Is Once a Week Enough (Prof. X).

Training Bodybuilding
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[quote]DSquared wrote:
Professor X wrote:

I usually train shoulders twice a week as I do any muscle group I am prioritizing over others. My shoulders are good now. I want them to be “holy shit” worthy…and that is going to take more work.
…

Prof X,
Can you tell me what your shoulder workouts look like in a two times a week versus one time a week comparison? (i.e. excersize selection, rep ranges, whatever else may be important to consider)

Thanks![/quote]

Overhead presses
4 sets

Lateral raises
3-4 sets

Shrugs
3-4 sets

another 3 sets of lateral raises using a machine (I credit this for why they stand out so much now…they honestly get more comments now than anything else)

That’s about it.

I go fairly heavy (up to 70lbs this week on lateral raises with dumbbells and usually 5 plates a side lately for shrugs on the HS shrug machine).

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Your points make a lot of sense to me. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

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[quote]Professor X wrote:
DSquared wrote:
Professor X wrote:

I usually train shoulders twice a week as I do any muscle group I am prioritizing over others. My shoulders are good now. I want them to be “holy shit” worthy…and that is going to take more work.
…

Prof X,

Can you tell me what your shoulder workouts look like in a two times a week versus one time a week comparison? (i.e. excersize selection, rep ranges, whatever else may be important to consider)

Thanks!

Overhead presses
4 sets

Lateral raises
3-4 sets

Shrugs
3-4 sets

another 3 sets of lateral raises using a machine (I credit this for why they stand out so much now…they honestly get more comments now than anything else)

That’s about it.

I go fairly heavy (up to 70lbs this week on lateral raises with dumbbells and usually 5 plates a side lately for shrugs on the HS shrug machine).

[/quote]

You know, I had the exact same experience. I do the exact same routine you speak of here, always have except for minor difference. I have used the Smith Machine or dumbbells for the pressing exercise.

I used to do cable lateral raises at the end of the workout. But ever since I switched to the Life Fitness lateral raise machine, people have noticed my shoulders more than usual, even in button down shirts.

44

[quote]Popiapang wrote:
Scott i used to be into DC and did it for about half of a year. I did get progressively stronger on my lifts. One thing that i noticed though was my work capacity was very low.

I could do one set nasty as hell, but then could not get anywhere near to completing it again. When i trained with more volume my work capacity was higher. SO maybe there is more to progression than just increased weights moved (Although this is more convient). I am trying to pick the more advanced people’s brain here.

To explain my point further i used to do crew, and my legs were enormous. My legs could not fit in normal sized boxers i could only wear whitey tighties. But they were NOT strong. They could however do an incredible amount of work.

I would say my max leg press (No squats) at the time was not much greater than any average person who worked out regularly, but my leg size was double theirs.

Similarly i know people who only do dips and chins, but for countless reps. They have thick and full muscles (Similar to gymnasts maybe but not a bodybuilder obviously). I doubt they can bench press 300 pounds, but they can do 100 straight dips or 50 straight chins.

[/quote]

Youre missing the point. How many people have built EXTREME amounts of mass without getting VERY strong in the process? Not “oh this gymnast has proportionally large biceps at 145 lbs”, but the sort of size that you would think those on a bodybuilding forum would be after.

Show me a guy with 30+ inch (and lean) thighs, and I will show you a guy who did not build those thighs through rowing, but through moving a shit ton of heavy slag iron for years on end.

45

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
Bricknyce wrote:
ZeusNathan wrote:
Popiapang wrote:
THis is more of a question for Professor X, but i guess i will ask everyone. When you train once a week do you feel like you work that muscle so hard on that one day that it takes a full 7 days to recover? or do you feel like maybe on the 5th you could work it again but do not for other reasons?

I ask because i used to train once ever 7 days and by the 4th or 5th day i really wanted to train it again, it just felt like it needed it. This lead me to try upper/lower splits and what not.

if you gotta wait that long to heal, you’re either not eating right, or not sleeping enough.

i like to think that stretching greatly improves recovery time

I guess Dorian Yate’s was not eating and sleeping enough in order to become Olympia since his last training program of 6 years had him training each muscle group once every 7 days.

AGAIN … if you apply enough mechanical stress to a muscle, you will NEED 5 to 7 days until you hit it again.

I have a problem with this. I have a feeling that the biggest strongest guys are in the gym ALOT more than they claim in these muscle magazines. Specially during the times when they gain the most weight.

Sometimes they’ll train chest on Monday, then because they ran into a friend or something they’ll go and train chest in the gym with their friend, or for a tv show.[/quote]

When we speak of what Dorian and other thoughtful, intelligent lifters out there, we are not talking about what may be exaggerated and/or ghost-written in a magazine! I have personally met some of the strongest sons of bitches in the country!

I have attended workshop seminars by Sebastian Burns and Jim Wendler. I used to train at the same gym as Desmond Miller. These guys have no reason to lie about how they train. What would this do for them? At his peak, Jim lifted 4 days per week, sometimes 3 when he needed more recovery.

This is a guy who had a 1,000 lb squat. I don’t think he would train MORE for the sake of training when he had an elite level of performance on the line.

You say these guys train a muscle group because they “ran into a friend” who was training a muscle group that tickled their fancy at the moment.

You see … I don’t like getting worked up about this, but pro bodybuilders are PROFESSIONALS! Do professionals like lawyers, doctors, ball players and even more ordinary professionals like professors and nurses do something for the hell of it? I don’t think so.

Do professionals become and stay professionals through no rhyme or reason? I think not.

But for some reason, there is an ongoing belief that PROFESSIONAL bodybuilders are a bunch of liesurely, knuckleheaded, hare-brained doofuses who reach the upper echelon of competition by having good genetics and hardly following some organized plan of training.

Yes, some are doofuses. And as stated before, these are the ones who became lower ranking pros or did not live up to their potential.

Training chest because he saw his buddy doing it or for a TV show? Are you kidding me?

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[quote]Popiapang wrote:
Tyson claimed his build was built with high rep dips and chins and very little weights[/quote]

Which Tyson? Mike Tyson or Tyson Beckford?

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i say why work out more than you need to? if you’re seeing gains by working out once a week, then work out once a week…if you’re not seeing gains, then work out twice a week and/or check your diet.

just because you’re not sore after a few days doesnt mean you’re muscles are finished recovering. sometimes i’ll take an extra day off if i’m just not feeling up to it. most days i feel good, but sometimes my head’s not right and i don’t wanna sacrifice a good lift.

48

I found that when I trained each body part more than once a week I would over train and eventually injure myself. In contrast, a good friend of mine and old training partner found that he would lose weight and strength if he only trained once per week.

Just like most anything else, frequency of training is going to depend on the individual. However, that’s not to say that it’s not also dictated by your intensity and other factors inside the gym and out.

Most of your time in the gym and the results you yield will be a result of your diet, your sleeping habits, etc. The only way to find the training frequency that is best for you is to experiment with different routines/schedules for a set period of time (ex. 12 weeks for one body part/once per week - 12 weeks for body parts trained > once per week).

One aspect that I bring to my training is intensity. I train as hard as I can every time I go into the gym (although I don’t necessarily recommend this for everyone).

I also mix up my workouts nearly ever single time I train. I have a set day of which body part I will work on which day of the week (ex. quads Monday, chest Tuesday, etc.) but I change the exercises or the order in which I perform them each workout.

49

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
Popiapang wrote:
Tyson claimed his build was built with high rep dips and chins and very little weights

Which Tyson? Mike Tyson or Tyson Beckford?

[/quote]

i hope to god he meant Mike. not that tyson beckford is not in great shape, but if T-Nation is getting to the point of referencing the workouts of fashion models…

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Well, he appears to be the only male supermodel who does not appear malnourished.

I saw him in a bar in Manhattan last week. He is not what i consider jacked but he does have decent size.

51

Mike Tyson, it should be noted that he used much heavier punching bags than most boxers too.

52

[quote]Popiapang wrote:
Your points make a lot of sense to me. Thanks to everyone who contributed.[/quote]

you are joking, right?

53

no i was not