The number of workouts per week is calculated individually for each person. It depends on a person’s physical activity, his workload, the goals he pursues, and of course, his state of health. The article will outline recommendations for a healthy person with an average workload.
The optimal frequency of training is most often determined by the main purpose of visiting the gym. It is this factor that affects how many days our body needs to recover. Let's see how many times it's better to train per week. Training frequency is determined by the number of workouts of a given muscle group or lifts per unit of time.
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How many times a week should men exercise?
One of the best training options for men is a split program. It consists of breaking the entire training plan into parts with the goal of working one or two muscle groups in one workout. This allows you to concentrate your strength on specific parts of the body.
If you train according to a split program, 3-4 strength training sessions per week will be enough for you, otherwise the muscles will not have time to recover and your workouts will not bring the desired results. Depending on your goals, you can add 1-2 cardio workouts or leave only strength training. The article Basic rules of split training will help you learn more about the features of split training.
If you are training in a full body program (this is a full body workout that is most often used by beginners, but also found in advanced athletes), then they should be done much less frequently, otherwise you will put your body into a state of overtraining. If you are working on gaining muscle, you should only consider a split training system.
The number of approaches depending on the level of training
The traditional approach described in Joe Weider’s “Body Building System” is based on the fact that beginners only need to perform 1-3 sets per workout per muscle group, but the workout itself should be repeated quite often - every 2-3 days, in particular this is provided by the circuit program full body workouts. Then, as your training level increases, the volume of load should increase and the frequency of training should decrease. So, after training for the whole body, the transition is made to training half of the body at a time, that is, half of all muscle groups being developed. This can be seen in a two-day split. The load volume increases to 4-6 sets, and the frequency of training is reduced to once every 4-5 days. And subsequently, a more prepared athlete switches to a classic weekly split, which provides for 9-12 approaches per muscle group in one workout and this training is repeated once a week. The logic of such a change in volume/frequency is that beginners, due to their lack of training, respond perfectly to a very small volume of load and, for example, performing three sets leads to the maximum possible adaptation in the form of hypertrophy and an increase in neuromuscular conductivity, that is, with an increase the volume of load, the return from training will not become higher. And taking into account the small amount of work on one muscle group, the negative changes that occur in it during the process of fatigue, for example, the destruction of muscle cell organelles under the influence of hydrogen ions, are insignificant, which makes it possible to repeat such a load quite often, each time again spurring protein synthesis. But for a more experienced athlete it is much more difficult to bring his muscles out of balance in order to cause intense progress. In practice, we can all observe this. The more experienced the athlete, the less return from his training. A beginner can easily increase his strength levels by 100% in a year and gain 15 kg of muscle mass during this period. And athletes with 10 years of experience are happy with even one kilogram of muscle per year. For this reason, as the level of training increases, the level of metabolic stress caused by the load should also increase, as well as the degree and volume of mechanical stress. It is no coincidence that professional bodybuilders predominantly practice a constant tension regime, in which exercises are performed in a limited amplitude without muscle relaxation. This is the only way to create the most severe acidosis - “acidification” of muscle cells. And although there is no research that would confirm that this regime is most effective for experienced athletes, widespread practice suggests that this is most likely the case. For this reason, increasing the volume of the training load as the athlete's experience increases is justified. Lane Norton, an authoritative coach, athlete and scientist, also agrees that beginners need to perform fewer sets and increase their number as their training increases. For beginners (up to a year of experience) he recommends 2-4 approaches per workout, advanced (1-3 years of experience) 4-6 approaches, experienced (3-5 years) 6-8. He considers increasing volume as experience increases to be a necessary condition for further progress, since at first an increase in working weights will be enough to achieve hypertrophy, but working weights cannot grow indefinitely and an additional volume of load will help in this case to bring the muscular system out of balance . However, Arthur Jones and his followers believe somewhat differently. With experience, not only the frequency of training should decrease, but also the volume of load on one muscle group and the workout as a whole:
- Beginners: 3 times a week for 16–20 sets in total for the whole body.
- Experienced: 2 times every 5-7 days, 12-15 sets in total for the whole body.
- Very experienced: 1 time every 5-7 days, 8-12 sets in total for the whole body.
The essence of this is that with experience, the working weights used increase, and therefore the effect on the muscular system and on the body as a whole. The limited volume of the load is thus compensated by the severity of the effort applied. There is a certain logic in such recommendations. But in practical terms, such a radically low volume does not occur. There are examples where high-level athletes perform significantly fewer working approaches than everyone else (at level 5-7), but this is far from one, two or three sets, as recommended by VIT and at least twice as many as the traditional system recommends for beginners .
How many times per week to train for weight?
If you want to build muscle mass, the emphasis should be on strength training. They should devote 3-4 days a week. The main rule is not to train the same muscle group several days in a row. Use splits. This is a training program method that involves performing exercises on different muscle groups on different days.
Example of a weekly plan:
- Monday Upper Body Exercises
- Lower body exercises on Tuesday
- Recovery Day (Wednesday)
- Repeat the same division on Thursday and Friday
Each muscle group - 2 times a week
This brings us to the golden mean, ideal for most amateurs - training each group, on average, twice a week or once every five days. This allows you to create the required training volume and maintain high intensity, as well as have time to recover.
The most popular division of muscles is “top” and “bottom”. But there are other options.
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If you are not gaining muscle as quickly as you would like, you may be experiencing a plateau effect. To put it simply, this is a “period of stagnation.” When the same muscles are trained over a long period of time, identical exercises are performed with the same weight, there is a high chance that the body and metabolism will adapt. Also, the reason for the lack of results can be overtraining, genetics, incorrect and ineffective exercise technique.
To get back to the muscle building phase, you need to change something. Several ways to fix the situation:
- Increase the weight in your workouts
- Add new exercises to your routine
- Change the number of sets and reps you perform
How much worse is a split than a round robin: a study among experienced athletes in 2021
Researchers (4) took 23 athletes of average fitness level. Their average result in the squat was ~165% of their body weight, and in the bench press ~130% of their body weight. The subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups: very high and very low frequency of exercise.
Both groups trained Monday through Friday and did the same 11 exercises at the same load (70-80% of 1RM) and the same number of sets (about 15 per muscle group per week) until muscle failure. That is, the volume and number of exercises in the groups were the same throughout the week .
The difference was this: the low frequency group did these exercises in a split mode - each muscle group was trained once a week. And the high-frequency group distributed exercises so as to load each muscle group in each workout .
In fact, it turned out that the group with a low frequency of load during training performed only 2 exercises, but in 5-10 working approaches, and the group with a high frequency did the opposite: they did 11 exercises, but only in 1-2 approaches each. Let us remember that the total number of approaches and exercises per week was the same.
Here's how the groups trained:
Left: the group with a low frequency of training muscle groups did 2 exercises, but 5-10 approaches in each. And the high frequency group did more exercises, but only 1-2 sets each.
And here are the results: both groups of participants gained strength and mass - without a statistically significant difference. However, when looking at absolute numbers, the high-frequency group still achieved more . Since the experiment lasted only 8 weeks, it can be assumed that in the long term the difference would be more noticeable.
Comparison of groups according to different indicators (from left to right): 1. Growth of lean muscle mass. 2. Increased strength in the bench press. 3. Increased strength in squats.
Another interesting finding was that the low-frequency group suffered significantly more from post-workout pain caused by infrequent high-volume workouts, but performed slightly worse .
Thus, more significant microtrauma did not lead to greater hypertrophy. Namely, because of the pain, many mistakenly prefer split, believing microtraumas to be an indicator of the quality of the workout. Because of this, they cannot work out a muscle group more than once a week, selecting the frequency according to sensations, that is, according to misconceptions = throwance.
What to do on recovery days?
The recovery period does not mean total laziness and lying on the couch. Light training is recommended on these days. This could be stretching or some light cardio (brisk walking, cycling).
Regular stretching can increase blood circulation. This ensures sufficient blood flow to the muscles, which helps reduce recovery time and reduces muscle soreness after intense exercise.
It has been proven that after complete recovery, a period of supercompensation begins, during which functional capabilities exceed the initial level. During this period, muscles grow faster.
You should also pay due attention to sleep. During the deep sleep phase, the hormone somatotropin is released, due to which muscle tissue is restored faster, and the level of the stress hormone cortisol, on the contrary, decreases. Without proper rest, the next workout can become counterproductive, as problems with concentration and performance inevitably arise as the nervous system is depleted.
Individual stress, serious physical or mental stress at work, and a poor diet can also lead to under-recovery.
How to avoid overtraining?
This is an equally important topic compared to how often to exercise. First of all, you need to monitor your progress. If you stop progressing in at least one exercise, this may indicate that you are close to overtraining.
In the example we considered above, this is what happened, because the builder noticed that he had stopped improving his results in the bench press. If a similar situation happened to you, then you should rest. Here are the three main symptoms of overtraining.
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- The working weight in exercises does not increase. To progress, you need to gradually increase the load. However, for this, the body must fully recover so that you can work with heavy weights.
- The number of repetitions or the time of static holding of projectiles does not increase. If the working weight does not increase, then the number of repetitions or the time of static holding of the projectile should increase.
- You spend more time doing the same workout. The effectiveness of training is closely related to the concept of intensity, which is measured in units of time. Simply put, if it took you longer to do an activity you did a few days ago today, then the intensity has dropped.
Recommendations for training for muscle growth
If you have planned your training process correctly, then the question of how often to do training will not arise. The fact is that training at any frequency can be effective if you use the right volume. For high-quality muscle pumping, the ideal weekly volume of work for each muscle group for most athletes is 12 sets. Of course, this is an average value and you should determine the effective volume for yourself individually. Now it is important that you understand the very essence.
- If you train each muscle group only once a week, then you need to do all 12 sets, since the frequency of training is low, you will have to use the entire volume at once.
- When training each muscle group three times a day, you should perform 4 sets in each session, which will result in a weekly training volume of 12 sets.
- If you have two workouts a day, then each muscle group in one lesson should be pumped in six sets.
Note that 12 sets per week is sufficient volume for large muscle groups. For small ones, half of this volume will be quite enough.
When talking about how often to train, it is necessary to take into account the athlete’s training experience. For beginner athletes who have been training for less than eight months, a three-day split is ideal.
If you have passed this stage and have been training for more than eight months, then you should switch to twice a day training sessions during the week. We recommend that in this situation you divide the body into upper and lower halves.
Many people do not have enough time to visit the gym at least twice during the week. As a result, they have to be content with one training session. If you do everything correctly, then this strategy will be effective, but definitely not the best. To a greater extent, this frequency of exercise is suitable for maintaining muscle tone. If you want to progress faster, try to find time for two workouts per week.
Calculate your ideal sports weight!
Is light exercise every day beneficial?
Light exercise every day is good for your health, well-being and appetite. For ordinary people, they often look like a simple warm-up or exercise.
In elite sports, light loads are used to speed up recovery processes after heavy loads.
From the point of view of increasing results for ordinary people, light daily training is absolutely useless. This applies to all areas of training - be it mass, strength or relief.
How long does the body need to recover?
One issue is very closely related to the frequency of training in a weekly cycle - the timing of the body’s recovery after the loads endured.
The issue is complex, controversial, with many authoritative opinions with completely opposite points of view.
The fact is that the recovery of the body is an individual indicator, depending on many factors: age, gender, level of health, level of training and much more.
According to average data, the recovery time after strength training is as follows:
- Muscles – on average 3-4 days
- Osteo-ligamentous apparatus – 5-7 days
- Central nervous system – 7-10 days
When training for endurance (cardio), the body recovers in about 24 hours.
And if everything is simple with cardio training (you can do it every day and get better results), then with strength training everything is much more complicated.
Training frequency for each muscle group
In scientific circles, debate about the optimal frequency of training for each muscle group continues to this day. And as mentioned above, the main factor here is the individual characteristics of the body.
However, generally accepted muscle recovery numbers are:
- Small endurance muscle groups (lower leg, forearm, abs) – 1-2 days
- Small muscle groups (shoulders, biceps, triceps) – 3-4 days
- Large muscle groups (chest, legs, back) – 5-7 days
It was based on this data that bodybuilders compiled training programs in the 60-80s.
BRIEFLY ON THE TOPIC:
Taking into account only the timing of muscle recovery is not enough for rapid growth of results.
It is also necessary to take into account the restoration of ligaments and the nervous system, that is, the comprehensive restoration of the body.
As a result, many modern training methods for developing muscle mass involve training each muscle group 1-2 times a week.
This also applies to working out small muscle groups, which receive additional indirect load when pumping large muscle groups.
