Training More Often May Result in Greater Gains
By Phil Sims
If you train each muscle group twice per week, new studies show that bodybuilders who train each muscle group three times each week gain more strength than those who train each bodypart less often. This new research may have you reconsidering how often you train each body part.
A group of 9 non-training men and women followed a full-body weight-training program for six weeks. Each workout consisted of bench presses, squats, incline dumbbell presses, lat pulldowns, seated rows, dumbbell shoulder presses, leg extension/curl combos, overhead triceps extensions and barbell curls.
Group A performed three sets of each exercise and completed the workout twice per week. Group B did two sets per exercise and completed the workout three times each week.
Both groups increased their squat strength to the same degree; however, group B subjects increased their bench press by 8% more than group B subjects. Group B actually increased their total lean muscle mass by about 2 KG but the increase for group A was only one fourth of that (0.5 KG).
This does not mean that if you train each muscle group twice per week right now, you need to switch to three times. Because these were non-trained subjects. However, the fact that training more often led to more muscle mass even though the total sets per week remained the same suggests you may want to reconsider how often you train. Fact: In the 1970s, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his prime, it was common for bodybuilders to hit each muscle group up to three times each week.
It’s recommended that you alter the frequency of your training occasionally, increasing it to two and even three times each week for a period of at least a month at a time. According to this study, you may be able to keep your total number of sets per muscle group the same whether you’re training once a week or three times a week. So basically, if you currently train each muscle group once per week with 20 total sets, you can decrease that to ten sets each training session.
A couple of years back I used to train a good old split monday to friday. I then changed to training each bodypart every 72 hours so each bodypart was getting hit twice a week. I made my best gains during this phase.
If you are going to do this the diet really needs to be tip-top!!
what does split mean then? is it the same as frequency, so it just means the same as changing training frequency?
Term split is when we break down what we do each training session.
e.g Monday – Legs
Tuesday – Back etc
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