3 days a week weight training enough?

[Paddyirishlad]

im Changing my weekly routine was wondering if use guys thought this would be any use...

Mondays Wednesdays Fridays = weights
Thursdays and Saturdays = Krav maga self defense class with a bit of cardio/fitness.

basically just adding another day of weight training. what use think??

[psychowolverine]

3 days is all I do and have been doing for a while now...

[KyleAaron]

It depends what stage you're at. As a beginner - that is, going from a not very physical life to training for up to a year - 2-3 times a week works well. It lets your body recover from the workout, while you do other things like cardio or martial arts or happy times with your lover on the other days.

Once you get past that first year of solid training then things become more complicated, you may want to do splits or whatever. But in the first year, 2-3 times a week doing a few compound exercises (eg squat, deadlift and bench one day, chins, dips and lunges another day, etc) when combined with a good diet and plenty of rest will give you pretty good development.

Often cited as scientific backing (if you like that kind of thing) is

Wernbom et al., "The influence of frequency, intensity, volume and mode of strength training on whole muscle cross-sectional area in humans." Sports Medicine 2007; 37(3): 225-64. Review.

Their review of a heap of studies, described here concludes: "for the novice to the well trained, they recommend an 8-10RM load (75-80% 1RM), with 8-10 reps to failure or near failure, 1-3 sets per exercise, progression from 1?2 to 3?6 sets total per muscle group, moderate velocity (1-2 seconds for each CON and ECC), 60-180 seconds rest between sets, and 2-3 sessions per muscle group per week."

As always, the best workout is one you stick to. Perhaps I could get better results with just 2 workouts a week. But then I'd have 3 days away from the gym, and that makes it harder for me to go back, it seems more distant. Maybe those 3 days would become a week, two... So 3 workouts is better for me, even if that third isn't giving any great benefit.

I dunno, seven days is an inconvenient length for a week, anyway.

[hochspeyer]

I've been seriously back into training for better than a month, and I seem to naturally fall into a three day per week cycle, although I try to put in a bit more on "off" days with things I haven't had the chance to get to in my regular sessions, usually things like dumbbell flyes.

[buffgrk]

3 days is too compressed for me personally, i need 4-5 days for a proper workout split.

[JasonDB]

It depends what stage you're at. As a beginner - that is, going from a not very physical life to training for up to a year - 2-3 times a week works well. It lets your body recover from the workout, while you do other things like cardio or martial arts or happy times with your lover on the other days.

Once you get past that first year of solid training then things become more complicated, you may want to do splits or whatever. But in the first year, 2-3 times a week doing a few compound exercises (eg squat, deadlift and bench one day, chins, dips and lunges another day, etc) when combined with a good diet and plenty of rest will give you pretty good development.

Often cited as scientific backing (if you like that kind of thing) is

Wernbom et al., "The influence of frequency, intensity, volume and mode of strength training on whole muscle cross-sectional area in humans." Sports Medicine 2007; 37(3): 225-64. Review.

Their review of a heap of studies, described here concludes: "for the novice to the well trained, they recommend an 8-10RM load (75-80% 1RM), with 8-10 reps to failure or near failure, 1-3 sets per exercise, progression from 1?2 to 3?6 sets total per muscle group, moderate velocity (1-2 seconds for each CON and ECC), 60-180 seconds rest between sets, and 2-3 sessions per muscle group per week."

As always, the best workout is one you stick to. Perhaps I could get better results with just 2 workouts a week. But then I'd have 3 days away from the gym, and that makes it harder for me to go back, it seems more distant. Maybe those 3 days would become a week, two... So 3 workouts is better for me, even if that third isn't giving any great benefit.

I dunno, seven days is an inconvenient length for a week, anyway.

Please not that the information you have there is based of scientific research not magazines or modern gym culture, thus suggests 2-3 sessions per MUSCLE GROUP per week, for the novice trainer.

I agree. 3 full-body workouts a week is acceptable for the beginner, intermediate and some advanced bodybuilders.

[Defiant1]

im Changing my weekly routine was wondering if use guys thought this would be any use...

Mondays Wednesdays Fridays = weights
Thursdays and Saturdays = Krav maga self defense class with a bit of cardio/fitness.

basically just adding another day of weight training. what use think??

Enough? yes.

Optimal? Depends on your goals and experience.

[Defiant1]

I hope people aren't taking that meta-analysis out of context...

these were the conclusions:

Conclusions: "This review demonstrates that several modes of training and all three types of muscle actions can induce hypertrophy at impressive rates and that, at present, there is insufficient evidence for the superiority of any mode and/or type of muscle action over other modes and types of training. That said, it appears that exercise with a maximal-eccentric component can induce increases in muscle mass with shorter durations of work than other modes. Some evidence suggests that the training frequency has a large impact on the rate of gain in muscle volume for shorter periods of training. Because longer studies using relatively high frequencies are lacking, it cannot be excluded that stagnation or even overtraining would occur in the long term. Regarding intensity, moderately heavy loads seem to elicit the greatest gains for most categories of training, although examples of very high rates were noted at both very low and very high intensities when the sets were performed with maximum effort or taken to muscular failure. Thus, achieving recruitment of the greatest number of muscle fibres possible and exposing them to the exercise stimulus may be as important as the training load per se. For the total volume or duration of activity, the results suggest a dose-response curve characterised by an increase in the rate of growth in the initial part of the curve, which is followed by the region of peak rate of increase, which in turn is followed by a plateau or even a decline. It is recognised that the conclusions drawn in this paper mainly concern relatively short-term training in previously untrained subjects and that in highly trained subjects or for training studies extending for several months, the dose-response trends and the hypertrophic effects of different modes and types of strength training may be very different. The same may well be true for other populations, such as elderly and injured individuals."


Not sure where people are drawing conclusions for "several years", "intermediates" or "advanced bodybuilders", and "compound exercises" at least based on this paper.

Note: the above is pretty much EXACTLY what "gym lore" and magazine publishers have been recommending for..oh...at least 30 years....(and I say 30, though I know it has been longer, because I can evidence back that far).

[spirit3530]

actually the more experienced you are

the heavier weights you can handle and more stresss you can put on your body, the less days you need to be in the gym.

[KyleAaron]

I hope people aren't taking that meta-analysis out of context...

[b] It is recognised that the conclusions drawn in this paper mainly concern relatively short-term training in previously untrained subjects

Yes, that's why I said,

"It depends what stage you're at. As a beginner - that is, going from a not very physical life to training for up to a year - 2-3 times a week works well. [...] Once you get past that first year of solid training then things become more complicated, you may want to do splits or whatever."

When refuting someone, it helps to read what they said first, then you might not even have to refute it because you agree with them.

[21Classic]

everyones different bud


if you feel it works for you, than you do 3




I do 6 , just what i need.

I feel catatonic if i have too many days off

[msm172021121]

im Changing my weekly routine was wondering if use guys thought this would be any use...

Mondays Wednesdays Fridays = weights
Thursdays and Saturdays = Krav maga self defense class with a bit of cardio/fitness.

basically just adding another day of weight training. what use think??

enough for what?

[mimetic]

I personally believe there is no fixed amount, you need to work to your body, some people may need longer to recover than others, so you can't push yourself to workout 5 days a week if it doesn't work for you! Just my opinion, though, and obviously as you get more advanced you'll probably want to train more, or perhaps less, as another poster mentioned, you may be lifting heavier and therefore spend less time in the gym.

[Wildtim]

I don't know about Krav Magna classes but back when I was into martial arts the classes would kick my as as hard as anything I can do in the gym and leave me bruised up to boot. So really we are looking at 5 hard workouts a week and that is pretty much enough for anyone no matter their experience level.

[amtharin]

I do a push day, a pull day, and a leg day. Have for a while now.

[Neuroscientist]

3 days a week is what I do and I feel its the best, for me personally at least. I've been ona bulking routine for the past 6 months with phenomenal results. I do chest, back and biceps on Mon, Legs on Wed, and Shoulders, traps, and triceps on Friday. I also do some light cardio on the elliptical for 30 minutes after each lifting session, and maybe some walking for an hour on Tues, thursday, and some other activity on the weekend.

Everybody is different, but if you workout hard enough during those 3 days lifting, you're probably stimulating your muscles sufficiently to grow, assuming your eating like a horse. I truly believe "muscles are made in the kitchen, not in the gym."

[ColdCut]

Have you started taking krav maga yet? I just started about a month ago and had to go from a 5 day split to a 3 day, but after some classes it feels like 3 days of weightlifting is too much. You get your ass kicked the whole time you're in class. No breaks.

[ThatGuyWhoLifts]

im Changing my weekly routine was wondering if use guys thought this would be any use...

Mondays Wednesdays Fridays = weights
Thursdays and Saturdays = Krav maga self defense class with a bit of cardio/fitness.

basically just adding another day of weight training. what use think??

It's what I'm doing atm. 3x Full body with heavy compounds. I'm coming from 5 days/week really intense which ended up in me getting over trained. I think I'll probably settle at four. Maybe not for optimal results but being away from training makes me feel lazy atm. (Maybe add some abs, weaker part training besides strength training)

[MaxPlank]

This thread is a tab bit old.

But 3 days works fine for the majority of people, I believe.

[magic15]

It's what I'm doing atm. 3x Full body with heavy compounds. I'm coming from 5 days/week really intense which ended up in me getting over trained. I think I'll probably settle at four. Maybe not for optimal results but being away from training makes me feel lazy atm. (Maybe add some abs, weaker part training besides strength training)

strong intro on an almost 5 year old thread you little maggot

[AkashVaria21]

I know I'm laaaaate to the thread but when going to the gym I found that listening to others is only really helpful in the short term, in reality we are all different and going to the gym is a process of trial and error, you need to learn whats best for you

for me I started out going 6 days a week but found that I didn't need to, now I only go 3 times a week making twice the gains I was making before