What do you guys think of two a days?

Nathan1722

Member
I love the gym so much and some days I have enough time for a two a day is this ok to do as long as i get the proper nutrients and space it out properly?
 
Well there's a lot of variables here. How does your body/CNS handle high training volume? What is your diet like as-is? Are you making progress as-is? What is your current training split like? Two-a-days sound great for a career athlete where training is THEIR JOB. To go all out and maximise both sessions would be incredibly taxing on your mind and body. If you wanted to spit cardio and weights into 2 separate times of the day, then you could do that easily, and if your schedule can handle that I'd more than likely advise it depending on what your goals are. However, two-a-days with weight training is a whole different beast. You'd have to know your body and your own physiological limits before attempting something like that and still expecting to see noticeable gains. We all love the gym. Sometimes I leave and want to go right back. But I know that I need to recover, I used to do the same thing in high school. Yet I wasn't getting stronger or much bigger. I was training too much and resting/eating too little. Now, assuming your diet/current training/rest is in check, let us know the answers to the aforementioned questions and we'll be glad to try and help.

EDIT: What type of callisthenics? A whole circuit? Focusing a specific muscle group?
 
I love to train with higher volume and i am making great progression so far however i see how two sessions of lifting can really tire you out even after a couple of days. I dont want to do extra work for nothing as well. maybe ill just split cardio and lifting. I am in the midst of a cut and I know im not consuming enough calories to keep up with two a days maybe It's possible on a bulk. I wouldn't do it on a regular basis but maybe two or three times a month would be ok? would it be better to take an extra day to recover? I have one more question. Sometimes while I was bulking I Liked to do 150 push ups on my break day and the next day do chest and tri is that a good idea or am I doing more damage than good?
 
Nathan1722 said:
I love to train with higher volume and i am making great progression so far however i see how two sessions of lifting can really tire you out even after a couple of days. I dont want to do extra work for nothing as well. maybe ill just split cardio and lifting. I am in the midst of a cut and I know im not consuming enough calories to keep up with two a days maybe It's possible on a bulk. I wouldn't do it on a regular basis but maybe two or three times a month would be ok? would it be better to take an extra day to recover? I have one more question. Sometimes while I was bulking I Liked to do 150 push ups on my break day and the next day do chest and tri is that a good idea or am I doing more damage than good?
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How many years have you been alive on earth
 
Nathan1722 said:
I love to train with higher volume and i am making great progression so far however i see how two sessions of lifting can really tire you out even after a couple of days. I dont want to do extra work for nothing as well. maybe ill just split cardio and lifting. I am in the midst of a cut and I know im not consuming enough calories to keep up with two a days maybe It's possible on a bulk. I wouldn't do it on a regular basis but maybe two or three times a month would be ok? would it be better to take an extra day to recover? I have one more question. Sometimes while I was bulking I Liked to do 150 push ups on my break day and the next day do chest and tri is that a good idea or am I doing more damage than good?
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If you're in a cut, then two-a-days would more than likely be counterproductive unless you were "assisted". Sure, you'd expend more calories but at what cost are you willing to draw the line when it comes muscle/strength loss? If you're doing a "traditional" cut I'd assume you're having a cheat meal or cheat day depending on the frequency of the "cheats" and how rigid your diet is. Those days when you're filling yourself with more calories and more than likely more carbs in general, would be the best days to add in another workout IMO. You'd be efficiently utilising the surplus that would be in your body and could rest a lot easier knowing that most of the carbs would be used to restore glycogen in your muscle tissue and not be stored as fat. Depending on what you trained for your occasional two-a-day, I wouldn't say you'd need a rest day afterwards outright. Let's say you trained legs in the morning, and then came in and did back that night (also very dependent on how your program is structured; I do deadlift variations on my leg days and do conventional deads or rack pulls on my back day, so doing both with less than 24 hours rest would not be good for me), you could come in the next day and train chest, shoulders, or arms. Or if you did back in the morning and chest that night, you could hit legs the next day. I don't really schedule in rest days, I go until my body is telling to take a day (or two) to catch up from the beating it's been taking. Your idea of splitting cardio and weight training is sound, especially for a cut. You could do your cardio fasted in the morning which has shown to be beneficial since your body won't go directly to glycogen stores for energy, it'll "target" fat more directly. You could also do it at night closer to bed to help kickstart the fasting period and have your body use up any excess glycogen before you go to bed. It really depends on your wants and what your schedule will allow. As far as your other question, about the push-ups, I don't see an issue with it especially if it wasn't negatively impacting your recovery, performance, etc for your chest day. In fact, it may even accelerate growth by forcing more nutrient rich blood into the tissue, but that could be said for pretty much any muscle group so doing a moderately intense callisthenics workout on your rest day could prove beneficial altogether.
 
I think he meant what i was saying sounded wack hahahah I've only been training for 9 months and I would agree my questions sounded dumb but I'm really loving the gym and if sounding dumb here and there is the cost for great advice like yours it's worth it thanks again!
 
Nathan1722 said:
Thanks for the great advice it's really helpful and I will apply it to my training
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Nathan1722 said:
I think he meant what i was saying sounded wack hahahah I've only been training for 9 months and I would agree my questions sounded dumb but I'm really loving the gym and if sounding dumb here and there is the cost for great advice like yours it's worth it thanks again!
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No problem man. And yeah, I figured that as well. I figured you still may have been fairly new to everything with that question in general, and with the lack of info (no fault of yours, if you don't know then you don't know) given in the initial question. Not everyone on these forums is a pro who's been lifting for 30 years, most of us just want to find ways to be better than our old selves. Stick around and you'll find a lot of great info here. Don't worry about sounding dumb. We all start somewhere. However, if a question seems pretty basic, it's probably been answered already somewhere on this site so try and search that topic and see what comes up. Glad I could help!
 
I love two a days. I split my cardio from my weights. Fasted cardio every morning, weight training at night. I will say two things in regards to your specific scenario. First is try it out. Why not. It may be good for you. Second thing is to maybe push yourself harder during your sessions. I know that i cannot train twice a day the way i train. It would be impossible to recover. I also do alot of mountain dog and hit style sets. Good luck
 
Nathan1722 said:
I think he meant what i was saying sounded wack hahahah I've only been training for 9 months and I would agree my questions sounded dumb but I'm really loving the gym and if sounding dumb here and there is the cost for great advice like yours it's worth it thanks again!
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If you got the time, and your body can handle it, why not:-)
 
EMPIREMIND said:
I love two a days. I split my cardio from my weights. Fasted cardio every morning, weight training at night. I will say two things in regards to your specific scenario. First is try it out. Why not. It may be good for you. Second thing is to maybe push yourself harder during your sessions. I know that i cannot train twice a day the way i train. It would be impossible to recover. I also do alot of mountain dog and hit style sets. Good luck
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Good suggestions bro. Not to hijack OP's thread, but what're you doing for cardio? I started a cut recently and haven't done one in a few years because I've solely been focused on size so I've lost my touch lol.
 
sparks2012 said:
Good suggestions bro. Not to hijack OP's thread, but what're you doing for cardio? I started a cut recently and haven't done one in a few years because I've solely been focused on size so I've lost my touch lol.
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Well i started with none, just diet. Dropped 15-20lbs. Then once i started to stall i threw in 15min cardio post workout. Then i moved over to 30 mins fasted in the morning, train at night. Recently i upped it to 45 mins. I normally use the arc trainer. Moderate intensity. 130-145 spm, level 6 &15. I want to stimulate my metabolism with as little output as possible. I save all my energy for my training. Fasted cardio in the am has been more effective and gives me time during training to focus only on weights which is really nice.
 
Gonna start doing this tomorrow. Cardio in the am and weights after work.
 
puccah8808 said:
Gonna start doing this tomorrow. Cardio in the am and weights after work.
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My girl goes with me and shes been stuck at the same weight for like 2 months. Weve been dieting for a while now. She lost two pounds after starting fasted cardio. And funny thing is we used to do an hour every night. Started with only a half hour and it definitely was better. I think once you get past waking up earlier youll really enjoy it.
 
EMPIREMIND said:
My girl goes with me and shes been stuck at the same weight for like 2 months. Weve been dieting for a while now. She lost two pounds after starting fasted cardio. And funny thing is we used to do an hour every night. Started with only a half hour and it definitely was better. I think once you get past waking up earlier youll really enjoy it.
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That's awesome! I was close to not waking up early and going but I did and I was close to heading home after work but instead, I got in a nice leg session (as nice as I could with a bum knee).

I'm tired of always saying, "I'll start tomorrow!" Tomorrow ended up with me gaining tons of weight. Also, I'm going back to what I know works for me; cardio. All in all, I have to quit being a lazy a** bum. :)

Day 1. Down....


Oh and I feel really good, besides the part where people are telling me that I look sick cuz of no makeup. Hahah
 
puccah8808 said:
That's awesome! I was close to not waking up early and going but I did and I was close to heading home after work but instead, I got in a nice leg session (as nice as I could with a bum knee).

I'm tired of always saying, "I'll start tomorrow!" Tomorrow ended up with me gaining tons of weight. Also, I'm going back to what I know works for me; cardio. All in all, I have to quit being a lazy a** bum. :)

Day 1. Down....


Oh and I feel really good, besides the part where people are telling me that I look sick cuz of no makeup. Hahah
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Lol. Yea i know what you mean. Not going to lie some days are very difficult. But after two weeks for me it became routine. Now i almost feel like i cant go back lol. Good luck with everything!
 
EMPIREMIND said:
Lol. Yea i know what you mean. Not going to lie some days are very difficult. But after two weeks for me it became routine. Now i almost feel like i cant go back lol. Good luck with everything!
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Thanks, I'm hoping to get where you are. I just have to tighten up my diet now. :D I miss the drive and passion.
 
Day 2 of am cardio. I'm liking this... :)
 
EMPIREMIND said:
Well i started with none, just diet. Dropped 15-20lbs. Then once i started to stall i threw in 15min cardio post workout. Then i moved over to 30 mins fasted in the morning, train at night. Recently i upped it to 45 mins. I normally use the arc trainer. Moderate intensity. 130-145 spm, level 6 &15. I want to stimulate my metabolism with as little output as possible. I save all my energy for my training. Fasted cardio in the am has been more effective and gives me time during training to focus only on weights which is really nice.
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Ok cool. Sounds pretty solid. I'd like to add in fasted cardio but I train before work anyway. I work from 3 P.M. to 11 - Midnight, and I'm usually up by 10:30 at the latest. I could do cardio AND train fasted...but I don't think that would be optimal for weight training. Training after work would be an option but I want to try and stay a halfway normal sleep schedule, especially with the wife working a regular 9-5.
 
sparks2012 said:
Ok cool. Sounds pretty solid. I'd like to add in fasted cardio but I train before work anyway. I work from 3 P.M. to 11 - Midnight, and I'm usually up by 10:30 at the latest. I could do cardio AND train fasted...but I don't think that would be optimal for weight training. Training after work would be an option but I want to try and stay a halfway normal sleep schedule, especially with the wife working a regular 9-5.
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I would wake up around 6 or 7 do the cardio, then go back to sleep for a few hours, then continue your day as usual.
 
EMPIREMIND said:
I would wake up around 6 or 7 do the cardio, then go back to sleep for a few hours, then continue your day as usual.
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I ****ed up last night. I got to the gym and passed out in the parking lot then woke up and drove home and passed out again. I failed my second day .
 
rhoadx said:
That sounds like way more trouble than it's worth. Why not just do your cardio directly after weights.
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Absolutely not. But its not for everyone. The point of two sessions a day is to stimulate metabolism. As i posted in this thread i have seen anecdotal evidence of this working in myself and others in as little as a few weeks. Its more effective and requires less time spent. I used to do exactly what you mention, this way has been more beneficial for me. It has structured more discipline and allowed me to start my recovery nutrition immediately after training. I have leaned out tremendously while still maintaining size. This is not for beginners.
 
rhoadx said:
That sounds like way more trouble than it's worth. Why not just do your cardio directly after weights.
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I just want to go home after I lift.

I use to lift for an hour then do an hour of cardio. I effn dreaded cardio after lifting and it felt like I was never going to leave the gym. This way, I am focused on what my goals are and I don't feel like I'm spending all day at the gym.

I go to PF just to do cardio and refuse to touch their weights because it'll pull me away from my cardio goals and I go to my regular gym and focus only on lifting.
 
puccah8808 said:
I just want to go home after I lift.

I use to lift for an hour then do an hour of cardio. I effn dreaded cardio after lifting and it felt like I was never going to leave the gym. This way, I am focused on what my goals are and I don't feel like I'm spending all day at the gym.

I go to PF just to do cardio and refuse to touch their weights because it'll pull me away from my cardio goals and I go to my regular gym and focus only on lifting.
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Exactly!
 
Honestly it depends on the person, think about it if you are doing two a days and still feel great at work then odds are your nutrition and resting is up to par. If you are doing two a days and feel like **** during work then either you can't cut it physically or your nutrition and sleep is lacking.

I do two and damn near three sessions ( two of them being cardio ) a day but I eat the best food currently, on all my favorite protein powders and test suspension is a hell of a drug lol. I feel great each and everyday so there isn't a need to ask the board because what works for me might not work for you.
 
I'm up... It's already become second nature to me. :)
 
I train twice a day every day at least 6 days a week with each body part trained twice a week (day 1 am is chest and pm is calves and abs, day 2 am is back and pm is squats and day 3 am is delts and traps and pm is deadlifts), you just need to ensure that you can recover from the volume, start with lower volume and build up from there
 
Am cardio makes me happy throughout the day. Like I started my day out strong.
 
mickc1965 said:
I train twice a day every day at least 6 days a week with each body part trained twice a week (day 1 am is chest and pm is calves and abs, day 2 am is back and pm is squats and day 3 am is delts and traps and pm is deadlifts), you just need to ensure that you can recover from the volume, start with lower volume and build up from there
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Damn day 2 must really take its toll on your lower back...
 
Finally rested today. 7 days of straight training!! I'm refreshed for tomorrow morning. :)
 
Yip, I much prefer doing two 45min resistance sessions (am-pm) than one 90min session. Only wish Id tried it years ago, but was mind-jobbed by all the mags that perpetuated the BS myth of overtraining.
 
When i do two times a day at the gym i always go for two shorter sessions of training with one of them (usually in the morning) being a lighter session that does not put two much strain on the CNS.
Doing deadlift in the morning and squats in the afternoon is a big no for me as my CNS does not have the time to recover.
Remember that the CNS can take up to 4 times as long time to recover as the muscles after an heavy CNS straining workout like deadlifts etc.
 
NewAgeMayan said:
Yip, I much prefer doing two 45min resistance sessions (am-pm) than one 90min session. Only wish Id tried it years ago, but was mind-jobbed by all the mags that perpetuated the BS myth of overtraining.
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That's me right now. 45 mins of fasted cardio and 45-1 hr of weights.
 
My current set up is on waking 20-25 minutes of weights and 30 minutes walking (sometimes longer) all fasted and 20-30 minutes of weights after work
 
puccah8808 said:
That's me right now. 45 mins of fasted cardio and 45-1 hr of weights.
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Damn, Id struggle with one 45min bout of cardio, I gotta split that up too lol

I could maybe manage it if I were able to do it at a gym, but Im on that poverty time cardio...HIIT hill sprints. Fifteen mins of that sh1t is enough at one time for me.
 
puccah8808 said:
That's me right now. 45 mins of fasted cardio and 45-1 hr of weights.
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Damn, Id struggle with one 45min bout of cardio, I gotta split that up too lol

I could maybe manage it if I were able to do it at a gym, but Im on that poverty time cardio...HIIT hill sprints. Fifteen mins of that sh1t is enough at one time for me.
 
NewAgeMayan said:
Damn, Id struggle with one 45min bout of cardio, I gotta split that up too lol

I could maybe manage it if I were able to do it at a gym, but Im on that poverty time cardio...HIIT hill sprints. Fifteen mins of that sh1t is enough at one time for me.
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I break down my cardio. 20 on stairs, 20 on elliptical, then finish off with 10 on treadmill. I do slow cardio so I don't kill the gainz! :D
 
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