each body part once a week better for optimum growth?

buresu · Oct 20, 2012

I always thought that working out each muscle group once a week wouldn't be enough for max. growth results, I've been working each muscle group twice a week for more than 3 years continously...I'm thinking now to change that routine to once a week. I know everybody will react different, recovery is the main key...but what are your thoughts about it, have you changed your training program to once a week and seen better results?

Queefer · Oct 20, 2012

buresu said:
I always thought that working out each muscle group once a week wouldn't be enough for max. growth results, I've been working each muscle group twice a week for more than 3 years continously...I'm thinking now to change that routine to once a week. I know everybody will react different, recovery is the main key...but what are your thoughts about it, have you changed your training program to once a week and seen better results?

This thread will probably get moved to beginner section, but here's my thoughts. Change it up. Go to once a week for a few months and get stronger, then go back to twice a week for growth. I believe the more often you work a muscle group, the more it will grow. Think about it, if you work your legs once a week, you train them 50x a year. If you do legs twice a week, you will have trained them 100x.

TNH · Oct 20, 2012

Keep the volume or intensity low enough to recover from training each body part 2x weekly and you will have twice the opportunity to grow. That is my thoughts on it anyway.
When I am training purely for strength, such as 5/3/1, I go back to each body part 1x weekly.

jm425 · Oct 20, 2012

I train each muscle group once a week most of the time. However, every 4 months out of the year, I switch to DC training. Keeps things interesting for me. I maintain what I have now, but in the past, I would grow training both ways.

ritchie · Oct 20, 2012

I've been doing that ever since, did my first week of training everything twice. Too early to tell obviously, but the change has me motivated and that alone may spark some growth.

Turkishexpress · Oct 20, 2012

I want to try out the twice a week method but it seems like I don't recover fast enough. Maybe I need to drop the loads and focus on volume?

Deleted member 106824 · Oct 20, 2012

Queefer said:
This thread will probably get moved to beginner section, but here's my thoughts. Change it up. Go to once a week for a few months and get stronger, then go back to twice a week for growth. I believe the more often you work a muscle group, the more it will grow. Think about it, if you work your legs once a week, you train them 50x a year. If you do legs twice a week, you will have trained them 100x.

....and if you train them twice a day every day you hit them 730x/year

OP you'll probably get a ton of different answers for this. Some swear by 1x/week, others 2x/week, others 3+x/week. Depends on the individual's genetics, training volume, caloric intake, what he's taking, etc.

MarkcusMaximus · Oct 20, 2012

Back in the day it was 3 times a week, I think it dropped down to 1 due to lack of time or laziness.

buresu · Oct 21, 2012

Thanks for all the answers, I will try out once a week and see what happens. The reason why I'm changing my routine is because of the soreness of my muscles...after intensity training each muscle group is sore for at least 3-4 days, for exp. I do Chest on Monday and then again Thursday...when I'm hitting Chest again on Thursday it's still sore from Monday...so I guess it needs more time to recover.

anab0lic · Oct 21, 2012

Hell no, I think 1x a week is a fantastic way to grow at a snails pace... thats only 52 growth workouts a year.. and that's providing every single one is on point to illicit growth, you never skip a workout/get sick or take time off... VS double the growth if you can schedule things to train everything twice a week.

buresu · Oct 21, 2012

I'm currently bulking at 1gr.Test and 800mg Deca, my training split will be like this:

Monday : Chest
Tuesday : Back / Forearms
Wednesday : Shoulders / Abs
Thursday : Legs
Friday : Arms
Saturday : Abs / Cardio
Sunday : Off

KTT · Oct 21, 2012

As you may recall the GREATEST technology to come to bodybuilders was to work the bodyparts NO more than 1 day a week. There was a time when everyone trained a bodypart 3 times a week and the results were minimal; then it dropped to 2 times a week and the results were much better and then done to one where then results were much better still.

anab0lic · Oct 21, 2012

KTT said:
As you may recall the GREATEST technology to come to bodybuilders was to work the bodyparts NO more than 1 day a week. There was a time when everyone trained a bodypart 3 times a week and the results were minimal; then it dropped to 2 times a week and the results were much better and then done to one where then results were much better still.

I hope you arnt being serious with this post.... Once a week training wasnt a 'tech advancement' for bodybuilding, quite the opposite in fact... its a huge devolution of what constitutes an effective training schedule.

jm425 · Oct 21, 2012

KTT said:
As you may recall the GREATEST technology to come to bodybuilders was to work the bodyparts NO more than 1 day a week. There was a time when everyone trained a bodypart 3 times a week and the results were minimal; then it dropped to 2 times a week and the results were much better and then done to one where then results were much better still.

Not exactly. Growth can be achieved using all 3 ways. Some people respond to more volume, less frequency while others respond better to less volume, more frequency. Just gotta try both and see what works for you.

tr · Oct 21, 2012

buresu said:
I always thought that working out each muscle group once a week wouldn't be enough for max. growth results, I've been working each muscle group twice a week for more than 3 years continously...I'm thinking now to change that routine to once a week. I know everybody will react different, recovery is the main key...but what are your thoughts about it, have you changed your training program to once a week and seen better results?

Ronnie Coleman is the greatest bodybuilder ever and one of the biggest ever
Victor Richards is probably the biggest bodybuilder ever
Art Atwood RIP was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) white bodybuilder ever
Manfred Hoeberl had most muscle out of all strongmans
Emeric Delczeg was able to compete as a pro with 1/2 of what pros are cruising these days
Phil Hernon was the biggest inch per inch bodybulder in the early 90ies
Juan Morel has added 80 or so pounds of pure muscle in the last 4 or 5 years of training
Dante Trudel (Doggcrapp) was one of the biggest/thickest non competitive guys in planet

What was common between each of them?

THey all trained each muscle 2 or more times per week

I know myself too - if I'm able to train every body part more than once a week - I grow better. If I'm blasting and training every bodypart 2+ times/week - I grow better, if I'm cruising and training every bodypart 2+ times/week - I can keep more gained muscle which I've gained during the blast

ds44 · Oct 21, 2012

get to know your body and recovery times... also recovery times depend on food your putting in your body! best thing i ever did was change to instinctive training and i stick to what excercises that work best for me... alot of basic stuff deads, barbell bench, etc..... when i get a lil stale i change reps, rest times body parts excercises etc.... I 'm not the biggest here at PM but still in great shape and what

ds44 · Oct 21, 2012

get to know your body and recovery times... also recovery times depend on food your putting in your body! best thing i ever did was change to instinctive training and i stick to what excercises that work best for me... alot of basic stuff deads, barbell bench, etc..... when i get a lil stale i change reps, rest times body parts excercises etc.... I 'm not the biggest here at PM...jmo

powerlifter1800 · Oct 21, 2012

When im training to grow i like the DC 3 way or 2 way split it alows me to train really heavy and intense then get a good ammount or rest in. When trying to lean up i like to hit it 6 to 7 days a week but not lifting as heavy and sometimes still hitting a body part twice a week. But the biggest thing is i like to switch it every 4 to 5 months just for me this is what i like.

buresu · Oct 21, 2012

tr said:
Ronnie Coleman is the greatest bodybuilder ever and one of the biggest ever
Victor Richards is probably the biggest bodybuilder ever
Art Atwood RIP was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) white bodybuilder ever
Manfred Hoeberl had most muscle out of all strongmans
Emeric Delczeg was able to compete as a pro with 1/2 of what pros are cruising these days
Phil Hernon was the biggest inch per inch bodybulder in the early 90ies
Juan Morel has added 80 or so pounds of pure muscle in the last 4 or 5 years of training
Dante Trudel (Doggcrapp) was one of the biggest/thickest non competitive guys in planet

What was common between each of them?

THey all trained each muscle 2 or more times per week

I know myself too - if I'm able to train every body part more than once a week - I grow better. If I'm blasting and training every bodypart 2+ times/week - I grow better, if I'm cruising and training every bodypart 2+ times/week - I can keep more gained muscle which I've gained during the blast

Dorian Yates' split :

Dorian Yates
Monday: Delts, traps, triceps, abs
Tuesday: Back, rear delts
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Chest, biceps, abs
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Quads, hams, calves
Sunday: Rest

Bad Fox · Oct 21, 2012

For myself anyway.... I shoot for each body part twice per week. However, there are many times when I enter the gym to work a sceduled body part and I can tell right away that im not recovered. Instead of ignoring those signs I re arrange my routine.

In other words. I dont work that body part that day. If there is another body part that does feel recovered I will do that one instead. Or if nothing feels recovered I will simply use a very very lite weight and do some high reps just to draw blood into the originally planned muscle group and do some light stretching for that area.

Sure you have to re-arrange your split. But its not really very difficult to do. The benefits of not working an un recoverd muscle group are tremendous. It saves on injuries.. saves you from going down the path of habitual overtraining which will impede your progress and make you second guess all your training methods because you are seeing no results.

On the up side. By training this way you are much more psyched about your progress... especially in the long run. You dont experience the psychological let down and despair of not progressing as you think you should. Which a lot of times causes people to quit... or at least never find what works because they bounce from one training method to the other and never realise that you can overtrain with any of them.

I do realise that everyone is different. For me.... this is what works. However anyone that over trains a body part or muscle group long enough WILL experience injury and set back! It just is what it is. Its hard for ego driven or compulsive individuals to throttle back. They just have one speed.... GO.

I know... im one of them. But ive learned that being aware and adaptive is a must if you want to get the most you can.