How often should I work the same muscle group???

[Ares84]

Hey all,

I've been reading online that you should not do bench press more than 2 times a week. Well I usually do it 3-4 times a week. Would that be considered counter productive or is it just fine? Basically I do a full body workout every second day working every muscle. So far I did see results but I was wondering if that is ok to do or am I over-training??

[trexmoad123]

As often as you can.

2-3 times is a good start.

[Slusken]

I say twice a week with 3-5 days between, example ->

[Ares84]

As often as you can.

2-3 times is a good start.

SO you mean if I wanted to I could work out the same muscle group every day??? Isn't that going against everything people say about lifting?

[trexmoad123]

SO you mean if I wanted to I could work out the same muscle group every day??? Isn't that going against everything people say about lifting?

If you feel like you can do it, then do it. Your body is going to adapt to your workload.

Babylover's SS is a full body routine, that has people doing it has often as they can. Most people start off with 4-5 days a week. Obviously as you progress and lift heavier and heavier weight, working out 4-5+ days becomes a lot harder.

Just see how your body responds to it.. if you feel like you can bench more than twice a week, do it. If your lifts start to stall, cut back and see if that helps, etc.

[ThickAsABrick]

How often you can train will depend on how much volume you are doing per session, what exercises you are doing, what your individual recovery ability is, how intense your sessions are, etc.

Generally speaking, those newer to training can train more often. Someone with a few months of training or less may be able to hit muscle groups up to three times. With experience, people usually move to more volume per session while lowering frequency.

Here is one example of one type of evolution (not the only one):

fullbody 3x/week --> upper/lower 2x/week --> push/pull/legs or some variation 1.5/week --> body part split 1x/week

[Retoaded]

as often as you can recover from.

for instance...when I started my huge cut I did upper/lower both x2. I can't squat twice a week anymore, it takes me a week to recover now (lost 60 pounds or so and still eating in deficit)...so do what you can get away with for the fastest progress until you cannot progress any more.

[Ares84]

Thing is, I push myself very hard each time. I always work out in the morning but by the time the afternoon comes along I feel like I could workout one more time. I am ready for another workout by the next day but won't it destroy the muscles if I push them each day? I mean, they do need recovery and I don't want to cause harm at all. Just want to progress fast. No I'm able to lift my own body weight, which is pretty good in my eyes, well for me at least. But I want more and faster but not in a way that will destroy muscles instead of building them.

[kwade89]

I have a friend in the gym that works out chest, arms, and legs every other day M,W,F... Needless to say he has not seen any gains in the past year... My understaning is your constantly breaking down your muscle and not giving them enough time to recover and build stronger.

[trexmoad123]

I have a friend in the gym that works out chest, arms, and legs every other day M,W,F... Needless to say he has not seen any gains in the past year... My understaning is your constantly breaking down your muscle and not giving them enough time to recover and build stronger.

He's not growing because he's not eating enough, or adding more weight to the bar. Could be both (and a few other reasons as well to be honest).

But I can guarantee you, working your full body 3 days a week gives you more than enough time to recover between workouts.