Twice a Week Program for Beginner

Training
21

So listen to a professional who has thought of that and much, much more?

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22

Thereā€™s quite a few 531 2 days a week programmes. In some of them squat and bench are paired one day and ohp with deadlift on another.

Thereā€™s also another version with two days in the gym and other days doing bodyweight work. Thereā€™s a couple of free examples on this site.

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23

Well practicing the lift once a week seems much more reasonable than once every two weeksā€¦ So thank you :slight_smile:

25

Barbell work 2x a week is suboptimal for a beginner.

This would be ideal:

You can do the 2x a week and then throw in some quick bodyweight sessions throughout the day. Itā€™s not ideal and I wouldnā€™t do this, but itā€™s a workaround.

While I think school and studying are important, I think ā€œother hobbiesā€ are an excuse to not train. Piano doesnā€™t take that long, and he could always put that on the back burner temporarily to focus on school and training, especially if heā€™s not doing a music program.

Iā€™m no ā€œnazi-gym ratā€, but I lifted and trained/fought Muay Thai through undergrad, and lifted through grad school. I know exactly how it is to balance training and education, and itā€™s not difficult given that heā€™s actually interested in it.

26

What if piano is a higher priority to him than his lifting hobby?

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27

Then maybe he should focus on piano instead of lifting.

Thereā€™s a lot of stuff Iā€™d like to take up/learn that could add value to my life, but only so many hours to do so.

28

Me too, especially with kids around. I guess my point was that heā€™s already decided how many hours he can budget himself for lifting and the only decision left is how to make the most of it.

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29

I guess my point is that in taking up something new thst often requires 3-4x a week frequency, it might be a good idea to table other items until hes developed the skills to get a better return at 2x a week

If he had even a year of experience, I think the 2x a week 5/3/1 rest pause would be a great program

1 Like
30

Iā€™ve eyed that one up a few times as well. Looks like ā€œfunā€

31

I did it after doing the BBB challenge twice, back when I just started taking lifting seriously. It jacked me up and I didnā€™t get a good return from it at the time

This would be my go to if I ever got too busy to train 3-4x a week.

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32

@SOUL_FIGHTER

Sure lifting 2x per week isnā€™t perfect, but you can still make progress. Itā€™s not like 3-4x per week is absolutely essential.

Since this kid in question will be extremely technically limited on everything, that just gives him an excuse to go and use machines a bit more.

Most of the people I train (including kids) will be 2x a week, doing something like the following.

ā€œPhase 1ā€

This is for people who are very uncoordinated. This is done every session.

  1. Goblet Squats: 1-2 hard sets of 8-12 (2-3 warm ups)
  2. Barbell Bench variation: as above
  3. Smith Machine Good Morning or KB Deadlift: as above
  4. Chest-Supported Row: as above

Once theyā€™ve met arbitrary standards for coordination and strength

Day 1:

  1. Barbell squat variation: up to 2-3 clusters of 2+2+2
  2. Incline or CG Bench Press (or OHP): as above
    3.1. SM Good Morning or KB Deadlift: 3 x 8-12
    3.2. DB Push variation: 3 x 8-12
    3.3. Lat Pulldown or Row variation: 3 x 8-12
  3. Whatever the client wants to do

Day 2:

  1. Deadlift variation: up to 2-3 clusters of 2+2+2
  2. Bench press variation: as above
    3.1. Goblet Squat: 3 x 8-12
    3.2. DB Push variation: 3 x 8-12
    3.3. Lat Pulldown or Row variation: 3 x 8-12
  3. Whatever the client wants to do

Simple

After that wears out theyā€™ll be decently proficient at SBD, have some strength and hopefully some muscle. The rep ranges for the clusters are flexible, but i like using them because they give thewhatever a ton of high-quality reps at significant loads

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33

Twice a week training has a long and established history. Stuart McRobert has written pretty extensively on the topic.

3 Likes
34

For the beginner you could just swop out the rest pause in the ohp and bench for 1x or 5x5 FSL in that programme.

Edit - thatā€™s meant to be for the 531 rest pause programme linked above.

35

I think thatā€™s a good approach. Still less than ideal compared to doing it 3-4x, but effective.

1 Like
36

As a beginner, I started with three workouts a week, an hour each. As I know, it is important to work for more than one muscle group, to do different exercises in different workouts. I started with strengthening my back.