Frequency of Training

One common thread in the world of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and the like is the issue of the optimal training frequency for gains in strength and size for naturals.

While bodybuilding magazines have often promoted the idea of the "body part split" there is still a degree of naivety behind the usage of these "blast a bodypart once a week" sort of programs. Something like this is often caused a misunderstanding of how training is set up for enhanced lifters. Without going into detail of how this works, drug-enhanced lifters are able to maintain protein synthesis for a longer period of time than natural ones--protein synthesis typically goes back down to baseline after two to three days.

This means training more often (but with less volume) to take advantage of this relapse of protein synthesis. However, you have to recalibrate your training volume take this into account. You can't reasonably do a twenty set leg workout, going to failure, and still expect to progress in performance.

Even discounting science and research on the matter (which is won't delve into here), common sense alone would justify this. Imagine you're a student working on a paper. What would allow you to do more work: starting a month away and chipping away at it for an hour or less a day, or pulling an all nighter a couple of days before? The former would be easier. Now, imagine (to extend the analogy) that you did the latter one ten cups of coffee, coked out of your mind, and you'll see how your ability to perform at top level will be that much higher under enhanced conditions.

There's a few different ways you can pull off a higher frequency training, and I will cover a couple of them.

Full Body, Three Times per Week

This is really your basic beginner sort of program, and would require fewer exercises, with greater  volume per exercise, and focusing on only compound excercises. For example, something like:

Squats, 3-4 sets
Bench Press, 3-4 sets

Deadlifts, 3-4 sets
Bent-Over Barbell Rows, 3-4 sets etc.

You would also have other assistance exercises like dips, barbell curls, etc. thrown in to avoid muscle imbalances and the like. The overall volume over the course of the week would be similar to a body part split (though a little less), because of the use of compound exercises on all three days.

Upper Lower, Four Days a Week

This is a variation where you're doing push and pull (for your upper body) and leg work twice a week each. You would be doing a few more exercises, but much lower volume. I am doing something like this right now, which only involves two or three sets per exercise.

The most common variation on this is the Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training (PHAT), where variations on the weight and rep ranges are done on a weekly basis, so every week you have two lower body workouts (for example), and one is done in the higher rep ranges, around 8-12. This method was popularized by Layne Norton and has proven effective for many lifters (see here for more information on PHAT).

There are many benefits to higher frequency training for natural lifters that do not have the benefits of AAS, Insulin, and the like at their arsenal. As well, a common occurance is that lifters generally aren't as sore, simply because they are not beating the muscles "into the wall" so to speak.

That's all for today...lift heavy.