me and id be better of training 3x per week chest and tris on monday back and biceps wednesday and legs and delts on friday can you advise me plz
You want good rule of thumb? It’s common for someone to ask “what’s the best routine?” or “what’s the most effective program?” and so one.
This abbreviated write up assumes a general goal of improvements in strength and muscle mass. If that's so, then exercises that focus on the most muscle mass used - compound movements - are generally the most effective: squats, front squats, dead lifts, bench press, bent row, weighted chin ups, etc.
Although there are a million opinions on this topic, there has also been a fair amount of recent research on the issue which can help narrow down how to approach the issue.
Has there been research that looked to find the optimal program, for gaining size and strength? I will attempt to address some of the controversies and issues surrounding resistance training (weight lifting) and the best way to set up a program based on the actual research that exists.
There are so many theories, schools of thought, and crazy programs out there, it's a wonder anyone actually gets to the gym to workout versus just giving up out of shear confusion over what constitutes an optimal routine or program to make steady, predictable improvements in muscle mass and or strength. There has been a fair amount of research over the years that could help reduce the confusion most trainees have over what is the right program for them, but much of it was contradictory or simply not applicable to real world applications.
Many of these studies were done on people who never lifted weights, or the study didn't last long enough, or had any number of major shortcomings. However, there has been a real explosion of research in the past few years that allows a much clearer picture of what constitutes an optimal program as well as settling debates over things such as multiple sets versus single sets and so on. What follows is brief examination of some of this newer research in hopes of helping people to make smarter choices about their choice of weight training routines and programs. It should be noted however, there is no perfect routine or training schedule that will work for all people all of the time. Changes in volume, intensity, rep ranges, rep tempo, and other variables are the key to long term success in weight training. Anyone who claims to have the one and only program that will work for everyone all the time forever is either a damn liar or a fool or both!
As have said in the past, one can find a study to support virtually any statement. Therefore, what we look for is what is called the "bulk of the data." Translated, what does most of the research say most of the time about a topic versus a few studies that might contradict the majority of the research on a given topic. Of course, there are many other important issues regarding deciphering research, such as the quality of the research (i.e., sample sizes, length, n numbers, controlling confounding variables, etc, etc) but that's beyond the scope of this here little section and more or less unimportant regarding my larger point. What is often done to see what most studies say most of the time about a topic, is what is called a meta analysis, where scientists take all (or most) of the studies on a topic, set up a criteria for allowing the study in the analysis, then looking for the major trends from all the studies put together to come to some general conclusions, or what the bulk of the data has to say based on the aggregate of the studies. Got all that?! In 2003, a meta analysis was done on resistance training data that exists.
When it comes to resistance training for increasing strength and muscle mass, the bulk of the data is quite clear as on what is most effective. This study was called "A meta-analysis to determine the dose response for strength development" and was done by a Dr. Rhea and co workers at the Department of Exercise and Wellness at Arizona State University (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Mar;35(3):456-64.). They looked at 140 studies that met their criteria for being included in the meta analysis. As anyone who has ever worked out for any length of time already knows, they found studies showed different responses based on the training status of the participants, that is whether or not they were new to weight training or experienced lifters. From all the studies they examined, they concluded:
*Training with a mean intensity of 60% of one repetition maximum (1RM) elicits the best gains in untrained individuals
* Training with 80% of 1RM is most effective in those who are already trained (i.e. are not new to weight training)
* Untrained participants experience optimal gains by training each muscle group 3 days per week
*Trained individuals get their best responses training each muscle group 2 days per week.
* Four sets per muscle group elicited the maximal gains in both trained and untrained individuals.
The authors of this meta analysis concluded "The dose-response trends identified in this analysis support the theory of progression in resistance program design and can be useful in the development of training programs designed to optimize the effort to benefit ratio." So, it's clear different people at different stages of training will benefit from different training regiments. Also differences in volume and intensity may be needed for trained vs. untrained people. You will notice they concluded four sets per muscle group for trained or un trained people got the greatest effects. However, trained people would be doing a total of 8 sets per week at higher intensity (80% 1RM) vs. untrained who are doing a total of 12 sets per bodypart per week with lower intensities (60% 1RM). Again,
the above findings are not written in stone in that people will get their best results by manipulating variables such volume, intensity, rep ranges, frequency, loading, TUT and so on, but the above does give some good insight for coming up with a basic plan of attack for setting up an effective program and greatly reducing the amount of confusion out there that is so prevalent.
And there you have it....Now, using the above info, one could then add some more advanced programming over time, but that's the basics to start from.
Will @ BrinkZone.com
