Once or twice per week

[moneyman]

Hey guys if I drop down to one body part per day is that still enough to for gains ??

[Bob Smith]

Umm....no?

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by moneyman

Hey guys if I drop down to one body part per day is that still enough to for gains ??

There is a misconception that you will not gain an ounce if you only train 1x per week. That is not what we are saying. However, people who train bodyparts once per week can at times, find themselves stagnant. There are some bodyparts that could be trained once a week effectively such as legs and the lumbar. However, other bodyparts lose a good portion of the the training effect with such lengthy recuperation periods and simply increasing training frequency corrects the problem. The more you train, the more the training effect will compound. There are some limits on training frequency due to fatigue but it is unnecessary for me to get into that discussion. The less frequently that you train, the training effect begins to decay and you are left with a fraction by the time you train again.

One other problem is that people who train 1 body part per day at a frequency of 1x per week tend to do un-Godly amounts of volume and need a full week just to avoid directly overtraining the given muscle....but that much effort (the overall volume of mechanical work) tends to have a negative systemic effect - fatigue as an aggregate of the high volume sessions of the entire week thus also possibly leading to an overtrained condition.

[moneyman]

Originally Posted by Hogg

There is a misconception that you will not gain an ounce if you only train 1x per week. That is not what we are saying. However, people who train bodyparts once per week can at times, find themselves stagnant. There are some bodyparts that could be trained once a week effectively such as legs and the lumbar. However, other bodyparts lose a good portion of the the training effect with such lengthy recuperation periods and simply increasing training frequency corrects the problem. The more you train, the more the training effect will compound. There are some limits on training frequency due to fatigue but it is unnecessary for me to get into that discussion. The less frequently that you train, the training effect begins to decay and you are left with a fraction by the time you train again.

One other problem is that people who train 1 body part per day at a frequency of 1x per week tend to do un-Godly amounts of volume and need a full week just to avoid directly overtraining the given muscle....but that much effort (the overall volume of mechanical work) tends to have a negative systemic effect - fatigue as an aggregate of the high volume sessions of the entire week thus also possibly leading to an overtrained condition.

TY, see the problem is that i have only 5 days/w that i can workout and I cant seem to hit legs more then once and its pissing me off. I have only 1 hour per day for the gym and i hate only day legs once per week. Which body per can I switch with then if some can be work only once?

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by moneyman

TY, see the problem is that i have only 5 days/w that i can workout and I cant seem to hit legs more then once and its pissing me off. I have only 1 hour per day for the gym and i hate only day legs once per week. Which body per can I switch with then if some can be work only once?

Post up your weekly workout schedule.

Let me guess, you hit arms for at least 45-60 minutes per week, possibly even twice a week, yes?

With 5 hours per week, you can fairly easily hit every muscle group 2x/wk.

[Neodavid]

What you are saying rings the bell of truth, from my experience anyway.

I used to follow Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty HIT, and his recomended rest time for hard gainers like myself, went to rediculous proportions, up to 10 days or more.

I tried for two years, believing in the guy because he was so passionate.

Then I got lucky and joined a gym owned by the 'Nerbovig brothers', who were HUGE in their prime (Well, even now at 59, Greg has 18 inch arms, not too shabby).

I started listening to their advice, and Holy schmoly, I grew so fast my joints couldn't keep up. Greg just laughed when I asked him about overtraining, thought it was funny I thought 2 times a week might be too much (Hey, Mentzer did a lot of damage to my brain man).

Basically he said the smaller the muscle, the more often you have to work it, which fits in with your comments about legs and back.

Body usage seems to be a tell tale too, like the calves and forearms, which on me don't grow unless I do them every day. Abs need 3 times a week (again, for me).

I like your last paragraph, it sums up nicely the things I experienced on a once a week regimine.

Originally Posted by Hogg

There is a misconception that you will not gain an ounce if you only train 1x per week. That is not what we are saying. However, people who train bodyparts once per week can at times, find themselves stagnant. There are some bodyparts that could be trained once a week effectively such as legs and the lumbar. However, other bodyparts lose a good portion of the the training effect with such lengthy recuperation periods and simply increasing training frequency corrects the problem. The more you train, the more the training effect will compound. There are some limits on training frequency due to fatigue but it is unnecessary for me to get into that discussion. The less frequently that you train, the training effect begins to decay and you are left with a fraction by the time you train again.

One other problem is that people who train 1 body part per day at a frequency of 1x per week tend to do un-Godly amounts of volume and need a full week just to avoid directly overtraining the given muscle....but that much effort (the overall volume of mechanical work) tends to have a negative systemic effect - fatigue as an aggregate of the high volume sessions of the entire week thus also possibly leading to an overtrained condition.

[moneyman]

Originally Posted by Bob Smith

Post up your weekly workout schedule.

Let me guess, you hit arms for at least 45-60 minutes per week, possibly even twice a week, yes?

With 5 hours per week, you can fairly easily hit every muscle group 2x/wk.

Here's my workout

chest and shoulders

back and tris

legs and bis

one hour per day tues-sat, i cant get to the gym on mondays or sundays

[Neodavid]

Nice signature.

So do you advocate a heavy day, light day, or hit it just as hard both workouts?

Anyone else?


I'm experimenting now, over a 3 week period making my 'light day', heavier and heavier, and then cycling back to really light (my way of underloading and overloading over time).

Originally Posted by Bob Smith

Umm....no?

[moneyman]

Originally Posted by Neodavid

Nice signature.

So do you advocate a heavy day, light day, or hit it just as hard both workouts?

Anyone else?


I'm experimenting now, over a 3 week period making my 'light day', heavier and heavier, and then cycling back to really light (my way of underloading and overloading over time).

i like to lift until i cant lift anymore per set, so no light days

[Hogg]

Originally Posted by moneyman

i like to lift until i cant lift anymore per set, so no light days

(sigh)(not that I didnt expect such a response)

First and foremost, you listed the days that you train, the bodyparts that you train, and the amount of time that you spend in the gym. That does not really define how you train. What exercises? How much load? How much volume?

Now, you have identified your split but I am assuming that you do not train more than 3 days a week? If not, then how does that split work over 5 days?

With respect to training more frequently, a 4 day tues-wed, fri-sat upper/lower 2x routine would work with your heavier leg/back session scheduled for the weekend (with a full rest sunday-monday)

There are currently a number of threads on this board wherein we have discussed a 2x program of this sort in detail. I believe Mark Kerr's thread is the most current.

I honestly think that your body part per day idea compounded by your overzealousness with intensity will lead you to become disenchanted and perhaps frustrated.

One question to ask yourself is: "Am I making progress?" If you are making progress, then stick with it. If you are not making progress, you should consider other options. Now, if you are not currently making progress with the train to failure infrequently method, you are only going to frustrate yourself further by doing even more work per week.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by Neodavid

Nice signature.

So do you advocate a heavy day, light day, or hit it just as hard both workouts?

Anyone else?


I'm experimenting now, over a 3 week period making my 'light day', heavier and heavier, and then cycling back to really light (my way of underloading and overloading over time).

Sounds sort of like a very basic HST program. Should work pretty well for you.

Money, read through the stickies at the top of this forum. There should be "Tribute to John Smith" and an HST sticky. Read them both. They will answer a lot of your questions and give you a better understanding of how things work. Once you read through those, then we can work on a program for you.

[Bob Smith]

Also read the Dual-Factor sticky (tons of good info) and Hogg's sticky "what not to do - for beginnners"

[moneyman]

Hogg, ok I just let the gym and got everything down for u.
tes:
chest: incline, flat and flys i use 225 on all lifts but flys, 3 sets
shoulders: dumbbell press, dumbell lateral raise, 3 sets

wed:
back: rows, pulldowns and deadlifts 3 sets
tris: standing pulldowns, skullcrushers and kickouts 3 sets each

thu:
legs: squats, leg presses, standed calfs and leg ext 3 sets each
bics: standing curls, steaded incline curls and bar curls 3 sets each

fri: repeat

sat: repeat

[moneyman]

Hogg, my wife thinks im looking bigger but i cant really tell but my lifts are with more wieght and i seem to wieght a lot more and i feel more thigh

[Neodavid]

Wives ALWAYS think you look bigger, at least mine always does.

But you can't argue with weight man, if the weight is going up and you still have good form, obviously it's working. There is no better gauge of success than being able to lift more weight. Muscles size eventually has to follow, unless the laws of physics don't function in your area.

Maybe you should consider adding a light day for each bodypart for a few weeks, see what happens. Can't hurt...

Originally Posted by moneyman

Hogg, my wife thinks im looking bigger but i cant really tell but my lifts are with more wieght and i seem to wieght a lot more and i feel more thigh