Thread: Training same body parts more then once a week ok?

depends on reps, intensity, volume....ect

No, it's horrible. All the positive results people see on Westside is because you also have to take steroids.

All kidding aside, higher frequency routines are great. Hitting each muscle once a week (Which doesn't really ever happen anyway) is only one way to do things. Anywhere from 2-4 times per week is totally acceptable, or even more if you are prepared to follow with a transition phase to allow appreciable recovery.

Thanks cowpimp, and by the way, i dont know if you remember, but i pm'd you a long while back to ask for tips on breaking my barrier, what you said helped alot, I now lift about 45lbs more for more reps. Just thought you'd be interested to see if your advice helped me progress. Thanks again.

What better thing can one member say to another?

Originally Posted by LexusGS

Thanks cowpimp, and by the way, i dont know if you remember, but i pm'd you a long while back to ask for tips on breaking my barrier, what you said helped alot, I now lift about 45lbs more for more reps. Just thought you'd be interested to see if your advice helped me progress. Thanks again.

Happy to help. Keep learning, stay devoted, and you'll continue breaking barriers!

So its better to work only a certain muscle once a week?

it depends on several things:

volume
intensity
diet
personal recovery

everyone gets different results for different approaches...
I suggest trail and error methods until you reach something that works....or try something until you stop making gains

Might want to train your weakness muscle more every 5 -7 days though.

Originally Posted by lnvanry

it depends on several things:

volume
intensity
diet
personal recovery

everyone gets different results for different approaches...
I suggest trail and error methods until you reach something that works....or try something until you stop making gains

It also depends on the muscle group that's lagging. I had lagging calves, so I've taken to working them out three times a week. The only other muscle that I would work out that often is the abs. I would never directly workout the spinal erectors more than once a week. They recover far too slow for that.

Originally Posted by cfs3

It also depends on the muscle group that's lagging. I had lagging calves, so I've taken to working them out three times a week. The only other muscle that I would work out that often is the abs. I would never directly workout the spinal erectors more than once a week. They recover far too slow for that.

Why not? So long as you don't use the same volume and intensity as you would if it were going to be another 7 days, you would be fine. You should workout a muscle as frequently as possible if it can recover in time.

Why would you need to wait any longer than 48 hours if the muscle has fully recovered by that time? You don't. Unfortunately, the only way to measure this is through trial and error, or by getting muscle biopsies at regular intervals after each workout. Even that won't give you an exact answer, as the entire muscle probably finishes repairing itself at different rates in different places.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: split routines are not the only way to gain size and strength.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Why would you need to wait any longer than 48 hours if the muscle has fully recovered by that time?

Don't some muscles take longer to heal that others? Do they all heal at the same rate?

Originally Posted by cfs3

Don't some muscles take longer to heal that others? Do they all heal at the same rate?

Yeah, some take longer to heal than others. Nonetheless, if you are eating right, getting enough sleep, and possibly doing other things to speed up recovery, then you can speed up this process.

For example, look at the routines performed by olympic lifters. They hit their legs pretty good 3-4 times per week. Some of them even more for shorter periods of time. Some of those guys have some serious wheels on them, and can full squat nearly 1000 pounds raw with a narrow stance.

Does this apply to non-steroid users?

Note: that's not a sarcastic comment, but there isn't a way to word it so.

Training for hypertrophy and training to develop technique and form shouldn't be confused.
You can hit legs hard with weights once or twice a week for hypertrophy.....and you can also throw in another workout at 40-50% that is for developing/improving form and technique......but this last workout really shouldn't be considered anything more than technique training.

They had a show on the Discovery channel months ago all about the US Olympic lifting teams training.................most of what they did was all technique work and very little hypertrophy/strength training......

Originally Posted by cfs3

Does this apply to non-steroid users?

Note: that's not a sarcastic comment, but there isn't a way to word it so.

Steroids are amazing for increasing recovery time...
I hit each muscle once a week.....at 38 thats all I need or can handle...
On the juice I can and often hit them 2x a week...
From personal experience I would say your recovery time is twice as fast and your healing time from midrange muscle tears is 4x faster on Roids.

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

Steroids are amazing for increasing recovery time...
I hit each muscle once a week.....at 38 thats all I need or can handle...
On the juice I can and often hit them 2x a week...
From personal experience I would say your recovery time is twice as fast and your healing time from midrange muscle tears is 4x faster on Roids.

when I'm on I still prefer to only hit muscles once week except calves...I just crank out the volume and go past failure...I have tried hitting twice a week and I just have no intensity the 2nd time around

Originally Posted by cfs3

Does this apply to non-steroid users?

Note: that's not a sarcastic comment, but there isn't a way to word it so.

Certainly.

Why is it so hard for everyone to believe that you can train muscles more than once per week and see great results? I don't understand. It's not some new revolutionary idea. It's a tried and true solution to the want for mass!

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Certainly.

Why is it so hard for everyone to believe that you can train muscles more than once per week and see great results? I don't understand. It's not some new revolutionary idea. It's a tried and true solution to the want for mass!

I came into bodybuilding from the high intensity angle. Train each muscle once a week, no more, no less.

So it's something a bit new for me.

Originally Posted by cfs3

I came into bodybuilding from the high intensity angle. Train each muscle once a week, no more, no less.

So it's something a bit new for me.

You can train using a high intensity and high frequency. You just have to manipulate the remaining variable: volume. Check out my dinosaur training journal. I used a very low volume, but trained each body part 2-3 times per week using beyond failure techniques.