Working the same muscle 3 times a week

[handegg]

can you still make gains if you work the same muscle 3 times a week? (mon, wed, fri)

[bluel0bster]

If you're asking if working the same muscle three times a week is detrimental due to overtraining: NO! In fact, for beginners, it's a better idea to workout each bodypart 3x per week. Look up 5x5 programs. Those "hypertrophy splits" where you work different body parts every day are not nearly as effective as full body splits if you are new to bodybuilding. Working out the same body part 3x per week has given me the best results since I started lifting.

[r3dt4get]

I agree, 3 times a week is recommended. The important thing about training is rest, and 48 hours between sessions is plenty.

[Retardo-pex]

can you still make gains if you work the same muscle 3 times a week? (mon, wed, fri)

It depends on how you plan on training. Something like 5x5 where the intensity and volume is cycled is one thing you are only doing something like 25 reps per lift/body part per workout so your weekly volume is probably still lower than something like a bro split where you hammer one muscle group a day with anywhere from 3-6 exercises with 3-5 sets per exercise per muscle group. If you were to do a program like this 3x a week it might be too much to handle.

To see it written out, here is the comparison between the two styles:

5x5/texas method/strength focused 3 day a week programs-

Monday-
Squat medium weight, higher volume 5x5
bench medium weight 5x5
row 5x5

Wed-
Squat light, 2-3x5 usually only as heavy as the 2nd or 3rd warmup from monday
press - 3x5
deadlift 1-3x5

Fri-
Squat heavy, build up to a heavy set of 3 or 5, use for last set of 5 the following monday
bench heavy same idea
row 5x5

Once a week bro split style ( just going to use legs as an example)

-
Squats- 3-5x5-12
leg press 3-4x8-15
db lunge 3-4x8-15
leg extension 2-3x 10-15
lying leg curl 2-3x 10-14
calf raises 3-5x12+

So if you look at your total "leg work" for a week on a program like 5x5, you see that even though it is 3 times per week, the volume is spread out and you end up doing maybe 50 reps total for squats where as on the brosplit body part style you might do more reps than that on your very first exercise.


In short, if you wanted to do something like 5x5 then yes 3x a week is fine. If you wanted to do a bro split that works everything 3x a week it can easily get to be too much ( or require the assistance of further complication to training to be effective).