MAXIMUM FREQUENCY TRAINING

[TJB]

What is the most you have trained a bodypart directly as far days per week?

Lagging bodyparts you have blasted with extra extra days during the week and seen results from.

Example for myself: Delt width: I have been hitting delts in some fashion directly 3 days per week for the past 3 weeks and they have responded well with new growth and starting tomorrow I will be pumping them up on 2 off days, basically a memo that I'm aware of their slacking! lol for a total of 5 out of 7 days in this week and for the next 2 to 3 weeks max of this experiment.

I've been re-thinking a lot of why I do what I do in the gym and questioning everything. Straight sets to failure are where I'm at for the majority of all work sets currently and these extra sets and dayz will be significantly less stressful possibly 50 to 60% of what I would use for current work-sets. Goal 20 reps.

Basically my thoughts right now are why can't I rotate bodyparts in and out with this type of frequency and be in a constant state of super-compensation. Now I'm aware of nutrition & supplementation as well as sleep needs are increased exponentially with increased frequency and this may be the dagger. Can I recover, even with less time in the gym per day. Maybe twice a day for extra short, intense sessions? 2 20mins. work-outs per day.

Thanks in advance for any replys...

 

[Blenderate]

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[TJB]

Blenderate~ Thanks for the reply! 121 views and no-one wants to chime in. haa Ohh well.

I'm having a blast training and things are going well. I had a great conversation about this topic with my brother and his concern is CNS overload and how to avoid it. I explained the reduced training time and less volume along with supplementation is key. His major concern with that was extra sleep needed and rest. We have both had bouts of maximum burn-out from not backing off on programs or taking a cruise in a timely fashion. The killer instinct just takes over.

I'm hungry...::tar-wars

 

[lucian]

....

there was a special program by ots about 12 years go for bench pressing. you benched every day for i think 3 weeks. it was 5 sets a day. different rep ranges. it did work. i tried it once and lost the damn paper. it was a special report about their bulgarian burst training. there also are camps where olympic lifters do 3 a day workouts for a week or longer. ask sessumaru for details.
then there is the old big beyond belief system. there is a 6 day a week 2 x aday routine. its pretty intense.
god bless
lucian

 

[Fa Seeshus]

as everyone said, you can pull it off if you vary the actual movements and tempo. this is what saves the CNS, and helps stave off pattern overload in the joints.

i don't think doing the exact same thing every day is of much benefit though.

also IMHO I think shoulders are one of the most overtrained bodyparts out there. though i used to do all the different laterals and multiple types of presses, i've gotten better results off of just doing some rear delts, some upright rows or face pulls and then hitting a few sets of strict heavy presses.

 

[MachineMan]

I think there are a few relationships when it comes to the frequency of training

your body can handle training with greater frequency if you:
a) increase food intake and sleep
b) are on cycle
c) have the genetics to recover fast
d) train with less volume and more for strength

For example hitting a muscle group with 5x10 everyday would probably be too much volume, but as mentioned the powerlifters will hit muscle groups everyday with very low reps as that induces less soreness and is easier to recover from

Personally I don't notice any difference between 1x a week and 2x a week training frequency, although on cycle I tend to increase the frequency as my recovery time drops down from 4-5 days to about 2 days.

Shoulders I wouldn't train too much, they are prone to injury (for me anyway) and as mentioned above they are often overtrained. my deltoids are genetically very big and require very little work, and to preserve my shoulders I don't hit them too hard.

 

[TJB]

I think there are a few relationships when it comes to the frequency of training

your body can handle training with greater frequency if you:
a) increase food intake and sleep
b) are on cycle
c) have the genetics to recover fast
d) train with less volume and more for strength

For example hitting a muscle group with 5x10 everyday would probably be too much volume, but as mentioned the powerlifters will hit muscle groups everyday with very low reps as that induces less soreness and is easier to recover from

Personally I don't notice any difference between 1x a week and 2x a week training frequency, although on cycle I tend to increase the frequency as my recovery time drops down from 4-5 days to about 2 days.

Shoulders I wouldn't train too much, they are prone to injury (for me anyway) and as mentioned above they are often overtrained. my deltoids are genetically very big and require very little work, and to preserve my shoulders I don't hit them too hard.

MM~I do agree that shoulders are over-lapped by almost all upper-body moves and therefore prone to "over-training" & injury. My shoulders are genetically non-existent. lol Everything I have, I have had to fight for.. I am a big fan of db moves and especially laterals for delts.

 

[Mr_Magoo]

i've done 5 or 6 days a week at times but as others have mentioned u need to vary exercises, intensity and rep ranges

a 6 days a week routine for example for me might be somethinig like 2 hard days, 1 or 2 moderate days, possibly 1 or 2 PHA workouts or 100 rep 1 set workouts for blood flow for recovery

one of the biggest reasons people over-train if they go over 1 or 2 lifts a week is that they do not moderate intensity and they also do not build up work volume over time, ur body can respond and adapt to just about anything

Mariusz hardly ever takes days off; he is known to front squat on day 1, deadlift on day 2 and olympic squats on day 3 and then repeat until he feels he needs a day off. he also obviously does more work on those days but he still hits lower back and legs hard day in and day out

the olympic lifters are also great examples of high frequency training

 

[witefall]

just from my own experience, I think you are on the right track . . .

If you want to work the same body part multiple times a week, then you can do it as long as you are lowering your percentages of your 1 rep max for those workouts.

My program is a mix of Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting. I clean and jerk 3-5 times a week, back squat and deadlift 2 times a week, bench 1 time every 10 days, and then abs and a few supplemental movements thrown in here and there.

If you want big shoulders, clean and jerks are great. 10-12 sets at 1-3 reps, but mostly just singles. You can do this kind of workout multiple days a week. If you lift heavy one session, then just do 2 more sessions that week at 50% of your 1 rep max. If you don't work out a heavy session, then you can do it 5 sessions a week. I consider a heavy session at 90-95% of your 1 rep max.

If you are interested, do a search on queensland olympic weightlifting and you will find their site, it has a ton of great info and training plans.



Good luck.

 

[TJB]

i've done 5 or 6 days a week at times but as others have mentioned u need to vary exercises, intensity and rep ranges

a 6 days a week routine for example for me might be somethinig like 2 hard days, 1 or 2 moderate days, possibly 1 or 2 PHA workouts or 100 rep 1 set workouts for blood flow for recovery

one of the biggest reasons people over-train if they go over 1 or 2 lifts a week is that they do not moderate intensity and they also do not build up work volume over time, ur body can respond and adapt to just about anything

Mariusz hardly ever takes days off; he is known to front squat on day 1, deadlift on day 2 and olympic squats on day 3 and then repeat until he feels he needs a day off. he also obviously does more work on those days but he still hits lower back and legs hard day in and day out

the olympic lifters are also great examples of high frequency training

Mr.Magoo~ Thanks for the insight. Great stuff here. When you were blasting away 5 & 6 days, what were you bringing up and what were the results?

 

[morepain]

chad waterbury writes alot about this topic at t-nation. High frequency training he calls it, smart guy with alot of good articles.

 

[T TOTAL]

there was a special program by ots about 12 years go for bench pressing. you benched every day for i think 3 weeks. it was 5 sets a day. different rep ranges. it did work. i tried it once and lost the damn paper. it was a special report about their bulgarian burst training. there also are camps where olympic lifters do 3 a day workouts for a week or longer. ask sessumaru for details.
then there is the old big beyond belief system. there is a 6 day a week 2 x aday routine. its pretty intense.
god bless
lucian

I actually bought that Bulgarian system many moons ago and gave it a shot. It went in phases in relation to the level you were at. But the basic principle was daily and frequent short sessions and each and every day were different rep ranges and set ammounts and the body parts were trained frequently. The higher one put their level of training at the more one trained.

It did work to a degree for me, got strong etc, but i was a newbie in training and didnt really know much.

I wonder how it would work now, just a thought as im now working with Phil and loving it and look forward to the following years progression