How many days a week should you train (on AAS)?

[Landmonster]

This is a simple question.

If your goal is to build maximum muscle size and quality, and you're taking AAS... how many days per week should you train?

Does this differ from when you are/were natural?

Is there any scientific basis for this, or is it simply individualized or preference?


IFBB Pros seem to train all kinds of different ways.

The highest volume that I'm aware of, was Ronnie Coleman, who lifted 6 days a week for most of his career, only taking Sundays off each week. I don't know if it was his genetics, work ethic, drug stack, or combination of all of the above that allowed that to work.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

about as open-ended of a question as: How much food should you eat when you're on AAS???

 

[Landmonster]

about as open-ended of a question as: How much food should you eat when you're on AAS???

So you're saying it's individualized?

 

[TheOtherOne55]

very individual...what's your recovery like? how much are you eating? are you dieting? is this the offseason? what's your split?

 

[bigman1]

Of course it differs then when your natural and your CNS can not take the same load unless your diet is in check.

As far as when your on it depends on each person. when I was training for PL i was lifting 4 days a week and now that im doing it just for health i train 6-7 days a week but every day is not with weights, some days are just HITT style, some are high rep around 100 per set etc. I feel great but it may not be for everyone but i make sure my diet is pretty sound and get plenty of rest

 

[Gunsmith]

Invest in hiring a trainer to help you figure out whats most effective for you.
Theirs a lot more to recovery then just drugs

 

[Landmonster]

My current split is a basic 4-day split


1) Chest, biceps
2) Back
3) Shoulder, traps, triceps
4) Quads, hams, calves
-repeat or rest


This can be done as few as 4 days a week, hitting each part once. Or 5 days, or 6 days... hitting each part 1.5x a week.


I do have some concern with the pairings when running it 6 days a week. It seems like my triceps are not fully recovered when it comes time to hit chest again 2 days later. Also my legs are sore 2 days later after leg day, for my back day, if I want to do deadlifts. I'm wondering if I should have a different split if I trained 6x a week.

The current split is fine for 4 days a week.

 

[soloartist56]

My current split is a basic 4-day split


1) Chest, biceps
2) Back
3) Shoulder, traps, triceps
4) Quads, hams, calves
-repeat or rest


This can be done as few as 4 days a week, hitting each part once. Or 5 days, or 6 days... hitting each part 1.5x a week.


I do have some concern with the pairings when running it 6 days a week. It seems like my triceps are not fully recovered when it comes time to hit chest again 2 days later. Also my legs are sore 2 days later after leg day, for my back day, if I want to do deadlifts. I'm wondering if I should have a different split if I trained 6x a week.

The current split is fine for 4 days a week.

1) Quads, Hams
2) Chest, Biceps, Calves
3) Rest
4) Back, Forearms
5) Shoulders, Traps, Triceps
6) Rest
7) Repeat

This is working for me hitting each bodypart once every 6 days. When off aas I hit each bodypart once every 7 or 8 days or so..

 

[tmuscle]

8 days a week.

 

[Landmonster]

1) Quads, Hams
2) Chest, Biceps, Calves
3) Rest
4) Back, Forearms
5) Shoulders, Traps, Triceps
6) Rest
7) Repeat

This is working for me hitting each bodypart once every 6 days.

K. That is a slight variation on my split.

I know simpler/shorter workouts are more intense.. just do 1 or 2 parts a day, and give it plenty of recovery time before you smash it again.

I've tried all kinds of splits. I always just try to cram more stuff in per week, and I usually end up either getting too tired, or having sore bodyparts overlap other bodyparts (like sore triceps on chest day, or whatever).


My thinking is that, if I could find a way do it, working each part more frequently is better... yes? Maybe this is counter productive, and I should focus just on quality.

 

[soloartist56]

K. That is a slight variation on my split.

I know simpler/shorter workouts are more intense.. just do 1 or 2 parts a day, and give it plenty of recovery time before you smash it again.

I've tried all kinds of splits. I always just try to cram more stuff in per week, and I usually end up either getting too tired, or having sore bodyparts overlap other bodyparts (like sore triceps on chest day, or whatever).


My thinking is that, if I could find a way do it, working each part more frequently is better... yes? Maybe this is counter productive, and I should focus just on quality.

Not necessarily that it may be better to hit it more frequently. It really depends on how intense your workout is... Mine is brief too but I go to failure and beyond (drop sets, rest pause etc) so I was like you before thinking I have to hit it more often but I realized mentally I was freakin drained and my CNS is not recovering... Also its a given that some body parts will overlap during other workouts but if u look at my rest days I strategically placed it where I would have a chance to recover (ex: rest day after chest/biceps, then hit back giving my biceps a chance to rest). <<== big difference for me instead of doing chest/biceps then next day back..

Edit: Also for me I can't or won't workout with weights 3 days in a row, the max is 2 then a rest day. I feel I have a more productive workout with a rest day after the 2nd day...

 

[Mr OZ]

There is a special formula to follow once you use AS:

number of days you normally train multiplied by 1

 

[sbc5966]

As many as you can while continuing to make gains, bordering the edge of overtraining to allow for supercompensation.

Periodize your training well enough, and you can train (in some form) every day. Period.

 

[Landmonster]

Yea, Soloartist. Your strategic rest days seem good. That's prolly what I should do.


Alternatively, how do you feel about the traditional Chest/tri, Back/bi split?

This allows for better recovery if you train those muscles more frequently... but in my experience, I can't work my triceps as hard after chest, since they are pre-fatigued. And same is true for working biceps after back... plus I kind of feel like back should be trained by itself, since it is so exhausting.


However, some pros do like:

Chest, Tricep
Back, Bicep
Shoulder, Trap
Legs

Ronnie Coleman did this for his entire career, 6 days a week. So what do I know. :banghead: Although Ronnie said he didn't care about increasing his arm size any further.

 

[soloartist56]

Yea. The rest days seem good. That's prolly what I should do.


Alternatively, how do you feel about the traditional Chest/tri, Back/bi split?

This allows for better recovery if you train those muscles more frequently... but in my experience, I can't work my triceps as hard after chest, since they are pre-fatigued. And same is true for working biceps after back... plus I kind of feel like back should be trained by itself, since it is so exhausting.


However, some pros do like:

Chest, Triep
Back, Bicep
Shoulder, Trap
Legs

Ronnie Coleman did this for his entire career, 6 days a week. So what do I know. :banghead: Although Ronnie said he didn't care about increasing his arm size any further.

Don't forget Ronnie Coleman is one of a kind a genetic freak and 99.99% of the earth population cannot do what he did. I don't really like chest/tri, back/biceps like you said because by the time you do triceps and biceps they are already shot from doing chest and back so you really cant get good weight... Again this is just my opinion but the split I wrote before seems to be working the best for my body because my poundages/progressive overload keeps increasing over time and I can see size improvements compared to other years doing different splits...

 

[teslacsten]

Read Big A's article on training for beginners

He makes it as simple as one could for an off-season bulking program. And if you read it all the way through it makes perfect sense. If you want to compete or stay in your current condition, you can modify the simple program to fit your timing and style. He is right, your cns can recover in the 24 hours but your muscles if trained to 100% effort cannot. Hence the extra day to eat, grow, and relax and give your next workout 100% effort. I forgot to add that Big A said he still uses this in the offseason along with other pros. Just saying.

 

[gogotren]

I try and work each muscle group every 4-5 days or about 1.5 times a week. I am on HRT so I heal up pretty quick and feel recovered after just 2-3 days. If your natural with lower levels, you can`t go that frequent.

 

[biglizard225]

I don't care what anybody says you can train 7 days a week on a good dose AAS and very large quantities of calories and protein. Want proof? Look at the golden era bodybuilders arnold, sergio, etc..

 

[jimmyjones]

You can really train as much as you can cram in a week and then just take 2 days off….just strategically place your workouts so there is no overlapping.
The split I usually use is Chest AM, Back PM on Monday, arms on Tuesday, legs Wednesday, light Chest/Back Thursday, arms again on Friday (so they look good for the weekend LOL)
Saturday/Sunday off…

The key is feeding yourself plentiful enough to maintain energy throughout the entire week…and so as long as the quality of your nutrients of the food you eat….and the quality of your “supersupps” are both on point….recovery should be of no issue.

Train smarter, not harder.

 

[EFShadow]

Chest
Back
Shoulders
Arms
Legs

rest
rest