-Diablo's Journal, 21 Oct 22

Training a muscle 3x per week doubles muscle growth compared to training it 1x per week, new study on trained lifters finds I had been waiting so long for this study on training frequency. The researchers compared the effect of training a muscle 1x vs. 3x per week for strength and muscle growth using a within-subject design. This is much more robust than the typical between-individuals design, as you control for each person's individual genetics, diet and lifestyle. The trainees performed one-legged leg presses. One leg did 9 sets once a week. The other leg did 3 sets 3x per week. A second group did the same program but equalized total training volume work (sets x reps x weight) between frequencies. Since you can normally perform considerably more work with higher training frequencies due to being less fatigued, the 3x per week group had to hold back to perform only the same volume as the 1x per week group. When equating total training tonnage between groups, there were no meaningful differences between the training frequencies, as expected based on prior research. In contrast, the leg trained 3x per week without holding back achieved 2-2.7x more muscle growth than the legs being trained 1x per week group (4.1% vs. 1.5% & 2.1% increases in quad CSA). In other words, it seems the higher training frequency more than doubled their size gains. Leg press 1RM strength increased 25% in the 3x leg compared to 16% & 19% in the legs being trained once per week. However, none of these differences were statistically significant. With only 12 lifters per group, trained individuals and a 9-week study, statistical power was most likely too low to detect any realistic effects as statistically significant. So the authors performed an effect size analysis. This indicated the effect of training frequency was insignificant when equating total work but of medium strength when not equating total work. The confidence intervals of the between-group effect sizes for both strength and size did not cross zero in the comparison not equating total work, indicating it was very likely that the difference was real and of meaningful practical importance. Put simply, the data showed training a muscle 3x per week can in practice considerably improve strength development and muscle growth compared to traditional bro splits that train each muscle only 1x per week. For more information, check out the section 'The benefits of high frequency training' in this article: https://mennohenselmans.com/high-resistance-training-frequency-enhances-muscle-thickness-resistance-trained-men/ #mennohenselmans #bayesianbodybuilding #personaltrainer #personaltraining #personaltrainers #personaltrainerlife #personaltraineronline #personaltraineruk #ptcourse #fitpro #fitnesscoach #onlinecoach #onlinecoaching #onlinepersonaltrainer #personaltrainer #powerlifting #powerliftingmotivation #powerlift #progressiveoverload #progressiveoverloadtraining #traintofailure #legpress 

I would say that you have mastered the science to your physique but also you are continually learning to achieve the desired outcome. No doubt it is a lot of hard work on your part!!  

Thanks, RPL! Once I learned the truth to how fat loss works(not governed by the glycemic index) I wanted to keep learning. Better to be a student than a know it all. 

nice info. certainly no scientific study but I have noticed this for myself. I normally train each muscle group about twice a week. but I have been training chest 3 times a week for a few months and have had a drastic improvement in muscle growth. I recently started adding a third day of squats and have already seen improvements from that as well. I deffintly don't have the time to do it with every muscle group though 😒  

I take body pump 3-4 xs a week and in between I work upper body. I found adding 2 workouts on my own has been an incredible asset, especially in regards to my back muscles.  

Cindy, no. I hit all muscles 6 days a week. 

Diana... you are so inspirational! ❤ 

Overtraining is real tho... lol I’ve been nearly doubling my volume since my bulk and I’m finding out the hard way. I’m forced to deload for the past 3 weeks. My tendons and joints couldn’t keep up. They scream in pain... even after I push through a warmup up. So I believe its real 🤣 and it’s different for everyone depending on how fast you are able to recover. It’s all about the recovery to tear down ratio. You want to tear down as much as you can recover. Cuz you’re tearing down your muscles when you are training and if you’re tearing down more than you recover it adds up overtime and you become like me.... 💀 

Yes, I remember that happening to me in the past. After so many years, you learn to listen to your body. It's instinctual after 23 years. But I do think it's hard to do unless you love to train like us. 

When I am bulking my workouts dont get any longer, I'm just able to push more weight. So volume naturally goes up, but my effort and amount of sets stays the same. 

Yea lol I’m sure you know the tell tales signs. I know now... I lifted before on n off in my younger days but never this dedicated I think my max bench was somewhere like 180 lol I’m pushing more weight as well as more volume and drop setting to squeeze every last bit out just cuz I felt like I can. It’s almost like an addiction when Im upping in weights nearly every week and then repping my 1rm maxes in a matter of a month and a half. I’m actually coming up with a more frequent full body too as odd as that sounds but it’s be less volume, full body but different variations of the movement. The don’t know if it’s the same as yours but I’m trying it out starting today. And I’ll add more sets as I start to feel better 

Supergainz1, Listen to your body and don't push through the pain like I did. I pushed until the tendon snapped and I was left with half of a bicep. Muscles and strength grew faster than the tendons. It was very disappointing because I finally got my bench with 3 plates and was doing sets with 265. BTW, the tendon was a bad tear and wasn't able to be surgically repaired.  

Tud Yea that’s one of my fears. Benching 3 plates is my goal also. I have been adding in more rest days between workout days tho and it does feel like It’s starting to get better little by little. But atleast now I know the signs lol... sore is ok, warmup gets rid of it, aching have to go through a warmup then 1-2 sets in before it goes away. Pain just lasts through the workout. So I know ease up once it starts to ache now. I feel bad you tore your bicep, I tore a muscle in my left delt just last year. I felt it fling across my shoulder and it’s been clicking ever since but I’m still able to use it.  

My shoulders were mainly feeling an incredible burning pain during and post workouts. I couldn't lift my arms usually and had to prop them up on pillows to relieve the pain. It always went away after 10mins or so and then I was left with soreness that wasn't terribly bad. That's why I thought it was okay to push through it each time. I am a bit nervous now. I just began weights again, much lighter of course, and I'm afraid of it happening again. I'm taking it slow and going light. Hopefully the tendons get stronger so I can move more weight again one day.  

I've had a 3 tendon strains but never a tear. It was always on flat bench. It's the reason I prefer heavy dumbbell presses. You can angle your hands more naturally. Plus you can get more of a range of motion if you leave your ego at the door. That's key. 

Yep, mine was flat barbell bench and OHP barbell that really strained them. Flat bench was causing issues again yesterday.  

I love these studies. they tell you to hit the muscle 3x a week, but then turn around and say you only need to hit the gym 4x a week for 45min max. 🤦🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️ 

APNG, the problem is that some studies are done with untrained individuals. I've even seen recent studies showing that you can get ~80 percent of gains from 1 set a week per muscle. An untrained individual can certainly get most of their noob gains from a couple sets a week. Trained individuals not so much. That's why I posted this one, they used trained lifters. 

Could you imagine hitting your back hard 3x a week and then be able to perform squats or deadlifts with any type of intensity within the same week? Or vise versa. Your cns would be shot after a week or two. Your performance would be shot. You'd be shot. 

I'm not a powerlifter, so no I can't imagine it. I lift for aesthetics and like to stay healthy so those are just sometimes lifts for me. Well, lighter squats and rack pulls are great once a week. I hit everything 6 times a week. 3-4 sets each. A lot of machines for convenience and because they get the job done.