Good reasons for a once-a-week split

[SteelWeaver]

This is something that troubles and confuses me a lot. Everyone seems to be on a one-bodypart-per-week split. Why? Is it simply convenience? Or does one really gain best this way?

I did the weekly split for most of this year, and gained slightly. Then I changed gyms and moved onto a 3-day split working out 4 times a week. So I was hitting every muscle group every 4-5 days, and started doing drop sets and forced reps. I gained much better this way, but I don't know if that's because of the split, or the fact that I suddenly discovered what "intensity" really is. Or because I started eating even more. Probably all three.

Anyway, so 2 weeks ago I messed up one of my (rather integral to moving) back muscles on deadlifts, and am out for the count for 3 weeks or so. Did this happen because:

a) I was concentrating on what my powerlifter friend was doing upstairs, not on the damn bar

b) I was tired and didn't feel like training

c) I didn't warm up properly

d) I was overtrained from 12 weeks on the 3-day split and my body decided to take a break for itself

e) All of the above

I guess my questions are, simply: is a 3-day split 4 times a week too much, and could I have been overtrained without knowing it?

Why is the one-part-a-week split so common/popular, etc.

How do you know when that point is when you're fully recovered, but not entering detraining?

 

[new@gettinbig]

I train each bodypart 1 time a week...on a heavy week I am usually sore up to 3-4 days and cant even begin to think of training it again..you need proper rest inbetween..if you are hitting them hard they shouldnt be ready to train with in a few days...Try training heavy one week..light the next week..works great..I used to train several times a week...training each bodypart a few times a week...got NO results at all...called over training...and I wasnt training heavy enough and I was basically wasting my time in the gym..drop sets are great to do..I guess do whatever works best for you

 

[KBgrl]

i agree with New.... i think its an indivdual thing..... if u didnt do so well with working one body part once a week dont do it.... just do what gives u the best results i believe it takes ur muscles 7-10 to fully recover.... but ur superwoman steel !!

 

[Hannibal]

i believe it takes ur muscles 7-10 to fully recover.... but ur superwoman steel !!

I know I will catch hell for this. But respectfully submitted I have to disagree. Your body is capable of so much more than people give it credit for. In my personal opinion...and from the people that I have helped with training. Once a week is cheating yourself out of gains.

I personally have lifted 3 times a day...6 days a week...when I had never even heard of Creatine and had never used AAS. And I put on 30 lbs of lean muscle. Was I sore...hell yes at first.....but you body is an adaptive organism. And as long as you dont exceed your recovery ability (which is far greater than most imagine) then the sky is the limit.

I presently, depending on how close I am to a meet, train twice a day...every day...for the most part. And I because my General Physical Preparedness (ability to do work) is so HIGH...I am NEVER sore. And I continue to make gains in strength and size...whether I am ON or OFF. Sometimes the mind is the thing that is weak. It is the link that limits us.

"The body becomes its function"

 

[wilson6]

I did something like that many year's ago. 2x/d 6 days a week with a buddy of mine. We were so f***king overtraining and utterly burned out in a few months, our pics should have been in the dictionary next to overtraining.

For me, after many years of training, once a week, heavy every other week using undulated periodization has worked best. I am far stronger now than I ever have been in my life and I'm approaching my mid-40's. If I trained like I did when I was young, I'd either be in a mental institution, an assisted living facility with 90 year-olds or dead.

But, to each his own. You have to find what works for you, but I've had much success with each bodypart once per week, ditto with my clients, even the veteran lifters.

Personally, I think it has to do with the intensity that one lifts. I get the sense that some of you only think you are pushing max intensity, thus you're recovery time is less. Volume and intensity are different variables and everyone's training program is different.

What we describe here is subject to everyone's interpretation. I may describe my leg workout and someone may think it’s easy when they put themselves through it, but go through it with me and it's a different story.

W6

 

[BITCH]

My 2 cents, or for what it's worth. I made more gains when I spent more time away from the gym. As others have stated, everyone is different and perhaps it boils down to genetics.

From what I've discovered and agree with is that it takes a muscle 7-10 days to recover naturally. If it's torn down again before it's fully recovered, gains will be hampered.

I was so disgusted a few years ago, that I dropped back to 3 days a week and made amazing gains. Perhaps I only shocked the body. After over a decade of training I don't want to be in the gym more than 5 days a week anyway. I use a 2 day on, 1 day off split.

How was your form on the deads? Be careful. A screwed up back is painful as you may all to well know and takes a while to heal. Streatch as much as possible and avoid heavy back movements for a while until you are fully recovered. Not to rain on your parade, but I injured my lower back over a year ago and it took 6 frustrating months to heal. Talk about one pissed BITCH here.

 

[BITCH]

Yes, muscle growth is the best part; eating and resting.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks all. As I expected, there are different opinions on this. Up 'til now I haven't felt any of the classic symptoms of overtraining, but I started thinking after I hurt my back that maybe it wasn't coincidence. One thing that was true was that I was getting sick of spending 1.5 - 2 hours in the gym 4x per week, even though I was still making slow but steady gains.

If I could work out twice a day for 30 - 45 mins - great! But my job kind of gets in the way - how did you do 3 x, Hannibal?? And, more to the point, how many hours of sleep do you get a night? I can only get 6, weekdays - no choice about it - so I'm tired a lot.

I was reading in Natural Bodybuilding that the WNBF 2001 Ms Universe, Rosa Camilo, works on a 3-day-on, one-off, 3-way split. So, obviously some people CAN do it. But I don't think she has a full-time job and an hour-long commute to work.

W6 - if it gives you any comfort about the effectiveness of your explanations, I tried your calf workout, couldn't even finish it all, and had fire in my calves for a good 4-5 days! I was practically sobbing on the last drop set.

And THIS is why I'm now thinking of dropping back to one-a-week - since I've been reading posts here, I've been pushing myself harder than I ever thought possible. I'm thinking maybe if I drop back on frequency, I can up the intensity a few notches, since each part will get more focus. I just don't want to go back to sitting on the same weight for weeks and weeks at a time.

BITCH - usually I'd say my form is impeccable - I'm completely anal about it - I'm so bad, I ask my gym owner to observe every set of squats I do. However, he was upstairs with my powerlifter friend when I did these deads, and I was thinking about that in the back of my mind - my downfall! It's just a muscle, not cartilage or anything nasty, but darned sore! I know what you mean about lower back - I did mine in (L5) on a mountain with a heavy pack once - took FOREVER to heal, and hurts every time I DON'T train for a while - so now my upper AND lower back are hurting.

KB - "superwoman" - heh heh - thanks, girl - you know they don't call me Steel for nothing!

Anyone want to venture an answer on how you know when your muscles are fully recovered but not starting to detrain? Sure, they should be not sore anymore, but are there any other signs?

 

[wilson6]

One doesn't have to be natural to train each bodypart once per week. I often times feel that many inhibit their gains on a cycle by training too frequently and that usually leads to higher doses or a bigger crash when they come off.

W6

 

[MS]

My two thoughts/experiences are; 1)you shouldn't be using the same training split all the time (read up on periodization blah blah blah) and; 2) it takes ME 5-10 days to recover from a very intense training session.

This leads me to believe that training by a weekly calendar is ludicrous if your serious about making natural gains. I know a lot of folks like a weekly routine because it fits in with the rest of their lives, and most people prefer routine and predictable things in their lives. If you wanna shock your body into new hypertrophy (without AAS) then you need to literally shock it. Train at different times of the day. Train with and without pre or post workout meals. Train every other day (circuit style), train once every seven days per bodypart, train a body part when it's recovered fully, train heavy one session and light the next, use different exercises, sets, reps, rest periods, tempo, etc.....

It all sounds a bit complicated and unscientific (which it is) but in my personal experience the people that make the best 'natural' gains have worked on developing this type of more intuitive training instead of working to a recipe. Recipes are needed if you want to make your first batch of cookies as a kid, but if you want to become a true chef then you need to work on experimenting, experience and intuition. The only short cuts are genetics, surgery or AAS.


Oh yeah, the most important ingredient for strength or mass gains is rest. If you want to be the best natural bodybuilder you are capable of becoming, then you need to get more sleep and more rest in your day. If your job gets in the way of this then you will prolly never be a world class bodybuilder no matter how dedicated you are otherwise. You will probably not reach your natural potential under sleep and rest deprivation, and this may be a sitch where AAS can help. I am in a lifestyle where I have put my health (which includes rest) above financial gain. It's an incredibly tough choice for most westerners to make. But as always you need to keep the goals in mind. This may sound really negative (blame it on PMS), but if you're a natty vego bodybuilder who's overworked and under rested, then it may be impossible to get where you want to go without either AAS, a change of diet (or both), or a complete change of lifestyle......