How many times per week should you actually workout to build muscle mass??

[Spanish89]

I currently am targeting my pecs/triceps/shoulders as primary muscles,
and then biceps/back/abs as secondary,
and am trying to build mass so doing 4reps per set @ my 4reps max weight.


I go gym every 4th day for around 1 hour 30mins, and that time is split as following-

50% of it is spent working my pecs/triceps/shoulders, 30% working my biceps, 15% working my back, and 5% doing my abs.

(Although ive also now added an extra 30mins at the end of each session, which i spend working my glutes/hamstrings/quads for an injury recovery)



Every article, topic, and thread id ever read said that to build muscle mass you need to rest your muscles for ATLEST 3 full days between each workout session to give the muscle fibres enough time to heal and regrow back bigger and thicker.

However ive now started getting quite a few comments saying that only working the muscles every 4th day and giving them 3days rest inbetween isn't going to be effective at all in building muscle mass,
as thats way too long gap between each workout,
and that i should instead be working the muscles 4-5x per week.... :S


But so i am curious about when you are trying to build mass how many times per week do you actually workout each muscle group??

[MikeyMitch]

all i know is your bicep curl better be 50 barbell cuz if your doing 50 dumbbells weighing 135 you have to be doing something wrong lol...if u want mass..eat lots..eat some more and train heavy but with proper form.. dont be that dude in the gym doing bent over rows ..standing straight up with 2 plates a side and think its doing anything..ya know

[Spanish89]

all i know is your bicep curl better be 50 barbell cuz if your doing 50 dumbbells weighing 135 you have to be doing something wrong lol...if u want mass..eat lots..eat some more and train heavy but with proper form.. dont be that dude in the gym doing bent over rows ..standing straight up with 2 plates a side and think its doing anything..ya know

I live in the UK so weights are in KGs not lbs! lol

But its a 23KG (50lbs) dumbbell, and i preacher curl.

I don't think my gym even has any barbells weighing below 30KGs! lol

[godzillahunter]

I live in the UK so weights are in KGs not lbs! lol

But its a 23KG (50lbs) dumbbell, and i preacher curl.

I don't think my gym even has any barbells weighing below 30KGs! lol

I think MikeyMitch is thinking that you are doing 50's with both hands. That's what it sounds like you are saying.

[MikeyMitch]

I live in the UK so weights are in KGs not lbs! lol

But its a 23KG (50lbs) dumbbell, and i preacher curl.

I don't think my gym even has any barbells weighing below 30KGs! lol

you know the difference between barbell and dumbbell right?

[Spanish89]

I think MikeyMitch is thinking that you are doing 50's with both hands. That's what it sounds like you are saying.

Doing 2-handed curls on a dumbbell?? :O HAHA

I could do that, although would look pretty foolish and strange if i did....,
plus i very much doubt both my hands could fit onto the grip bar area on a dumbbell. lol

[Spanish89]

you know the difference between barbell and dumbbell right?

Ive been working out for nearly 6years now mate so ofcourse i know the difference! HAHA

I don't really understand what your question is asking tbh though...

[MikeyMitch]

em i the only dude who caught that...

[BrianSFL]

Can we get a little clarification on your stats?

Your sig says:

Chest Press @ 4reps = 118KGs (260lbs)

Are you saying you can bench 260 pounds for four reps at 133 pounds of bodyweight? I should say you know how to build muscle, were that the case. Otherwise you're saying you do four reps of 65 pounds, which doesn't make much sense either.

Every article, topic, and thread id ever read said that to build muscle mass you need to rest your muscles for ATLEST 3 full days between each workout session to give the muscle fibres enough time to heal and regrow back bigger and thicker.

Really? I don't see many workout programs here saying only to work out approximately two days a week. Some people talk about it, but it's not typical.

[johnstallion]

all i know is your bicep curl better be 50 barbell cuz if your doing 50 dumbbells weighing 135 you have to be doing something wrong lol...if u want mass..eat lots..eat some more and train heavy but with proper form.. dont be that dude in the gym doing bent over rows ..standing straight up with 2 plates a side and think its doing anything..ya know

i disagree going heavy means that you have more rest in between reps and thats more for strength training...if you pyramid and start from a low weight or keep the same weight...concentrate more on a faster rep with little rest and no more than 30 seconds between sets...thats strictly for bulking you will fatigue the muscle more and it will get bigger that way

[geoffstgermaine]

First, I think that you are taking the number days of rest out of the context it is meant to have. Since a typical bodybuilding routine will have the body split up and different muscle groups worked on different days, the number of rest days between working out is for a specific muscle group. For instance, someone might lift 4 or 5 days a week, but only one of those days targets any given muscle group so that each muscle gets about a week between directly targeted training.

What you're doing is working your entire upper body (more or less) in one workout. Most routines would have that split up. Since you're working out that way, you can probably train every 3-4 days because the intensity/volume for each muscle group isn't likely as high as someone on a 4 day split. I'll presume that the injury you speak of mostly precludes you from training legs as otherwise you're going to look pretty silly if you're able to get up to 189 lbs training only upperbody.

Additionally, people are pointing out that your stats make no sense. A 260 lbs bench x 4 is about a 285 lbs 1 rep max. That's extremely high for your bodyweight. So is 50 lbs x 4 on a dumbbell preacher curl.

[Spanish89]

Can we get a little clarification on your stats?

Your sig says:

Are you saying you can bench 260 pounds for four reps at 133 pounds of bodyweight? I should say you know how to build muscle, were that the case. Otherwise you're saying you do four reps of 65 pounds, which doesn't make much sense either.


Really? I don't see many workout programs here saying only to work out approximately two days a week. Some people talk about it, but it's not typical.

No i don't bench press at all, i chest-press 260lbs on the chest-press machine (http://www.cybexintl.com/products/st...000/intro.aspx).

1stly because my gym only has 1 bench-machine and its forever occupied,
and 2ndly because i much prefer to isolate my pec muscles so i can fully overload them, instead of having to split the load between support muscles)



And ive seen it in almost all the routines people post on here.

As even though most people ''visit the gym'' 4-5x per week,
they only work each muscle group on 1 of those days,
then rest it for the rest of those days whilst they do their other muscles.


For example they say-

Day 1 = Chest & Triceps
Day 2 = Biceps & Abs
Day 3 = Back & Shoulders
Day 4 = Calves & Quads

But so they are actually only working their pec muscles once every 4days....



However i am going to increase my workout frequency to every 3rd day,
giving my muscles 2days recovery time inbetween each workout.

[OutsideLINEback]

it depends on body type

[Spanish89]

First, I think that you are taking the number days of rest out of the context it is meant to have. Since a typical bodybuilding routine will have the body split up and different muscle groups worked on different days, the number of rest days between working out is for a specific muscle group. For instance, someone might lift 4 or 5 days a week, but only one of those days targets any given muscle group so that each muscle gets about a week between directly targeted training.

What you're doing is working your entire upper body (more or less) in one workout. Most routines would have that split up. Since you're working out that way, you can probably train every 3-4 days because the intensity/volume for each muscle group isn't likely as high as someone on a 4 day split. I'll presume that the injury you speak of mostly precludes you from training legs as otherwise you're going to look pretty silly if you're able to get up to 189 lbs training only upperbody.

Additionally, people are pointing out that your stats make no sense. A 260 lbs bench x 4 is about a 285 lbs 1 rep max. That's extremely high for your bodyweight. So is 50 lbs x 4 on a dumbbell preacher curl.

Cheers for the reply mate.

I don't bench-press though, i chest-press (chest-press machine).
Not sure how much that would convert to if i wanted to free-weight bench press tbh.


I preacher curl 23KGs (50lbs) dumbbell @ 4reps in the standard way though.

To be honest i don't class that as an especially heavy weight though, especially as ive been workingout for nearly 6years now! lol


Its not my legs that are injured as such though, i have lordosis, and so am doing moderate strength training on my glutes/quads/hamstrings muscles to fix it.

I need to start doing some serious serious bulking up of my calves though, as while ive got decent muscle and size in my thighs,
my calves are totally pathetic!

(I can actually fit my thumb and middle finger around the thinnest part of my ankle!!)