recover for their next workout.
Arnold worked out 5 hours a day every day.
Its just what you work up to. Your body adjusts.

**saboudian** · 09-30-2003, 09:10 AM

It mainly just depends on volume.

Arnold didn't know what the hell he was doing, he just winged it.

**DBarcelo** · 09-30-2003, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by t-rex

Yes while every body is different at least give your body part that you worked out at least 6 days of rest and time to recoup if you dont you will just continue to tear down the muscle hence the over training. I personally work out each body part only one time per week. yes that even includes abs and calves, because why would you treat those muscles any different than the others. Remember you dont grow in the gym you actually grow outside the gym. To make you understand a little better let me give you an example, that a professional gave me once to help me understand. If you were to miss legs for a couple of weeks and then finally blast them one day, How long would they be sore? The answer is if you hit them hard enough, I mean if you were intense and tore every muscle fiber in your quads, hams then you would be very sore for the first 4 days then it will start to subside the last 3 days, all in all about a weeks worth of sorness. Well thats how long it takes your muscle to fully repair. Same thing goes for abs and calves for if you put them through the same scenerio they would also be sore for a week. So you answer is if you are training a body part anymore than once every 6 days then you are definitly overtraining. I used to work out every body part twice a week but I just got burnt out and never really got any bigger, but since I have started working every body part just once a week I have a lot more energy, and can't wait to get back to the gym, plus I finally started growing and by leaps and bounds.

I do agree that it can take a week to recover from a workout, but that mainly depends on how you work out, how long, and what you do after you work out, including what you eat and drink.

I still maintain my possition that it really depends on the person. It seems to me that very few people are actually able to grow by working out once per week. Most people only work out once per week for maintenance.

If you work out very hard (too hard), your muscles end up with excess waste on and around the muscle tissue. The lymphatic system has to clean it up. The lymphatic system doesn't use the circulatory system, so it can take several days for it to clean out the waste products. The waste is basically poisoning your muscles, so you will stay sore as long as you have the waste products on your muscles. After the lymphatic system cleans up the waste, then your body starts to rebuild your muscle tissue. So, yes, it can take about a week to be able to work out again without giving your muscles time to fully recouperate.

Also remember that people are different, some people get fat easier than others, some people obsorb nutrients better than others, some people build muscle easier than others. Just because working out once a week works for you and one or two people that you know, doesn't mean that working out once per week will work for everyone under every circumstance. I don't say that to try to flame anyone, but just so you remember that we are all here to help people and to learn from eachother. We can't go telling people that our way is the only way that works and if you don't do it our way, you're doing it all wrong. That's not very helpfull. Also remember that bodybuilding is an art, not a science. In science 1+1=2. No matter what, no matter how you look at it, it's always going to be 2. That's not the case with what we do. Even our own bodies change on us. One week one excercise works like magic, then next week, that same excercise doesn't work for us at all.

I gotta go, but like I said before, a lot of this game is figuring out what works for you. That's really what you have to do. Try different things and do what works for you. Maybe once per week will work for you, maybe three times per week will work for you.

Good luck again