working a muscle once a week

[slaveboy1980]

the question i asked was meant to create a discussion.

it has. good.

working a muscle once a week works. so does 2 even sometimes 3 days a week.

if you have a half a mile to walk, and you have 10 years to do it, it doesnt matter if you run or walk you will reach the finish line in the end.

[pumpster]

the question i asked was meant to create a discussion.

it has. good.

working a muscle once a week works. so does 2 even sometimes 3 days a week.

The unanswered question really is whether one is more effective than the other. Trial and error's the only answer.

[GoneAway]

The unanswered question really is whether one is more effective than the other. Trial and error's the only answer.

True. These things take alot of time and you must be paying attention or you'll probably forget what does and doesn't work.

[dontknowit]

You're the one making silly blanket claims: "diet is most of the equation". Cut out the unprovable theories and it won't be so easy for me to blow em up.

Keep out some stupidious theories and there still lot to learn,
fe the function of carbohydrates, protein and fat. Is fat bad and is there such thing as to much fat. Also finding out what the value is off certain products takes a hell of a time.
The mental aspect of changing eating-habits is much harder then lifting weights. Once you understand and practise that knowledge and you adapt new habits conform those basic principles you don't spend a lot of time to it.

Or that drugs change the entire training equation, another canned, widely used excuse that most who evoke it know precious little about. Be smarter and stop thinking in absolutes that you've read over and over again somewhere else.

Explain yourself. A healthy man doesn't need drugs. A goal of 200+lbs with less than 10% is for over 75% of the (male) trainees reachable.

You're going to inject Sergio's domestic situation into this, because you can't think of anything else?
hahahahah L-A-M-E you have nothing.

Is it? I stated before that training more than 3 or 4 times a week isn't possible for a lot of people due to other obligations and most importaint is family.

Working + training a couple of hours a day (+ gear) = tension between husband and wife (partners/friends)

I may be sounding like dr phil, but spending some serious time at home with partner is more important than the gym. Especially if you have a partner that doesn't really care whether you look like an adonis or an ordinary husband. She already has to sacrifise a lot due to your own diet-regime. Training 6 times a week is therefor for the majority out of the question.

[natural al]

getbiggers what do you think about training splits where you work a muscle once a week? (directly)

it's more a matter of what you do than how many times a week you do it.

[slaveboy1980]

it's more a matter of what you do than how many times a week you do it.

true, make every gym session count, regardless of what training routine your use.

[pumpster]

it's more a matter of what you do than how many times a week you do it.

Can't agree with that. Frequency's just as important as anything else.

[slaveboy1980]

Can't agree with that. Frequency's just as important as anything else.

yes and no. of course if you are working a muscle once a month for example then its not true

but working a muscle once a week has been proved to work..so if your a natural and you have worked out hard for 10 years with a once a week program its not like you will add dramatic amounts of muscle going to a higher frequency. higher freqeuncy as in 2-3 times per week may be a bit more effective (?) but you have to regulate intensity more carefully the more often you work a muscle. in the long run it doesnt matter..its not like working a muscle 2 times per week is twice as effective as working it once a week.

[pumpster]

yes and no. of course if you are working a muscle once a month for example then its not true

but working a muscle once a week has been proved to work..so if your a natural and you have worked out hard for 10 years with a once a week program its not like you will add dramatic amounts of muscle going to a higher frequency. higher freqeuncy as in 2-3 times per week may be a bit more effective (?) but you have to regulate intensity more carefully the more often you work a muscle. in the long run it doesnt matter..its not like working a muscle 2 times per week is twice as effective as working it once a week.

-Once a week's worked - for some! No one knows if it's as effective as 2-3 times a week. I suspect it's not; whether the difference is wide or moderate's moot to those who believe there's a difference. Coleman and others still work a muscle twice a week for growth, once a week for maintenance.

-Intensity doesn't suffer with higher frequency if the workouts are moderate in length. Recovery time requirements are very much up for debate.

-If it was this cut and dried, this thread wouldn't exist. Everyone would've trained with the same frequency for the last 60 or more years.

[slaveboy1980]

-It's proved to work - for some!

-No one knows if it's as effective as 2-3 times a week. I suspect it's not. Intensity doesn't suffer with higher frequency if the workouts are moderate in length. Recovery time requirements are very much up for debate.

-If it was this cut and dried, this thread wouldn't exist. Everyone would've trained with the same frequency for the last 60 or more years. Coleman and others still believe in twice a week training for growth, once a week for maintenance.

once a week works for "everyone" who can add muscle. working a muscle 2-3 days a week may work better.

[pumpster]

once a week works for everyone who can add muscle. working a muscle 2-3 days a week may work better.

Add to that the fact that more frequent training may help with contest refining in ways that cardio won't.

[slaveboy1980]

Add to that the fact that more frequent training may help with contest refining in ways that cardio won't.

i think in the long run if you workout consistently ;once a week per muscle or 2 times a week per muscle wont matter.

[pumpster]

i think in the long run if you workout consistently ;once a week per muscle or 2 times a week per muscle wont matter.

That's assuming maintenance for most of the long-run IMO. If that's not true, then higher frequency may help.

[slaveboy1980]

That's assuming maintenance for most of the long-run IMO. If that's not true, then higher frequency may help.

i think once a week per muscle group certainly can be used to gain muscle..too many people are gaining muscle on such protocols to only limit it to maintainence training. but, working a muscle two times per week or 3 times per week may be better true.

also you have to consider genetic limit ..if  its attainable in 2 years with 2 times per week and muscle and in 3 years with once per week for most people the one year difference wont matter that much and they should go with what they like the most. (last part is pure speculation)

[davie]

You get my PM pumpster??

davie

[jwb]

If you guys think Arnold did 25sets per muscle 3 times a week YEAR ROUND you are crazy...

[pumpster]

If you guys think Arnold did 25sets per muscle 3 times a week YEAR ROUND you are crazy...

I've known what Arnold did since the early 70s. He went with twice a week per muscle off-season, thrice weekly pre-contest.

[GoneAway]

I've known what Arnold did since the early 70s. He went with twice a week per muscle off-season, thrice weekly pre-contest.

Which is what it perscribes in the Encyclopedia.

[dontknowit]

I've known what Arnold did since the early 70s. He went with twice a week per muscle off-season, thrice weekly pre-contest.

What's got that to do with john doe?

Cyclers cycle multiple times a week perform in the morning strength-traing and cycle 2 to 3 hours in the evening. Same for swimmers, soccer-players, rugby-players and even bodybuilders. They train two to three times a day. These are proffessionals.

Until this moment you have failed to explain the benefits of training a muscle multiple times a week. There are only two that I can come up with,
first, targeting a other type of muscle fiber,
second, force an overtraining to a certain degree.

You're free to finish the list. And you can't claim that it's even better to train that much, there are some benefits, but there's not much to gain if you keep the routine most of the year. Simple routines were you workout the muscle once a week have proven themselves over and over and over. And please don't come up again with pro-bodybuilders that train multiple times a week. If you don't work, eat healthy, sleep plenty and suffer from no stress you can train two or three times a day what brings you to a total of over 18. Focus on a couple of exercises and go home again.

Unfortunately that's not possible for most of us.

[pumpster]

What's got that to do with john doe?

Cyclers cycle multiple times a week perform in the morning strength-traing and cycle 2 to 3 hours in the evening. Same for swimmers, soccer-players, rugby-players and even bodybuilders. They train two to three times a day. These are proffessionals.

Until this moment you have failed to explain the benefits of training a muscle multiple times a week. There are only two that I can come up with,
first, targeting a other type of muscle fiber,
second, force an overtraining to a certain degree.

You're free to finish the list. And you can't claim that it's even better to train that much, there are some benefits, but there's not much to gain if you keep the routine most of the year. Simple routines were you workout the muscle once a week have proven themselves over and over and over. And please don't come up again with pro-bodybuilders that train multiple times a week. If you don't work, eat healthy, sleep plenty and suffer from no stress you can train two or three times a day what brings you to a total of over 18. Focus on a couple of exercises and go home again.

Unfortunately that's not possible for most of us.

Very wordy yet not particularly coherent. Rhetoric mainly for the sake of arguing. I have in fact made a case with my previous posts. Nothing more to add. Why would i want to continue this further with a belligerent troll whose agenda has more to do with arguing than with content? There's nothing compelling in your arguments, in fact i don't even agree with the assumptions.

[jpm101]

Agree with most of what DKI said. I made some very good gains in strength and development working twice a day, three/four times a week during off season. That also include running and some light sport drills two or three times a week. Most athletes train this way and make outstanding improvement. The old Eastern Block  lifters trained, at times, 3 to 4 times a day, just about every day, it had been reported. They were tops in Olympic lifting. Russia adopted that training idea later on.

To the other extreme, working a single muscle group only once a week has proven it's value for a lot of BB'ers. Usually 12 to 18 sets total a muscle group. Some outstanding can be had for some.There are no absolutes in BB'ing. What works for one may be self destroying for another. Give any training method a fair shot and see what happens. 

That post by Waterbury, offered by The Pumpster, is just one man's version on training. Take it for what it's worth to your needs. T-nation does present a lot of different training/diet ideas, some old ideas, some new ideas. It's like throwing mud against a wall to see what sticks. Good Luck.

[Moen]

Good that they have you here pumpster. Higher frequency is definately better than 'once every 7 days'

However the three (or 4!) times a week is a little TOO as well, what I've found best is 2x per 8 days (on an a-b split) or 2 times/week.

[Jr. Yates]

I say go entirly by feel, unless your getting ready for a show due to your diet its easy to overtrain.  I've trained 8 days in a row then didn't sleep as good one night so i took the day off.  I say only take an off day when you need to.  Why not hit back if your feeling fine? you might have an awesome workout, and you wouldn't get that if you insisted that today is your "offday"

[bigguns175]

Pumpster you act like frequency is a must you have to train frequently always...
Frequency is just another variance to shock your muscles

According to the FIT principle, which is a formula that gives individuals guidelines to follow to build a good fitness program.

     F: stands for frequency, how often a person exercises,

     I: stands for intensity, how hard a person exercises,

    T: stands for time, how long a person exercises.

Manipulating these three things is how you are going to improve your gains, If you start training really intensly huge volume workouts that take a lot of time your going to need more time to recover and less frequency.  If your training more at a higher frequency you probably have to train less intensely.  I'm not saying you can't lift those big heavy weights when your doing more frequency just saying it probably isn't wise to do 20 sets you will overtrain.

Frequency is just another factor to modify your workouts and shock the body, end of story.

[pumpster]

Pumpster you act like frequency is a must you have to train frequently always...
Frequency is just another variance to shock your muscles

According to the FIT principle, which is a formula that gives individuals guidelines to follow to build a good fitness program.

     F: stands for frequency, how often a person exercises,

     I: stands for intensity, how hard a person exercises,

    T: stands for time, how long a person exercises.

Manipulating these three things is how you are going to improve your gains, If you start training really intensly huge volume workouts that take a lot of time your going to need more time to recover and less frequency.  If your training more at a higher frequency you probably have to train less intensely.  I'm not saying you can't lift those big heavy weights when your doing more frequency just saying it probably isn't wise to do 20 sets you will overtrain.

Frequency is just another factor to modify your workouts and shock the body, end of story.

I basically said all of that in earlier posts.

One thing they neglected to mention however, was that those factors likely don't deserve equal weightings. I don't think they do, I mentioned that long workouts are basically counter-productive unless you want to run marathons. Frequency & intensity deserve higher weightings, from my experience.