Is There Anything Wrong With Training Every Single Day?

[ucimigrate]

Hi Everyone,

Growing up, a lot of trainers always said it was wrong to train every day. Certainly, something like heavy or high-rep squats would need more rest.

But, is there any reason why we cannot divide our work in a 7 day split. My guess is that as long as a lot of variety is used, etc., then it may actually be a good idea. If results are better than what had been done, it may be more motivating than what many people would assume are the effects.

Can anyone give opinions, or even good 7 day splits?

Thanks

 

[Whisky]

I like a saying that a mate of mine uses: ‘you can’t overtrain, only under recover’.

So imo whether you can train 7 days is largely dependent on whether you can recover.

Whether you should train 7 days is somewhat dependent on your goals. If you want to increase strength I’d suggest it’s not optimal for example.

Should also note that (to the best of my knowledge) no top bodybuilders used 7 day splits, in fact many of the top bodies trained just 4 days a week.

Also what would you consider training, to me things like sports would’ve active recovery for example (so if two of your 7 days were something like that then yeah ‘train’ 7 days).

I also think that mentally you would start to fatigue (and if you didn’t then are you really pushing hard in the sessions?).

To sum up, IMO there is a load of variables as to what is an optimal training split for any individual but I’m struggling to think of anyone who would benefit from long term 7 day splits. Even on gear the body needs time to recover, grow and get stronger. Mentally doing anything every day would be draining.

 

[iamyourfather]

you CAN do if you adapt the volume but its really not that beneficial.

if you are a natty you should train every muscle 2 times a week to reach your full potential. more than 2 times isn’t necessary. i personally train push/pull/legs, 2 times a week. sunday is rest day (only cardio; i do cardio nearly every day as well)

so you can do a 7 days split but its not the smartest choice. also your joints, ribbons, bones need a break as well. if you never give them time to recover, you will be at a high risk for injuries. your muscles are recovered quite fast but your passive structures really need some break sometimes.

 

[booneman77]

There are really only 2 factors that would prevent this from being good:

Too much intensity/accumulatted fatigue - which is easily fixed
Not enough recovery - somewhat a subset of the above, also easily fixed.

So long as you're careful with your daily volume, intesity, and exercise choice and account for adequate food and sleep to recover, theres no reason you cant. Hell, pro athletes do it all the time. It's all about the right combo of training and recovery. YOu have to know when to scale each up and down to keep it effective though.

 

[iamyourfather]

There are really only 2 factors that would prevent this from being good:

Too much intensity/accumulatted fatigue - which is easily fixed
Not enough recovery - somewhat a subset of the above, also easily fixed.

So long as you're careful with your daily volume, intesity, and exercise choice and account for adequate food and sleep to recover, theres no reason you cant. Hell, pro athletes do it all the time. It's all about the right combo of training and recovery. YOu have to know when to scale each up and down to keep it effective though.

pro athletes = loads of steroids.

 

[booneman77]

pro athletes = loads of steroids.

High school athletes train daily too

Steroids for sure will help but won’t completely fix/negate a bad diet or recovery plan. Even the biggest abuser can overdo it. The body does have physiological limitations. Also, steroids don’t fix cns issues.

 

[iamyourfather]

High school athletes train daily too

Steroids for sure will help but won’t completely fix/negate a bad diet or recovery plan. Even the biggest abuser can overdo it. The body does have physiological limitations. Also, steroids don’t fix cns issues.

and thats the reason why you need some days off sometimes. you cant train everyday straight without any rest or at least only-cardio days.

steroids help extremely with regeneration - thats what they actually do. maximizing your protein synthesis and putting your ability to regenerate on a very high level. some users train twice a day, as a natural you cant do that for a long time, you will get ****ed up way faster.

im not blaming steroids here, will may use them by myself in the future but we should speak the truth, they help extremely well and are ****ing strong. even with a bad diet, of course with enough protein, you would gain more than a natty with everything on point.

 

[booneman77]

and thats the reason why you need some days off sometimes. you cant train everyday straight without any rest or at least only-cardio days.

steroids help extremely with regeneration - thats what they actually do. maximizing your protein synthesis and putting your ability to regenerate on a very high level. some users train twice a day, as a natural you cant do that for a long time, you will get ****ed up way faster.

im not blaming steroids here, will may use them by myself in the future but we should speak the truth, they help extremely well and are ****ing strong. even with a bad diet, of course with enough protein, you would gain more than a natty with everything on point.

The question was can someone train daily... the answer regardless is yes, you just have to control volume, intensity, and recovery a lot more if natural.

 

[iamyourfather]

The question was can someone train daily... the answer regardless is yes, you just have to control volume, intensity, and recovery a lot more if natural.

yes you can but only for a limited time. your passive structures need a break as well after some time, absolutely regardless how low the intensity or the volume is, it needs some days off after many days on, thats how your body works.

okay lets say it like this - if you do one squat a day, you wont need off days but who does only one squat? people tend to make too much if they train every day. your muscle regenerate fast but your body needs more time after a bunch of trainings days

 

[Whisky]

The question was can someone train daily... the answer regardless is yes, you just have to control volume, intensity, and recovery a lot more if natural.

To me the question has two parts;

1) can you train 7 days a week - as you say the answer is yes.

2) is it optimal? (Op does make reference in the post to ‘good idea’ and ‘results’) - in my opinion the answer is no (in nearly all scenarios).

 

[booneman77]

yes you can but only for a limited time. your passive structures need a break as well after some time, absolutely regardless how low the intensity or the volume is, it needs some days off after many days on, thats how your body works.

okay lets say it like this - if you do one squat a day, you wont need off days but who does only one squat? people tend to make too much if they train every day. your muscle regenerate fast but your body needs more time after a bunch of trainings days

I disagree with the second portion... sure, nobody is gonna do 1 squat, but you could certainly get away with 1-2 sets of submaximal effort of a few exercises, and rotate through body parts through the week, giving each part a day or two of rest before hitting it again. If you're lifting to submaximal levels of both intensity and volume, and giving each muscle group (and by default passive structures) there's no reason you couldn't lift every day and see good results.

for example, if i did a program something like 1-2 exercise/body part, 3 sets, max 70% 1rm, never to failure I see no reason this would be too hard on any body structure. The key is adequate recovery (sleep/nutrition) and never going to failure or too intense. CNS would be fine (since training would be like 20-30min max and fairly "easy") and recovery time of 2-3 days for any body part is more than enough (and more than many programs allow for normally anyways)

chest/tris
hams/calves
shoulders/bis
quads/calves
repeat

 

[BlockBuilder]

How old are you? Believe me that matters haha. Idk I just don’t think I could do it. For me personally I do much better with high volume sessions 4 times a week. Rest days are either full rest days with active recovery or cardio days. You have to know your body. It’s actually pretty simple. If you’re motivation to go to the gym stops, you plateau, or the worst case scenario..you REGRESS...something isn’t working. If you feel good, are making progress (even micro progression) and you’re still motivated and uninjured then keep going. I personally believe if you do 7 Days a week you’ll have to do quite a bit of tweaking. As a natural I really don’t suggest lifting more than 4 Days a week. Many will disagree with me. That’s just my personal opinion based on experience and research

 

[Rad83]

But, is there any reason why we cannot divide our work in a 7 day split. My guess is that as long as a lot of variety is used, etc., then it may actually be a good idea. If results are better than what had been done, it may be more motivating than what many people would assume are the effects.

Can anyone give opinions, or even good 7 day splits?

Thanks

“A lot of variety,” isn’t necessary!
What is needed however, is continually getting stronger on the main big compound lifts.

Anyone that’s made any serious progress will tell you that training 7 days, is sub-optimal! Both mentally and physically...

You GROW & RECOVER outside the gym!

Get on a good program, train hard as fuk, and you’ll ENJOY your days off as you look forward to hittin that gym again.

 

[bell1986]

you CAN do if you adapt the volume but its really not that beneficial.

if you are a natty you should train every muscle 2 times a week to reach your full potential. more than 2 times isn’t necessary. i personally train push/pull/legs, 2 times a week. sunday is rest day (only cardio; i do cardio nearly every day as well)

so you can do a 7 days split but its not the smartest choice. also your joints, ribbons, bones need a break as well. if you never give them time to recover, you will be at a high risk for injuries. your muscles are recovered quite fast but your passive structures really need some break sometimes.

2 times a week per muscle? Not correct at all. Protein synthesis has been proven numerous times to only heighten for up to 48 hours (If your natural anyway) so as soon as it dips back to baseline you can hit that muscle again. Doms has no meaning at all to recovery. Look at people who do full body workouts Monday Wednesday and Friday they grow like weeds. I myself have incorporated a full body routine which i switch up each workout and its the best thing i have done. I use supersets to get the workout done in a reasonable time. Its also user dependant.

If your on gear then protein synthesis is heightened longer so you can extend to 2x per week to allow it to return to baseline.

Be happy to post a video of someone explaining all the benefits of full bodys over a split routine?

Also... Any workout is better than no workout so full bodys are better for someone who cant manage to train daily and has other important needs in life and splits will suit someone who has free time.

 

[Jiigzz]

I like a saying that a mate of mine uses: ‘you can’t overtrain, only under recover’.

So imo whether you can train 7 days is largely dependent on whether you can recover.

Whether you should train 7 days is somewhat dependent on your goals. If you want to increase strength I’d suggest it’s not optimal for example.

Should also note that (to the best of my knowledge) no top bodybuilders used 7 day splits, in fact many of the top bodies trained just 4 days a week.

Also what would you consider training, to me things like sports would’ve active recovery for example (so if two of your 7 days were something like that then yeah ‘train’ 7 days).

I also think that mentally you would start to fatigue (and if you didn’t then are you really pushing hard in the sessions?).

To sum up, IMO there is a load of variables as to what is an optimal training split for any individual but I’m struggling to think of anyone who would benefit from long term 7 day splits. Even on gear the body needs time to recover, grow and get stronger. Mentally doing anything every day would be draining.

Quoted for awesomeness.

 

[R1balla]

My fatigue would be terrible if I trained daily.

 

[Rad83]

Let’s be honest, we all love the gym! But I can’t deal with the people and annoying minutia every single day, with no break!

 

[ericos_bob]

I know it's a cliche OP but find out what works for you.

8 on 1 off.
Chest,Back,Legs,Shoulders/arms repeat.

 

[AntM1564]

Hi Everyone,

Growing up, a lot of trainers always said it was wrong to train every day. Certainly, something like heavy or high-rep squats would need more rest.

But, is there any reason why we cannot divide our work in a 7 day split. My guess is that as long as a lot of variety is used, etc., then it may actually be a good idea. If results are better than what had been done, it may be more motivating than what many people would assume are the effects.

Can anyone give opinions, or even good 7 day splits?

Thanks

There are really only 2 factors that would prevent this from being good:

Too much intensity/accumulatted fatigue - which is easily fixed
Not enough recovery - somewhat a subset of the above, also easily fixed.

So long as you're careful with your daily volume, intesity, and exercise choice and account for adequate food and sleep to recover, theres no reason you cant. Hell, pro athletes do it all the time. It's all about the right combo of training and recovery. YOu have to know when to scale each up and down to keep it effective though.

I think this is solid advice. Yes, one can train daily, but the intensity would need to be lowered, if one is natural. I lift 6 days per week and my recovery is fine. Just keep in mind that you will not need to hit your smaller muscle groups as hard as you normally would. For example, triceps. You work your triceps with delts and chest, so direct tricep work is not as necessary. You do not need to do endless amount of direct tricep exercises. You volume needs to be lower as well.

I do think frequency is better, especially for natural lifters. Training will elevate muscle protein synthesis for an extended period of time.

Give this article a read!

https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-best-damn-workout-plan-for-natural-lifters

 

[Distilled Water]

To me the question has two parts;

1) can you train 7 days a week - as you say the answer is yes.

2) is it optimal? (Op does make reference in the post to ‘good idea’ and ‘results’) - in my opinion the answer is no (in nearly all scenarios).

I agree. I did prep natty last year and went 7 days for about 10-12 weeks? Then had to reduce it down to 6 then eventually 5.

All depends on how your CNS/PNS Health is. Even blasting gear, peak off season I can’t train 7 days a week at certain times and need to back off.

Some people simply can’t recover doing it not matter what and other people can bang out 7 days a week for months on end. You have to figure out what works for you

 

[Jiigzz]

I train 7 days per week.

RE/ME days with low intensity plyo and cardio on 'rest days'.

The key is in how you program overload, and how you manage recovery. My low days are very low intensity, with a 5km run and 15-20 minutes of power work. All up, takes <1hr.