Working out a muscle 3 times a week?

[justreading]

Ive been doing a workout based on some of the ideas of DC. Since I cant do legs (bad knee and vertebre and I'm only 23 so sorry guys but I'm being carefull). Since I will be coming off after being on too long I will run IGF and MANY supps.

What I am getting at is does anyone else like the idea of doing each bodypart 3 times per week with 1 set each but 2 for back? Focus will be on strength with rotating explosive days borrowed from westside. Also muscle pairings will be used ei bench/row, shoulder press/pull up. Also I plan on doing a set extra for any muscle that just doesn't feel worked enough like today I did push ups and side raises at the end cause my chest and shoulders just felt liek they were not tired enough...

Any idea on this kind of program?

 

[Gethuge]

Personally I'd say bad idea. If you are going to be goin to failure (as DC suggests) then you are definately going to need more rest for each muscle group. I'd suggest following DC's program more closely if you are hoping to gain strength. High intensity + lots of rest= massive strength gains.

 

[jminis]

I wouldn't hit each bp 3 times in a normal 7day week. What most of use fail to realize is we don't have to abide by the 7 day/week rule. Hell my "workout" week is 10 days long. Catch my drift

 

[glenihan]

you'll overtrain in no time that way

 

[justreading]

you'll overtrain in no time that way

Its wierd cause it feels liek I am undertraining. My muscke feel nothing and I wanna work out every day. The best gains I ever made were doing dc with added volume which was my own idea and when I did 2 sets of pull ups with every workout like 3-5 times a week my lat BLEW UP. But I guess those were on juice and I wanna do this natty.

 

[guyfromkop2]

Its wierd cause it feels liek I am undertraining. My muscke feel nothing and I wanna work out every day. The best gains I ever made were doing dc with added volume which was my own idea and when I did 2 sets of pull ups with every workout like 3-5 times a week my lat BLEW UP. But I guess those were on juice and I wanna do this natty.

you're probably not lifting heavy enough. 3xs a week and you'll be overtrained in no time. just like glenihan said. and if you can walk, you can squat

 

[PVSkyHigh]

and if you can walk, you can squat

LOL :rofl:

 

[UnicronSpawn]

Remember that once a growth response has been stimulated then its all about the healing and supercompensation in that muscle. Not only is going to failure 3 days a wk ulikely give time for supercomesation, it probably wont be enough for the muscle just to heal back to its previous state. And if your rotating the exercises for each bp like DC suggest, then you wont even be able to tell if your weights and reps are up from two days prior, cuz youl be doing a different exercise. There might be modest growth on the weekends when you rest an extra day, but that would defeat the purpose of higher frequency training IMO.

There are programs that have worked each muscle 3x's a wk succesufully, but they involve progression WITHOUT going to failure every wkout. They revolve around progressive mechanical over load wich side skirts the nervous system overtraining of conventional programs, and has built in light, medium and heavy days.

Its not necesarily wrong to tweak existing programs, but you should have a firm understanding of what it is about the PRINCIPLES of that training style that makes it work. For example if you did HST, you wouldnt start going to failure on every day to "spice it up". You wouldnt do HIT and pile on a ton of exta sets per bp. And you probably wouldnt do a GVT or 5x5 program that had you failing on every set and doing forced reps and drop sets. Its good to be creative, but its also good to recognize what combination of traits makes a particular existing program do what it is supposed to do and let that knowledge inflitrate your creative process.
BTW good luck w your injuries.

 

[justreading]

you're probably not lifting heavy enough. 3xs a week and you'll be overtrained in no time. just like glenihan said. and if you can walk, you can squat

Ha well sometimes walking is a problem, actually sitting is and random tightness... I have to be very carefull but I am tryign to do reverse hypers on a swiss ball, one day at a time.

And about the training, you amy all be right, I havent trained natural im recent memory but high frequency is all that every worked for me in the past but maybe chemicals played a role still regulat programs did NOTHING for me even when I did DC I had to add an s-load for it to work.

 

[UnicronSpawn]

I cant say that a higher VOLUME wouldnt work better for you, but adding a few sets is alot different from training more frequently.
If training to failure with more sets each BP 3x a wk is all that made you grow in the past, and youve tried other styles, then maybe your one of the few that responds better to high frequency high volume.
But you wont be able to tell if your doing bench, military press, lying tri ext, bb rows, and wide chins monday, incline DB, DB military, pushdowns, deads, and rev. grip pulldown's on wed, and Wide dips, smyth military, close grip bench, machine rows, and wide behind neck pulldowns on fri. Then all you have to gauge it on is the mirror, and that can be misleading.
If you allready know what works for you then do that. If it stops working THEN get experimental, and come back to what worked later. Personally, using gear didnt obscure my ability to discern what worked as some people think. Cuz natty, only a few things work for me and everything had to be perfect. So I couldnt judge how effective a program that didnt work, in relation to another that didnt work. So being on gear, the same two programs could actually be compared in effectiveness. One would work good, one would barely work. And the really good ones would work fantastic. I make better gains while OFF now than I did when I trained natty before ever venturing "to the darkside".

 

[CDONDICI]

3x per week is fine, and it will not be overtraining if you spread otu your volume.

For example

Say you do 6 sets for chest one day a week.

Say you split those up for 2 set mon, 2 wed, 2 fri.

Still 6 sets per week, except you will experience less soreness and more hypertrophy.

REad this
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html

 

[UnicronSpawn]

but that training style is not advocating training to failure all 3 days. Huge difference.

 

[CDONDICI]

but that training style is not advocating training to failure all 3 days. Huge difference.

Yea tru, if you want to go to failure you can do 1 set per body part 3x per week (hit training).

 

[Gethuge]

OH noooo.....i feel a HIT vs. Volume debate coming on! :blink:

 

[phil216]

Working a body part 3x per week will result in serious overtraining, unless you are on a ton of stuff and have far superior genetics and even then it would be difficult. I'm a HIT advocate so my volume and frequency are very, very low.

 

[justreading]

Well I train with no spotter so it isn't tru FAILURE. Also the rotating sets are only of 3 excsersizes per bodypart not a ton of them and all the chest ones are presses (incline, flat, decline) and the shoulder are presses too (military, dumbell and push press) ect.

 

[glenihan]

well you seem dead set on doing it .. so go ahead try it out .. i ask though that after you do this .. try a lower volume routine and see how incredibly different the results are*

*this of course depends on your diet for both .. not eating enough won't grow regardless

 

[Richscd2]

^what he said

 

[guyfromkop2]

try a lower volume routine and see how incredibly different the results are*

*this of course depends on your diet for both .. not eating enough won't grow regardless

i would also like to cosign on this

 

[justreading]

well you seem dead set on doing it .. so go ahead try it out .. i ask though that after you do this .. try a lower volume routine and see how incredibly different the results are*

*this of course depends on your diet for both .. not eating enough won't grow regardless

I eat about 4k calories a day 450-500 carbs 350 pro and 40 fat a dat are normal. Carbs from tons of brown and wild rice, oats and occasional wheat bread. Protein from ground turkey, cottage cheese, tuna and limited shakes (only am and post workout). I am only 195 now so the cals are working i think. My diet is very mundane and very very regular, I literally eat the same food nearly ever day year round unless I am going to switch it up and then I'll just add or subtract from the portion size but still eat 7-9 times a day.

 

[glenihan]

well sounds like your diet is great .. if not perhaps a touch excessive on the cals

then like i said before, try this 3x a week .. i do ask though that after about 8 weeks you take a week off then try a low volume workout, i'll personally recommend one to you .. and see how different the results are

 

[justreading]

well sounds like your diet is great .. if not perhaps a touch excessive on the cals

then like i said before, try this 3x a week .. i do ask though that after about 8 weeks you take a week off then try a low volume workout, i'll personally recommend one to you .. and see how different the results are

I'm looking for something new, I'll take advice but I've tried ALOT of programs. MY personal favorites were 5x5 with more frequency (every 5-6 days) and dc with 1 added finisher per part (got up to 235 on that but was not exactly natural). What low volume do you suggest? I just have noticed that different parts grow differently for me like my lats definetly need higher frequency, traps definetly don't, shoulder could be worked ever friggin day if i wanted but chest needs to be treaded carefully. It's all very individual but I am willing to learn here I guess I've done more self learning that anythign else and focussed too mcuh on my own body and may be missreading it.

 

[justreading]

well sounds like your diet is great .. if not perhaps a touch excessive on the cals

then like i said before, try this 3x a week .. i do ask though that after about 8 weeks you take a week off then try a low volume workout, i'll personally recommend one to you .. and see how different the results are

It's working like CRAZY. Weights are UP and so is my lean mass while coming off... Point of the story os learn YOUR OWN body. But im so happy with my rputine i made.