How Often Do You Need to Train to Gain Muscle?
One of the most important factors in your training will be how many times a week you will train.
You may not even train weekly; that is, you may be on a split which restarts every 5th day, for instance, rather than every 7.
But, sticking to a traditional 7 day training week (meaning you train on the same days each week), how many times do you really need to train during those 7 days to gain muscle? Is there such a thing as too much or too little? Also baring in mind it's recommended the same muscles aren't trained more frequently than every 48-72 hours, let's see.
6 or 7? I'll tell you right now that 6 and 7 days will be far too much for almost everyone but the genetically gifted steroid users to gain substantial muscle on - even then, it may be too much.
I personally don't know of anybody who trains this often and has a good amount of muscle and strength to show for it.
Firstly, it's recommended people don't train more than 2 days in a row.
In the rigid framework of a 7 day week, that's made impossible with a 6 or 7 day training plan.
With 6 or 7 days of training a week there's just no time to recover properly making muscle growth nigh-on impossible, and you'll quickly find yourself completely run down systemically.
4 or 5? You could possibly train for 5 days if one of the 3-in-a-row sessions was a light session, or, very short session to work a very small muscle group.
Though, I still wouldn't recommend it.
Training 4 days a week is much more like it.
That way, if you train Monday and Tuesday you have Wednesday off, Thursday and Friday on and Saturday and Sunday off.
Even a 4 day a week session may be a tad too much for some people, depending on the program.
1-2-3? I believe 3 days a week makes the most sense for most people, and it's probably the most common number of days a week to train.
Most people do it so there are never 2 days of training in a row, allowing for plenty of rest, and 3 days (sessions) is ample to cover the entire body over the course of the week working different body parts each session, and keeping each sessin under an hour (important.
) Some people may be able to cover the whole body in 2 sessions, though with training sessions recommended to stay under an hour, it may be a task to sufficiently work the muscles for some.
Sessions of 1 day a week can still gain you muscle and strength, and providing your diet is good and consistent you should retain and gain strength from session to session.
But, generally speaking, sessions of less than 3 a week aren't considered optimal.
But, if you really are pushed for time, you've just got to do what you can - and anything will yield better results than nothing.
You may not even train weekly; that is, you may be on a split which restarts every 5th day, for instance, rather than every 7.
But, sticking to a traditional 7 day training week (meaning you train on the same days each week), how many times do you really need to train during those 7 days to gain muscle? Is there such a thing as too much or too little? Also baring in mind it's recommended the same muscles aren't trained more frequently than every 48-72 hours, let's see.
6 or 7? I'll tell you right now that 6 and 7 days will be far too much for almost everyone but the genetically gifted steroid users to gain substantial muscle on - even then, it may be too much.
I personally don't know of anybody who trains this often and has a good amount of muscle and strength to show for it.
Firstly, it's recommended people don't train more than 2 days in a row.
In the rigid framework of a 7 day week, that's made impossible with a 6 or 7 day training plan.
With 6 or 7 days of training a week there's just no time to recover properly making muscle growth nigh-on impossible, and you'll quickly find yourself completely run down systemically.
4 or 5? You could possibly train for 5 days if one of the 3-in-a-row sessions was a light session, or, very short session to work a very small muscle group.
Though, I still wouldn't recommend it.
Training 4 days a week is much more like it.
That way, if you train Monday and Tuesday you have Wednesday off, Thursday and Friday on and Saturday and Sunday off.
Even a 4 day a week session may be a tad too much for some people, depending on the program.
1-2-3? I believe 3 days a week makes the most sense for most people, and it's probably the most common number of days a week to train.
Most people do it so there are never 2 days of training in a row, allowing for plenty of rest, and 3 days (sessions) is ample to cover the entire body over the course of the week working different body parts each session, and keeping each sessin under an hour (important.
) Some people may be able to cover the whole body in 2 sessions, though with training sessions recommended to stay under an hour, it may be a task to sufficiently work the muscles for some.
Sessions of 1 day a week can still gain you muscle and strength, and providing your diet is good and consistent you should retain and gain strength from session to session.
But, generally speaking, sessions of less than 3 a week aren't considered optimal.
But, if you really are pushed for time, you've just got to do what you can - and anything will yield better results than nothing.
Source...