- Joined
- May 10, 2010
- Messages
- 123
same here. Just started doing this a few months ago and I love it.
I train every body part once a week in the following order:
back
chest
legs
arms
shoulders
3 days on, 1 day off and repeat
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Does anyone here still only work a body part once a week?
- Thread starter Jake LaMotta
- Start date
same here. Just started doing this a few months ago and I love it.
I train every body part once a week in the following order:
back
chest
legs
arms
shoulders
3 days on, 1 day off and repeat
1 x a week per group, maybe twice for one bodypart if time/energy permit.
As in Sunday, Wed, Friday...or...Sunday, Monday, Wed, Friday. Depends on work.
Even with this, I can overtrain once in a while. Like, now for example...
As in Sunday, Wed, Friday...or...Sunday, Monday, Wed, Friday. Depends on work.
Even with this, I can overtrain once in a while. Like, now for example...
Last edited:
The stronger I get the more rest I need. One of the times I got to my strongest, I trained each body part once every 10 days. I think I am very prone to over training; during football camp and boot camp I got very small and very weak. When coming off an injury, which is almost all the time lately, I do ok with full body workouts 3x's a week. It works good for a month or two but, as I get stronger and the weights go up, I need more rest.
**broken link removed**
Blast Every Muscle Group Once Per Week
At the other extreme of training is the idea, that seems to have primarily developed as steroids started to enter the picture, that a muscle group should be blasted into oblivion once per week and then allowed to rest before training again. Many critics of higher frequency training will point to successful elite (read: drug using) bodybuilders who train that way. Or who at least claim to train that way.
Typically in this approach, one or perhaps two muscle groups would be chosen for a single workout with a fairly large volume of training (often 15-20 sets of 3-4 different exercises) performed for each. Hitting all of the angles, blitzing and bombing were all ideas that came out of this type of approach and generally the body is split across 4 or more workouts which each muscle group getting blasted once every 7 days.
Now, there is no denying that this approach seems to work at the elite level of bodybuilding. However, there are often a lot of other factors involved that people tend to ignore. The main one, of course, is drugs especially steroids (it’s no coincidence that this approach to training developed primarily as steroid use was starting to increase among bodybuilders).
People don’t like to hear it but anabolic steroids will generate muscle growth without training at all and, to a great degree, many elite bodybuilders seem to succeed in spite of their training rather than because of it. In that context, I know of several coaches who work with drug using bodybuilders and invariably growth is better with a higher frequency of training, even in the context of steroid use.
Another factor is that even if top level bodybuilders only hit every bodypart once per week after they have been training for 10 or more years, that’s usually not how they built the majority of their muscle mass (if their reports of what they did earlier in their career are accurate).
Basically, looking at the elite level of any sport and how they train after 15 years of training is usually a losing proposition, what they might be doing at the peak of their career and what they did to get there are often very different things indeed.
But of perhaps more relevance, outside of a small percentage of folks, I simply haven’t seen the majority of natural trainees grow optimally training in this fashion. Basically, it just doesn’t work for the majority in my experience (and in the experience of a lot of coaches I know). Sure, we can always look at the ‘big guys’ in the gym who are doing fine hitting everything once per week but the fact is that the majority of folks training that way aren’t usually growing well at all.
As well, for naturals, the lower frequency of training tends to lead people to do far too much volume at any given workout. As I mentioned above, there appears to be an optimal volume of training for each bodypart with both too little and too much volume being a problem. Naturals who do endless sets in a given workout (which is not only allowed but usually mandated by low frequency training) not only aren’t stimulating better growth, they end up cutting into their recovery with excessive volume.
Few bodyparts in my experience need more than two exercises (back is possibly an exception) in the first place and being able to do a zillion overlapping and redundant exercises is usually pointless for most trainees anyhow.
For the most part, I can’t think of any situation where I’d recommend only hitting a bodypart once per week for growth unless the goal was to simply maintain a given muscle group. And that’s usually in the context of a specialization cycle (a topic for another day) when other bodyparts are being trained more frequently.
One that I might mention (in a sarcastic way) would be for people who are addicted to being sore or exhausted from training. At least one of the reasons that I think people stick with low frequency training in the absence of good results is that they always get to walk out of the gym feeling like they have completely exhausted a given muscle group. As well, low frequency training tends to get people sore more consistently than a higher training frequency.
People who are more concerned with acute exhaustion or crippling soreness rather than actual progress may want to just keep on doing what they are doing….like I said, just a bit sarcastic.
Blast Every Muscle Group Once Per Week
At the other extreme of training is the idea, that seems to have primarily developed as steroids started to enter the picture, that a muscle group should be blasted into oblivion once per week and then allowed to rest before training again. Many critics of higher frequency training will point to successful elite (read: drug using) bodybuilders who train that way. Or who at least claim to train that way.
Typically in this approach, one or perhaps two muscle groups would be chosen for a single workout with a fairly large volume of training (often 15-20 sets of 3-4 different exercises) performed for each. Hitting all of the angles, blitzing and bombing were all ideas that came out of this type of approach and generally the body is split across 4 or more workouts which each muscle group getting blasted once every 7 days.
Now, there is no denying that this approach seems to work at the elite level of bodybuilding. However, there are often a lot of other factors involved that people tend to ignore. The main one, of course, is drugs especially steroids (it’s no coincidence that this approach to training developed primarily as steroid use was starting to increase among bodybuilders).
People don’t like to hear it but anabolic steroids will generate muscle growth without training at all and, to a great degree, many elite bodybuilders seem to succeed in spite of their training rather than because of it. In that context, I know of several coaches who work with drug using bodybuilders and invariably growth is better with a higher frequency of training, even in the context of steroid use.
Another factor is that even if top level bodybuilders only hit every bodypart once per week after they have been training for 10 or more years, that’s usually not how they built the majority of their muscle mass (if their reports of what they did earlier in their career are accurate).
Basically, looking at the elite level of any sport and how they train after 15 years of training is usually a losing proposition, what they might be doing at the peak of their career and what they did to get there are often very different things indeed.
But of perhaps more relevance, outside of a small percentage of folks, I simply haven’t seen the majority of natural trainees grow optimally training in this fashion. Basically, it just doesn’t work for the majority in my experience (and in the experience of a lot of coaches I know). Sure, we can always look at the ‘big guys’ in the gym who are doing fine hitting everything once per week but the fact is that the majority of folks training that way aren’t usually growing well at all.
As well, for naturals, the lower frequency of training tends to lead people to do far too much volume at any given workout. As I mentioned above, there appears to be an optimal volume of training for each bodypart with both too little and too much volume being a problem. Naturals who do endless sets in a given workout (which is not only allowed but usually mandated by low frequency training) not only aren’t stimulating better growth, they end up cutting into their recovery with excessive volume.
Few bodyparts in my experience need more than two exercises (back is possibly an exception) in the first place and being able to do a zillion overlapping and redundant exercises is usually pointless for most trainees anyhow.
For the most part, I can’t think of any situation where I’d recommend only hitting a bodypart once per week for growth unless the goal was to simply maintain a given muscle group. And that’s usually in the context of a specialization cycle (a topic for another day) when other bodyparts are being trained more frequently.
One that I might mention (in a sarcastic way) would be for people who are addicted to being sore or exhausted from training. At least one of the reasons that I think people stick with low frequency training in the absence of good results is that they always get to walk out of the gym feeling like they have completely exhausted a given muscle group. As well, low frequency training tends to get people sore more consistently than a higher training frequency.
People who are more concerned with acute exhaustion or crippling soreness rather than actual progress may want to just keep on doing what they are doing….like I said, just a bit sarcastic.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2010
- Messages
- 128
by thursday your CNS is fried
your last 2 days are suffering because of it
Exactly. Even if you're body part is recovered, which it most likely isn't, your CNS can't hanlde 5 days in a row. Hell I'm fried after 2 days in a row. If your intensity is where it should be I don't think anyone should be weight training more than 3 days in a row....And I see no reason to work a body part more than once a week unless you are doing DC or Slingshot or something similar.
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2007
- Messages
- 2,414
Here ya go, taken straight from the "Growth principles for beginners" article written by Big A.
TRAINING
Why does a muscle grow? Because it has to adapt. When
does it have to adapt? When you expose it to something
that it has not done before. When is something that it
has not done before? When the muscle is taxed 100%.
That's 100% effort. What's 100% effort? When you train
to 100% PHYSICAL, not mental failure. So, to make the
muscle grow, you have to train with 100% effort
otherwise, the muscle will not adapt/grow.
Now, using the above logic, for a set to be beneficial
to your growth, it needs to be 100% effort. So, a 100%
effort set of an exercise, will make you grow. Then,
what is the point to do a second set of that exercise?
You cannot go more than 100%. The muscle already has
been taxed by 100% from the first set, so why should
you do a second one? You will just eat into your
recovery ability.
So, you should only do one set to failure per
exercise. Later on, I will describe the training
program and how exercises and warm-ups are involved.
A muscle will not grow until it's recovered. The
muscle will not begin to recover until the nervous
system is recovered. It takes roughly 24hours for the
nervous system to recover from a workout. Only then
will the muscle begin to recover and grow. So, you
should never train 2 days in a row. Even if you train
different bodyparts, you still use the same nervous
system. You train 2 days in a row, your nervous system
recovers, but by the time the muscles begin to, you
train again, so the body has to concentrate again on
recovering the nervous system.
A training frequency of 3 days per week (Mon, Wed,
Fri) is more than enough. Numerous pros, including
myself, train like this offseason for maximum growth.
Even if you use streroids, you still have to train
like this. Steroids increase your recovery ability,
but they also make you stronger at a quicker rate. The
extra strength will give you the ability to train
harder/tear more muscle tissue, so you will need the
extra recovery that the steroids will give you.
The following is a great training program that I
recomend:
Mon - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
* Incline press - warm-up sets, 1 work set
* Flat flyes - 1 work set
* Millitary press - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lateral flyes - 1 work set
* Rear delt machine - 1 work set
* Tricep pushdowns - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lying tricep extensions - 1 work-set
Wed - Quads, Hams, Calves
* Squats - warm-ups, 1 work set
* Leg press - work set
* Leg extension - work set
* Leg curl - warm-up, work set
* Stiff leg deadlift - work set
* Standing calf raise - work set
Fri - Abs, Back, Bis
* Rope crunches - warm up, work set
* Lat pull down - warm-ups, work set
* Deadlift - warm-up, work set
* Bent-over rows - work set
* Shrugs - work set
* Standing BB curls - warm up, work set
* Concentration curl - work set
You do a lot of warm-ups for your first exercise of
the day. You do one warm-up for the first exercise of
each bodypart, only to optimise the firing of te
neuropathways.
Let's use chest as an example - if for example your
max (work set) in the incline press is 3 plates, then
you do 2 warm-ups with the bar, 2 warm-ups with one
plate, 1 warm-up with 2 plates and then your work set
with 3 plates. The work set is a set where you fail at
about 6 reps. Every workout, you have to do more reps
or increase the weight in that work set (remember, the
muscle has to do something that it has not done
before). So if one work out you fail with 6 reps, the
following nothing less than 7. When you reach 8 reps,
the following workout you should do (increase) a
weight where you can do minimum 4 reps. Then increase
your reps again every workout until you reach 8 again,
and so on. Each rep has a tempo of 2-1-1. That is 2
seconds in the negative, one second in the contraction
and 1 second in the positive.
Then, after you fail in the incline press, you move
straight to flat flyes. You do not need a warmp now
because your chest is more than warm after you failed
on presses.
And that's it for chest. The basic routine stays the
same. If you want variety, small changes as using DB's
instead of BB or doing flat presse and incline flyes
for example, is mor ethan enough variety to keep the
muscle 'confused'.
TRAINING
Why does a muscle grow? Because it has to adapt. When
does it have to adapt? When you expose it to something
that it has not done before. When is something that it
has not done before? When the muscle is taxed 100%.
That's 100% effort. What's 100% effort? When you train
to 100% PHYSICAL, not mental failure. So, to make the
muscle grow, you have to train with 100% effort
otherwise, the muscle will not adapt/grow.
Now, using the above logic, for a set to be beneficial
to your growth, it needs to be 100% effort. So, a 100%
effort set of an exercise, will make you grow. Then,
what is the point to do a second set of that exercise?
You cannot go more than 100%. The muscle already has
been taxed by 100% from the first set, so why should
you do a second one? You will just eat into your
recovery ability.
So, you should only do one set to failure per
exercise. Later on, I will describe the training
program and how exercises and warm-ups are involved.
A muscle will not grow until it's recovered. The
muscle will not begin to recover until the nervous
system is recovered. It takes roughly 24hours for the
nervous system to recover from a workout. Only then
will the muscle begin to recover and grow. So, you
should never train 2 days in a row. Even if you train
different bodyparts, you still use the same nervous
system. You train 2 days in a row, your nervous system
recovers, but by the time the muscles begin to, you
train again, so the body has to concentrate again on
recovering the nervous system.
A training frequency of 3 days per week (Mon, Wed,
Fri) is more than enough. Numerous pros, including
myself, train like this offseason for maximum growth.
Even if you use streroids, you still have to train
like this. Steroids increase your recovery ability,
but they also make you stronger at a quicker rate. The
extra strength will give you the ability to train
harder/tear more muscle tissue, so you will need the
extra recovery that the steroids will give you.
The following is a great training program that I
recomend:
Mon - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
* Incline press - warm-up sets, 1 work set
* Flat flyes - 1 work set
* Millitary press - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lateral flyes - 1 work set
* Rear delt machine - 1 work set
* Tricep pushdowns - 1 warm-up, 1 work set
* Lying tricep extensions - 1 work-set
Wed - Quads, Hams, Calves
* Squats - warm-ups, 1 work set
* Leg press - work set
* Leg extension - work set
* Leg curl - warm-up, work set
* Stiff leg deadlift - work set
* Standing calf raise - work set
Fri - Abs, Back, Bis
* Rope crunches - warm up, work set
* Lat pull down - warm-ups, work set
* Deadlift - warm-up, work set
* Bent-over rows - work set
* Shrugs - work set
* Standing BB curls - warm up, work set
* Concentration curl - work set
You do a lot of warm-ups for your first exercise of
the day. You do one warm-up for the first exercise of
each bodypart, only to optimise the firing of te
neuropathways.
Let's use chest as an example - if for example your
max (work set) in the incline press is 3 plates, then
you do 2 warm-ups with the bar, 2 warm-ups with one
plate, 1 warm-up with 2 plates and then your work set
with 3 plates. The work set is a set where you fail at
about 6 reps. Every workout, you have to do more reps
or increase the weight in that work set (remember, the
muscle has to do something that it has not done
before). So if one work out you fail with 6 reps, the
following nothing less than 7. When you reach 8 reps,
the following workout you should do (increase) a
weight where you can do minimum 4 reps. Then increase
your reps again every workout until you reach 8 again,
and so on. Each rep has a tempo of 2-1-1. That is 2
seconds in the negative, one second in the contraction
and 1 second in the positive.
Then, after you fail in the incline press, you move
straight to flat flyes. You do not need a warmp now
because your chest is more than warm after you failed
on presses.
And that's it for chest. The basic routine stays the
same. If you want variety, small changes as using DB's
instead of BB or doing flat presse and incline flyes
for example, is mor ethan enough variety to keep the
muscle 'confused'.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
- Messages
- 1,405
doensn't feel like enough, especially if you've been doing conventional OCD training for years. But I'm enjoying the change of pace.
napaulm do you cry like a small child during the 15 second stretch of the calf movement? I have turn my headphones up all the way just to drown out my whimpering
- Joined
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- Messages
- 799
Real questions for once a week training
I haven't trained once a week in year but will try it...
HERE IS MY BIG CONCERN:
How do you know when you had a good workout and when you are done?
Without doing something like DC there is no way to judge a workout.
ALSO:
What about when you feel recovers 2 few days later? What do you do then? Add more volume next time?
I haven't trained once a week in year but will try it...
HERE IS MY BIG CONCERN:
How do you know when you had a good workout and when you are done?
Without doing something like DC there is no way to judge a workout.
ALSO:
What about when you feel recovers 2 few days later? What do you do then? Add more volume next time?
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2010
- Messages
- 258
Back from DC
I just switched to once-a-week per bodypart (I do an extra arm workout though, because my arms are lagging) after 6 months of DC training. I liked DC, but I must say, it's REFRESHING to go to the gym and just blast one bodypart thoroughly and get a great pump going and then go home.
As good as DC is, it got to feeling too much like work! Plus I ENJOY lifting and DC requires too much waiting for the next workout for me! My plan now is to just do DC for about 3-4 months each winter and stick with the one workout per bodypart a week the rest of the year. I kinda subscribe to the Draper mentality I guess.
I just switched to once-a-week per bodypart (I do an extra arm workout though, because my arms are lagging) after 6 months of DC training. I liked DC, but I must say, it's REFRESHING to go to the gym and just blast one bodypart thoroughly and get a great pump going and then go home.
As good as DC is, it got to feeling too much like work! Plus I ENJOY lifting and DC requires too much waiting for the next workout for me! My plan now is to just do DC for about 3-4 months each winter and stick with the one workout per bodypart a week the rest of the year. I kinda subscribe to the Draper mentality I guess.
- Joined
- May 18, 2010
- Messages
- 46
2 body parts per workout, 2 days on-1 off with cardio and core on off days. I am in the best shape I have ever been.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2007
- Messages
- 718
Not everyone doing things non DC are just going in and pumping weights randomly with no plan, posts like this give DC a bad name in my opinion because it looks like "my way or the highway" that the HITers put off.
Dorian's style training is sound, he just likes more exercises per session.
Phil's style is sound, he does less intensity techniques and slightly more frequency
It doesn't have to be DC to work, but all those successful programs are built around fundamental principles... how you approach them is a matter of preference.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2007
- Messages
- 799
Phils style isn't published to the best of my knowledge. All the freely available volume workouts I see seem to not have a set progression to them. Maybe its just my mistake but without a set ruler it is hard to know when you had a good workout and when you didn't because nothing gets me soar for more than a day even with high volume.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2007
- Messages
- 718
It's not published and I'm sure it's tailored towards people's needs, but if you talk to 5-10 guys and they say "Phil has me doing XYZ" and it's all fairly similar you get an idea of what he's looking for with his guys.
It's a point B from point A thing for both systems
I can do dips with 45 lbs for 10 reps today, my triceps will be much larger once i can use 180 for 10 with the same form assuming I've got the nutrition to support growth... let's work on getting there incrementally constantly hammering it with a reasonable method.
Rest pause, straight sets, emeric's heavy negatives etc... it's not all that different to me, same principles, different method to accomplish them.
It's a point B from point A thing for both systems
I can do dips with 45 lbs for 10 reps today, my triceps will be much larger once i can use 180 for 10 with the same form assuming I've got the nutrition to support growth... let's work on getting there incrementally constantly hammering it with a reasonable method.
Rest pause, straight sets, emeric's heavy negatives etc... it's not all that different to me, same principles, different method to accomplish them.
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2006
- Messages
- 563
Great post ScottMcD1.
It just seems like since Dorian stopped competing you never hear about pros working each body part once every seven days.
I have to say, I'm currently doing an upper/lower split right now where every body part is worked every 4-5 days...and I don't like it. I had much better workouts when I was training each body part once every 7 days. I felt a better pump and my volume was lower therefore the workouts were more intense. With the upper/lower split the volume is too great per workout and therefore my intensity feels blah.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2007
- Messages
- 799
I am not saying any program is insufficient and more than likely it is my fault. When I see volume programs they say do X reps and Y sets but never stress on increasing strength or give you any ruler by which to judge your workout and intensity. For instance lets say I get stronger on set 1 but see no change or a decrease on the other sets OR on the other hand see no high end/set one strength gain but get more endurance and more reps towards the end of the workout... Which is more important? The volume programs I see have never included that besides maybe 5x5 variations.
I'm not arguing against volume at all, I would actually like to give a decent program a try but every well written and weight progressive program I can find tends to be on some sort of frequency training.
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