body parts, multiple times a week?

Ive noticed that when I train a body part a few times a week, I get better response then just training it once a week.

is there any evidence to support this? or is it still common belief that a body part should only be worked once a week?

Hi Topher.

There are a fantastizillion different training philosophies.

I personally had the best results with working every muscle twice per week or even more often, too. But still, i want to try HIT sometime.

Check out the HST-program, it's a program based on scientific evidence:

www.hypertrophy-specific.com

I think there are many good programs that produce results, when you understand their principles and the why of them and apply them correctly. Every program has its own advantages and weaknesses.

Good luck with your training,

go get huge,

Daywalker

I think that doing any new program different to your normal routine will produce results, simply because you are 'shocking' your muscles and training them in a method they are not used to.

yooo, i also train every part two times a week

Hey man, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

I train based off of major exercise movements, so I hit some of my muscles pretty much every time I train. I rarely do isolation stuff though, perhaps that's the difference. My back receives a lot of work everytime I'm at the gym and it has responded with lots of growth and strength gain, so I'd say that the more frequently you can handle working a muscle the more gains you make. Of course this means you have to see how fast your body can heal given your natural healing rate, food intake, and rest levels, to determine what you can do, otherwise you'll just end up overtrained.

Regards,

Sensless

I've made better gains when I train more often

cool. well im training more often and im noticing great results. I like hitting the same muscles every day or every other day when I train. I felt like crap when I would wait a week before training the same muscle. what i do now, is go in the gym, look in the mirror, figure out what needs bulking up, and then get to it.

I tried reading that HIT link....I dont understand it. but thanks

As always, everyone is different for how well they respond! I myself cannot do something like heavy squats or deadlifts twice weekly or my progress stops quickly, but if I do it every 6-10 days I find that the recovery between workouts makes progress happen quite steadily. There are lots of factors that will play into each person's recovery time such as age, amount of sleep per night, physical/mental stress of day job or school, what lifts they train etc. Years ago I could train 5-6 days/week with lifting and running a few miles afterward and always feel fresh (didn't get much stronger, but endurance was sky-high!) Now if I lift in the gym more than 3x/week I'm sluggish and if I were to try and do some cardio in addition I'd be wiped out without a long, slow re-entry into it. This is where a lot of the factors I've listed above come into play - I'm older, I work longer hours at a higher-stress job, and I train heavy compound lifts vs. lots of isolation stuff. Someone who is in their late teens or early 20s, doesn't work / have classes for 10-14 hours/day and does more lighter weight/higher rep work will have an easier time recovering than I would, that's for sure.

If you can get away with training more frequently AND it is making the progress you're looking for, by all means, do it until it doesn't work any longer. However, if you're spending more time in the gym training and you're not seeing considerably more progress than when you were training less frequently, you have to question whether or not it is worth it!

Ryan

It's called the Principle of Individual Differences. Everyone responds to working out differently due to genetics and such. Do what works for you the best. If one thing doesn't work, try something else and mix it up. To say that theres a clear cut way to working out is a misconception.

I tried reading that HIT link....I dont understand it. but thanks

HST is quite the opposite of HIT, sorry if i wasn't clear.

HST is Hypertrophy Specific Training. Basic principles include: work every muscle AT LEAST every other day, never go to muscle failure, progressively increase weights, strategic deconditioning.

HIT is High Intensity Training, quite the opposite of HST. Principles include low volume (1-2 sets per muscle), highest possible intensity (muscle failure and beyond), long recovery time.

ahh okay cool. thanks daywalker.

and thanks kollision and veganessentials.

Im gonna keep on doing what im doing since im noticing results.

i noticed the more frequent I train, the more energy I have.

I kinda lift like a circuit...

I tried reading that HIT link....I dont understand it. but thanks

HST is quite the opposite of HIT, sorry if i wasn't clear.

 

HST is Hypertrophy Specific Training. Basic principles include: work every muscle AT LEAST every other day, never go to muscle failure, progressively increase weights, strategic deconditioning.

 

HIT is High Intensity Training, quite the opposite of HST. Principles include low volume (1-2 sets per muscle), highest possible intensity (muscle failure and beyond), long recovery time.

Cool thanks for the link to the HST site. Lately I've been doing a workout similar to HST without even realizing it. I've been doing chinups and one leg squats almost every day, and my max reps keep increasing. I was doing something more like HIT before and I was remaining much more stagnant doing that