So this is a real question. I was reading reading over CT’s beast building article and it stated:
“When I give seminars, one thing that I often say is that the more emphasis you place on the development of the central nervous system (CNS), the more frequently you should train a muscle group. And the more you want to put the emphasis on the development of the muscles, the less often you train each muscle.”
ok, then I read Marion’s article, stripped down hypertrophy and it stated:
"The ideas that remained are what I consider to be the three most fundamental principles of hypertrophy I’ve learned over the years.
Central nervous system (CNS) burnout must be avoided at all costs for the work to be effective.
Optimal hypertrophy occurs when muscle tissue is stimulated as frequently as possible, while still adhering to the first principle
Volume rules."
So basically this makes me a bit unsure about my own training methods. I currently hit each muscle group once every 4th day: ie…chest tuesday then again saturday…
a method closer to Marion’s article. But should I go more for a once a week thing and just hit each muscle group harder and allow for more recovery?
(goal of hypertrophy)
Interesting point. I know where Chad Waterbury would stand on this one.
I’m sold on the high frequency approach myself, while I admittedly don’t use it very often because of my training partner and buddy who I like to train with.
I tend to follow his routine which is hitting a bodypart every 4 to 5 days and having a fairly high amount of volume per session.
Your body can handle only so much volume per week (week, if you want to go by the calendar). So 15 sets per bodypart once a week or 3 weekly work outs of 5 sets still equalls the same rate of demand.
I think either approach is good and going from one to another every few weeks or months isnt a bad idea either.
If you always train that infrequently you’re going to limit yourself severely. The more efficient your CNS is the better you’re able to recruit your muscle fibers. Some degree of periodization is necessary to really succeed, whether you’re a strength athlete or a bodybuilder.
I’ve mostly been in favor of lower volume, higher intensity (not % of 1rm, but intensity of effort with rest-pause, drop sets, forced reps and negatives) with fairly high frequency ie: 2-3 times per week per muscle group.
That kind of goes against both guys you quoted but more along the lines of a mix of HIT/DC/SuperSquats
What you’d need to do is try to do the least you need to do, as few times per week for optimal growth.
That may be (for you) high volume, medium intensity and low frequency, or more along what I do or somewhere in between.
It absolutely HAS to be a trial and error thing combined with common sense of course.
It seems that you guys are saying along the same lines of what I am currently doing, 2x a week. It seems to be working ok for me, I just wonder sometimes if I would get even more gains if I hit the sessions even harder and trained with less frequency per week…ala CT’s beast building article. I am going to stick with what I am doing for a few more months and see how it goes before making any drastic changes though.
thanks for the responses
I use freq (and vol) - it works for me… for example:
Mon- Back(10)Chest(8)Biceps(6)
Tue- Legs(10)Delts(8)Tricep(6)
Wed- Back(10)Chest(8)Biceps(6)
Thu- OFF
Fri- Legs(10)Delts(8)Tricep(6)
Sat- Back(10)Chest(8)Biceps(6)
Sun- Legs(10)Delts(8)Tricep(6)
Mon- OFF
Tue- Back(10)Chest(8)Biceps(6)
Wed- ETC 3 ON 1 OFF.
This is usually 5 sessions a week with the 1st week of 4, being 6x p/w. I train my whole body 21 x in 8 weeks. (I think…)
I recently was using higher volume, and less freq. once every 5 days… not much at all… i took what i could for 4 weeks and went back to my fave!
This one works… and for those without assistance… do the same but 2 ON, 1 OFF.
Here’s the way I see it, you’ve got three factors to concern yourself with.
First, you have to do enough to stimulate the muscle to grow. Some people use intensity techniques, some volume, whatever, you need to give enough reason for your muscles to grow on something you can progress with.
Second, you need to give your muscle at least enough time to recover. Too much time is better than not enough from my experience, hence the suggestion of just once a week.
Third, you want to hit that muscle as often as possible. The harder you hit your muscle, the longer you have to recover, and the less frequently you can hit it, so hitting your muscle with just enough work is better. I’m training at a frequency of twice every eight days per body part, and I like it.
[quote]will to power wrote:
Here’s the way I see it, you’ve got three factors to concern yourself with.
First, you have to do enough to stimulate the muscle to grow. Some people use intensity techniques, some volume, whatever, you need to give enough reason for your muscles to grow on something you can progress with.
Second, you need to give your muscle at least enough time to recover. Too much time is better than not enough from my experience, hence the suggestion of just once a week.
Third, you want to hit that muscle as often as possible. The harder you hit your muscle, the longer you have to recover, and the less frequently you can hit it, so hitting your muscle with just enough work is better. I’m training at a frequency of twice every eight days per body part, and I like it.
Then, take 2 full days off before starting the cycle over again. Obviously, your work would fall on different days than before but this way you get 3 full days of rest days and hit each bodypart twice in a 7-8 day period.
The V-Diet lifting program is weak…as are the rest of Waterbury’s programs. I respect CW for his contributions - they’re always fun to read - I just never get anywhere with his protocols.
SwoleCat’s SGX leaning program works wonders and runs circles around CW though. I’ve done both and speak from experience.
I don’t think one size fits all however. I am inclined to think that just because more volume works for me, it might not work best for the next guy. There seem to be a lot of “do only this” on these forums, but hopefully people realize that there are many ways to reach your goals. It really comes down to trial and error as far as what protocols work best for you.
Anyway, for me it’s volume that works like crazy. CT’s OVT is grows my strength and size like crazy. No other program has ever come close for me.