Optimal training frequency. Optimal training frequency per week
Almost everyone who is just starting to conduct their first training in gyms, and experienced athletes often have the question: “Is it possible to train every day?” It is important to understand that quality is more important than quantity. In addition to such basic components as sleep and proper nutrition, competent alternation of rest and exercise is an integral part. Period full recovery muscular system is about 10 days.
To train correctly, you need to think through the program. As a rule, it involves sleep and the very amount of time for rest and training. World-class athletes train every day, morning and evening, with only one rest day per week. However, their preparatory program includes massage, supplements and pharmacological support. All this is most often in short supply for the average person. Therefore, the professional program will not be suitable.
In addition to the number of days per week, an important factor is the hours spent in the gym. General rule For leading systems, alternation of cardio and strength exercises remains. The essence of the second type follows from the name, but with the first many questions arise. Cardio exercises are activities that build endurance, such as running or swimming. These are important components of any training that cannot be neglected.
There are various supplements with which the body can restore strength much faster, but daily use of such substances can have a bad effect on health.
The time for normal, but incomplete muscle rest is usually within 3 days. This figure varies greatly depending on experience. Beginners may need a whole week. Also, a lot depends on the muscles themselves. So, large ones require a long recovery, small ones, accordingly, rest faster.
For example, legs, which occupy about 50% of the entire muscle mass body, it is not worth loading it often. Hands correspond to 25%, so they need 2 times less time to recover. The biceps, triceps and shoulders should be trained more often than others, but they are often used when working on the larger ones. Therefore, it is important to take into account the indirect participation of one or another muscle group.
Number of workouts
How many visits should there be? gym per week for beginners and amateurs? Those who have recently decided to get a pumped up body should focus on the scheme “1 day of training / 2 days of rest”. But provided that the loads correspond to the level, and after training you will feel tired. If such a frequency of classes no longer causes any particular difficulties, then you should move on to the amateur stage, the number of classes will increase up to 3-4 times.
For those who want to lose weight, the number of workouts can vary greatly. The fact is that when losing excess weight, cardio exercises are a priority, and they can be performed daily without harm to health. But you should not exercise through force, since exercising with overweight much more difficult, in addition, there is a possibility of a sharp deterioration in the condition. Therefore, before starting intensive weight loss You should consult your doctor.
If you use strength exercises, then the weight may, on the contrary, increase, as muscle mass will build up, which will not contribute to the destruction of fat. Therefore, you should switch to such exercises only after losing a few kilograms thanks to cardio exercises.
How often should you train if you are looking for maximum muscle growth? This complex issue, since all people differ in their recovery capabilities. You should not train a muscle group that has not yet recovered from the previous workout.
Despite the obviousness of this rule, many bodybuilders train according to a schedule without paying attention to their well-being. This quickly leads to overtraining and stalled progress.
How do you know if you have fully recovered? Signals of complete recovery are much more subtle compared to signs of overtraining. One of the ways to determine your own readiness for training is your mental state. If you dread the thought of your next workout, it may be a sign that you're not recovering enough. The real problem is how to separate real mental fatigue from simple laziness.
A more accurate way to determine the degree of recovery is how you respond to training the same muscle group. Did you become weaker in the same exercise? Does fatigue set in quickly? True, such symptoms may indicate not only stress. but also insufficient nutrition, for example. Maybe you didn't eat well between workouts and didn't give your muscles the conditions to recover adequately. Or maybe you ate well, but rested too long between workouts, so fatigue results from low blood glucose levels.
It is also possible that you have not ensured that the bodybuilder's main source of energy is replenished - glycogen, which requires approximately 48 hours. If you start training before the process is complete, fatigue will set in faster and your strength and number of repetitions per set will decrease. You will also notice a lack of muscle pumping as it depends on the levels of stored muscle glycogen.
Although lack of sleep may be an obvious cause of early fatigue, scientists have found surprisingly little effect on strength. This is especially interesting due to the fact that Growth hormone production peaks during sleep e. Sleep helps the body break down stress hormones such as cortisol. Lack of sleep can lower testosterone levels by 40%. but at the same time it will not have a significant impact on the training, unless, of course, the lack of sleep lasted for several days.
The science behind training frequency is counterintuitive, since much of beginners' progress comes from neuromuscular adaptations rather than actual muscle growth, so the recommendation for them is two to three workouts per week with one day of rest in between. After a year, you can already switch to a split, in which you will train different muscle groups in different days. The point is to avoid training the same body part two days in a row.
One study published several years ago indicated that a person exercising four times a week required one to three days of recovery, depending on individual recuperative abilities. That is, some people take longer to recover than others. This is especially true for steroid users, which stimulates recovery processes, including muscle glycogen resectesis.
Arthur Jones and his followers such as Mike Mcntzer talked a lot about recovery after training, but the vast majority of sports scientists perceived this as heresy. Jones, who invented the Nautilus exercise machines and for a long time collaborated with IRONMAN, believed that as training experience increases, a person should train less. People with more training experience, according to Jones, are increasingly encroaching on their own recovery capabilities. The lack of constant growth is a clear sign of overtraining , which can be overcome by simply reducing the frequency and volume of training.
One study seemed to confirm Jones' theory. It was discovered that an elite athlete training once or twice a day required a full 23 days to fully recover! The more often and more rigorously intensification techniques are used, the more rest the athlete needs between workouts. In another study, researchers observed subjects eccentrically training their forearms. It turned out that for full recovery they needed two weeks of rest between training sessions. Eccentric muscle contractions, also known as negatives, cause greatest damage fibers and intense soreness.
In one recent study, six men increased their training frequency from three times a week to five. Under this regime they showed a significant slowdown muscle growth. The disadvantage of this experiment is that all its participants were untrained people. The scientists acknowledged that the results of their research may not apply to more experienced athletes.
So what is the optimal training frequency? Only you can answer this question yourself. If you do not notice any gains in muscle size and strength despite changes you make to your program (such as changing exercises), then you may want to try reducing your training frequency or take a closer look at your diet and then make adjustments accordingly.
If your only goal is to build muscle, then high-intensity interval training(HIIT) is not for you. Of course, they burn fat well, but they are not at all suitable for gaining volume. Personal trainer Gregg Brooks recommends HIIT only for the initial stage - to burn fat and get the body back to normal physical fitness. To build muscle mass, you will need to switch to weight training and appropriate nutrition.
Solution: “It’s best to build up mass gradually,” advises personal trainer Danny Fisher. Therefore, be prepared for the fact that this is not the same rapid process as burning fat. Tighten your muscles more - this will help more rapid increase their volume.
Mistake two: training too long
When it comes to HIIT, less is more. "You really shouldn't do a workout like this for more than half an hour or you won't get any results," says trainer Ben Kamara.
Solution: Obvious but true: HIIT needs to be really intense. 10 approaches of one minute in this case are equal in effect to measured cycling for seven hours - as stated in studies published in the scientific publication The Journal of Physiology. In this way, you will also save time: you will have time to admire your reflection in the mirror.
Mistake Three: Exercising Too Frequently
Since these workouts only take half an hour a day, have you decided to do them every day? But in vain. “If you really train like you should, then doing it every day will tear your muscles to shreds, and then it will be very difficult for them to recover,” warns Fisher.
Solution: You should train four times a week, no more often. And give yourself at least one day for complete unloading and rest. You deserve it.
Mistake four: technically incorrect training
With HIIT you will be like the Human Torch: your fat will melt before your eyes, but only if you do everything right and at the right time. Exercising at the end of the working day will, of course, increase the rate of your metabolism, but this will only affect the food you eat before bed (and we hope that you do not overeat at night).
Solution: The earlier you start training, the better. Exercising early burns your fat stores, as well as the calories you consume during the day. An hour and a half before the start, eat an early breakfast - otherwise you will feel sick during class. As we know, the early birds get the best worms.
Mistake five: improper warm-up
Starting HIIT without stretching first is a disaster. “This is why most injuries happen,” says Ben Kamara. So slow down and warm up properly.
Solution: As a pioneer, you must always be ready. Your body should be ready to immediately move on to a fierce load after warming up. So as you stretch, mimic the movements of your main workout, Brooks advises. This way you will protect yourself from injury.
Mistake #6: Over-equipment
Even though you are preparing yourself to be a superhero, you are unlikely to need all his equipment. “It’s a bonus, but you don’t need a whole bunch of equipment,” says Kamara. - If you don’t calm down, then all this ammunition will quickly ruin you. Do you need it?"
Solution: HIIT is good because it is quite loose-fitting - that is, you can buy dumbbells in packs, but you can achieve the same results without emptying your wallet. There are a million exercises you can do without equipment. The main condition is that they force your heart to work at 90% of its capacity.
Beginning athletes very often wonder how often they need to train in order to achieve the desired result without feeling exhausted, and how much time they need to devote to effective training per week? Let's try to answer these questions.
The duration of training for each athlete is determined individually. There are five main standards for workout duration: 30, 45, 50, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. The choice of the optimal interval depends on the goal and physical training athlete.
The main determining factor for achieving results is that you need to train regularly and the duration of one workout should be at least 30 minutes. IN otherwise you will not achieve the desired result.
This is important to remember:
1) each workout, even the shortest one, should consist of 3 parts: warm-up, main part, cool-down.
2) too long workouts cause increased secretion of cortisol, a hormone that destroys muscles and can also lead to the development of overtraining.
Duration of training
1) Duration of training for mass gain
The average duration of training that will give best results 1 - 1.5 hours. A professional athlete's workout should take approximately 40-60 minutes. Training for a beginner bodybuilder takes 1.5 - 2 hours.
2) Duration of training when losing weight
The duration of a workout when losing weight should not be less than 30 minutes, since in a shorter period of time it is simply impossible to speed up metabolism and start the mechanism of fat destruction. The optimal workout time for losing weight is 60 minutes.
Training frequency
1) Frequency of training for mass gain
The frequency of training to gain muscle mass should not go beyond two sessions per week. in general, the optimal training frequency is 3-4 days a week, provided that the athlete does split training. At the same time, using split training, an athlete trains one muscle group no more than once a week - this frequency of training is considered the most optimal for muscle growth.
2) Frequency of training when losing weight
If the goal of your workout is to lose fat and gain definition, then you can train every day, the main thing is to prevent the development of overtraining syndrome.
With high training frequency for protection muscle tissue from destruction, take anti-catabolics,
Reduce the number strength training up to 1-2 per week, devote the rest of the time to aerobic exercise.
Interesting Facts
Numerous studies show that the total amount of time spent on physical work, for example, 10 hours a month will be almost 2 times more effective than 5. Moreover, the duration of each workout is not of fundamental importance. So, three thirty-minute sessions a day can give the same effect as one half-hour workout. That is why you cannot expect to gain muscle mass or significant weight loss if you devote only 1 hour a week to training or 10 minutes a day.
Source: http://sportswiki.ru
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Frequency and volume of training are the 2 key parameters that most influence the growth of muscle mass and strength and improvement of athletic performance. We have compiled translations of 2 texts about training frequency into this one - for your convenience (and we also like to work out quality work).
Until recently, it was believed that high-volume training of each muscle group once a week was optimal for gaining weight. New research shows that spreading your training volume over several sessions per week (i.e. increasing the frequency) is more effective. Moreover, frequent training become a necessity as experience accumulates. Why? Due to muscle protein synthesis.
Protein synthesis and hypertrophy
Today, most scientists associate muscle hypertrophy with the process of muscle protein synthesis (1). After a workout in which the muscles experience sufficient stress, the level of synthesis increases: the body assembles new proteins from amino acids, that is, new muscle tissue.
But the duration of the period of increased synthesis differs between beginners and experienced trainees. Research shows that for beginners, synthesis processes can last two days ; Simply put, after each workout they can grow for 2-3 days (2).
Recent experiments, on the other hand, have found that in experienced athletes (accustomed to training loads), the growth period is reduced, reaching some 16 hours (3).
This is one of the main reasons for the slowdown in the rate of hypertrophy in trained people - and a reason to increase the frequency of visits to the gym. While a beginner can grow just fine by working a muscle group once a week, for an experienced athlete this is not far from the most effective strategy.
How much worse is a split than a round robin: a 2018 study among experienced athletes
Researchers (4) took 23 athletes of average fitness level. Their average result in the squat was ~165% of their body weight, and in the bench press ~130% of their body weight. The subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups: very high and very low frequency of exercise.
Both groups trained from Monday to Friday and did the same 11 exercises with the same load (70-80% of ) and the same number of sets (about 15 for each muscle group per week) until muscle failure. That is the volume and number of exercises in the groups were the same throughout the week.
The difference was this: low frequency group I did these exercises in a split mode - each muscle group was trained once a week. And the high-frequency group distributed exercises so as to load each muscle group in each workout.
In fact, it turned out that the group with a low frequency of load during training performed only 2 exercises, but in 5-10 working approaches, and the group with a high frequency did the opposite: they did 11 exercises, but only in 1-2 approaches each. Let us remember that the total number of approaches and exercises per week was the same.
Here's how the groups trained:
Left: the group with a low frequency of training muscle groups did 2 exercises, but 5-10 approaches in each. And the group with high frequency did more exercise, but only 1-2 approaches each.
And here are the results: both groups of participants gained strength and mass - without a statistically significant difference. However, If we look at absolute numbers, the high-frequency group still achieved more . Since the experiment lasted only 8 weeks, it can be assumed that in the long term the difference would be more noticeable.
Comparison of groups according to different indicators (from left to right): 1. Growth of lean muscle mass. 2. Increased strength in the bench press. 3. Increased strength in squats.
Another interesting finding was that the low-frequency group suffered significantly more from post-workout pain caused by infrequent high-volume workouts, but performed slightly worse.
Thus, more significant microtrauma did not lead to greater hypertrophy. Namely because of the pain Many people mistakenly prefer split training, believing microtrauma to be an indicator of the quality of training. Because of this, they cannot work out a muscle group more than once a week, selecting the frequency according to sensations, that is, according to misconceptions = throwance.
Benefits of increased frequency
By working a muscle group more often, you will, of course, reduce the number of working approaches in each individual workout, but you will gradually increase the total volume over the week.
Let's say at the very beginning of your training you loaded your legs once a week, performing 8 sets of squats. After which the muscles probably hurt for several days (but at the same time they grew). When we gain experience and get used to the loads, anabolic reactions after the same workout can end the very next day. It is clear that the intensity of an advanced athlete will be much higher, but still, after a day, growth will stop.
Let's divide the same volume into 2 workouts: 4 working sets of squats twice a week. Firstly, you will be able to train more intensely, recovering more easily after each session. Secondly, the leg muscles are worked more often (and protein synthesis increases more often), and - which is also important for hypertrophy - you can vary the exercises, for example, 4 sets of squats in one workout, and 4 sets of leg presses in another. All this only contributes to gaining muscle mass.
How to increase the frequency correctly
Of course, you need to increase the frequency wisely and in due time. If you have recently started training, then work according to your regular program for at least the first 4-6 months.
When you gain experience and muscle growth slows down, increase the frequency gradually:
- Do not immediately double the frequency of working out the muscles of the whole body. Move one at a time, gradually adding a second workout for each muscle group. This will reduce the risk of injury and not impair recovery.
- Reduce the volume of each workout; you can't just start doing the same 10 sets of squats twice a week. Distribute this volume over 2 sessions and vary the exercises.
- If you are recovering well, increase your total weekly volume in small steps by doing more work sets or further increasing the frequency.
In any case - no matter what experience you have - always listen to your body and do not overwork. Muscle growth is stimulated training load, but largely depends on your recovery abilities. If you do too much (or too often), you will quickly overtrain.
Scientific sources:
1. Atherton, P. J., & Smith, K. (2012). Muscle protein synthesis in response to nutrition and exercise. The Journal of physiology, 590(5), 1049-1057.
2. Phillips SM, Tipton KD, Aarsland A, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. Mixed muscle protein synthesis and breakdown after resistance exercise in humans. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 273: E99–E107, 1997.
3. Tang, J. E., Perco, J. G., Moore, D. R., Wilkinson, S. B., & Phillips, S. M. (2008). Resistance training alters the response of fed state mixed muscle protein synthesis in young men. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 294(1), R172-R178.
4. High-frequency resistance training is not more effective than low-frequency resistance training in increasing muscle mass and strength in well-trained men. Gomes GK, Franco CM, Nunes PRP, Orsatti FL. J Strength Cond Res. 2018 Feb 27. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002559.
