The Ultimate Guide to Strength Training Frequency: How Often to Train Each Muscle Group

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"How often should you workout each muscle group per week? Does it matter if you do the same muscles on consecutive days?"

Hey there, my friend!

A great question that has been on the minds of many fitness enthusiasts is how often we should train each muscle group per week. Well, the answer depends on what you're aiming for.

If you're on a weight loss mission, your focus should be on burning more calories than you consume. This can be achieved by reducing your calorie intake or boosting your physical activity. The American Heart Association endorses a combination of cardiovascular training and strength training to promote overall health and burn calories. Aim for at least five hours of physical activity per week.

When muscle growth is your primary goal, the focus shifts to stimulating muscle protein synthesis, the process by which muscles repair and grow themselves. To achieve this, you need to lift weights that are challenging enough to cause muscle damage. Researcher Brad Schoenfeld recommends training each muscle group two to three times per week, performing 10 to 20 sets per muscle group each week.

Training Frequency in the Context of Volume and Intensity

When planning your training frequency, consider its interplay with other training variables like volume and intensity. Research indicates that training frequency plays a less significant role in muscle growth compared to overall training volume. Therefore, your training frequency should likely be determined by your training volume. Think of frequency as the control knob that regulates volume to maximize muscle growth. The more volume you require for muscle growth, the more frequently you'll need to train.

Intensity also plays a role in determining how often you can train a muscle group. If you consistently train at high percentages of your one-rep max (e.g., 85% or higher), you may find that you cannot train muscles as frequently as someone who primarily trains using their 15-rep max (approximately 65% of one-rep max).

Another factor to consider in terms of intensity is relative intensity, which measures how close you go to failure. If you take every set to failure, you may benefit from a lower training volume and frequency. On the other hand, if you tend to leave a few reps in the tank on most sets, you may respond better to higher training frequencies.

If we're training for strength, we need to focus on lifting heavier weights. This will help us to increase our strength over time. Strength coaches generally recommend training for more volume (number of sets) when training for strength.

Organizing Sets for Strength Gain

Arranging the sets you perform weekly for strength gain can be deceptively tricky. While research suggests that a small number of challenging sets can suffice for strength training, most powerlifting workouts involve more than the minimum.

Consider Mark Rippetoe's Texas Method program. In a powerlifting-focused program, you typically spread out all your movement-specific training (such as your squats and squat accessory exercises) across your training week to increase your practice frequency:

  • Day One: Back Squat: 5 x 5
  • Day Two: Back Squat: 2 x 5
  • Day Three: Back Squat: 1 x 5 or 1 x 1

In a program like the Texas Method, you perform squats three times per week, each time with different loading parameters. This is a form of daily undulating periodization, which involves changing your set and rep scheme on a workout-to-workout basis.

Volume Considerations

From a volume perspective, this approach serves two purposes:

  • Intensity Range: You only perform eight sets per week, but dividing them up allows you to work at a range of intensities.
  • Technique Focus: Performing only a few sets at a time in a given workout conserves energy, allowing you to focus on refining your technique.

Overtraining and Volume Management

In resistance training, it's possible to have too much of a good thing. While increasing your workload over time is necessary for building muscular endurance, excessive "junk volume" can lead to recovery issues or even injury.

The precise amount of "too many sets" varies from person to person. Experts like Dr. Mike Israetel and coach Jeff Nippard recommend closely monitoring your volume and assessing its impact on your recovery.

If you're performing 20 or more hard sets per body part per week and find it difficult to maintain progressive overload by adding weight to your exercises over time, you might be overdoing it.

The same applies to muscle recovery. If you notice an increase in aches and pains, feel lethargic, unmotivated, or consistently downtrodden, you may be entering overtraining territory.

Rest and Recovery

Regarding consecutive days of training the same muscles, the answer is no. It's actually beneficial to allow your muscles at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. This provides ample time for recovery and growth.

As for whether or not it matters if we do the same muscles on consecutive days, the answer is no. It's actually better to give our muscles at least 48 hours of rest between workouts. This will give them time to recover and grow.

Imagine our bodies are like temples. Just as a temple needs time to be repaired and maintained, our bodies need time to rest and recover. If we don't give our bodies enough rest, we're more likely to get injured or burnout.

So, how often should we work out each muscle group per week?

It depends on our goals. But no matter what our goals are, it's important to listen to our bodies and give them the rest they need.

Hope this helps! If it does, please

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May you be blessed with the power of David and the wisdom of Solomon.

Faithfully yours,

Strength Training with Gary

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