is it too much to train muscles more than once per week?

[LeeJunFan]

i have just started training again and am going to my gym everyday for about 1.5 hours, will it make gains slower if i'm training muscles more than one per week, i dont mean i am going to hit everything twice a week, i'm thinking of doing a 4 workout cycle rather than do, say, chest on a specific day every week, kind of like this:

MON-chest
TUE-back
WED-triceps and shoulders
THU-biceps and traps
FRI-chest
SAT-back
SUN-triceps and shoulders
MON-biceps and traps

i would appreciate your opinions, many thanks.

 

[legion00]

you need time to recover man. take a couple days off in there.

 

[LeeJunFan]

ok but do you think working chest on day 1 and triceps on day 3 is too close together? i think i will add 2 days rest and a leg day like this:

MON-chest
TUE-back
WED-triceps and shoulders
THU-biceps and traps
FRI-...day off...
SAT-...day off...
SUN-legs and abs

does that look a bit better? thanks

 

[joe d]

what are your goals. fat loss, size, stregnth?

 

[LeeJunFan]

my main goals are fat loss and strength, i dont want to get too big because i play squash and i need to be quite lean and not carry too much weight, i started doing the weights again as a way to increase my metabolism but i do want to gain some size.

 

[rikishi]

it depends how hard you work your muscles. the harder you work them the more time they need to recover. if you do not work them so hard it will take less time to recover.

 

[LeeJunFan]

so just go by feel? obviously if i am still sore then i won't do them again but if i feel normal then it should be ok? am i right by saying most people hit each muscle group 1 time per week, not including things like abs or forearms?

 

[rikishi]

so just go by feel? obviously if i am still sore then i won't do them again but if i feel normal then it should be ok? am i right by saying most people hit each muscle group 1 time per week, not including things like abs or forearms?

if you blast your muscles (like bodybuilders do) you should only do them once per week. however if you are lifting for a sport and doing things like speed bench or speed squats to train fast twitch fibers you wont need as much time to recover as a bodybuilder who is looking for max size. you can also increase recovery time by taking glutamine and BCAAs and eating a lot of protein.

 

[Dial_tone]

I think 72-96 hours between workouts is ideal. I train everything 6 times per month.

 

[joe d]

my main goals are fat loss and strength, i dont want to get too big because i play squash and i need to be quite lean and not carry too much weight, i started doing the weights again as a way to increase my metabolism but i do want to gain some size.

here you go

How to gain muscle mass over the summer with 20 rep squats

you need to get on an effective program and stick to it. force progress. look this over and if you have any questions let me know.