How many times a week should you lift each body part?

[baseballstud22]

How many times a week should you lift each body part? I know many people that lift each body part once a week and many that lift each part twice.....both types are toned and have decent size? Whats the best for staying lean and tone?

[Overload]

Depends on the person and you're probably going to get different answers. I like once a week per bodypart. If you push yourself hard enough, that's all you need IMO, plus you need the recovery time if you do go all out.

[Du510]

How many times a week should you lift each body part? I know many people that lift each body part once a week and many that lift each part twice.....both types are toned and have decent size? Whats the best for staying lean and tone?

Its different with everyone. Personally, what works BEST for me, is doing chest, back, legs all once a week each. Theyre all large groups and need more time to recover. My bis, tris, delts, forearms are all smaller groups and I hit those twice a week. They dont need as much time to recover.

[brokenchair]

Depends on the person and you're probably going to get different answers. I like once a week per bodypart. If you push yourself hard enough, that's all you need IMO, plus you need the recovery time if you do go all out.

Yeah I agree. For me, if done correctly, I wouldn't be able to train the same body part more than once a week if i wanted. But you should experiment and see what works for you.

[fuzzwazser]

I feel 2x a week is best. it doesnt take an entire week for the muscle to heal so ur basically wasting that time.

[mrk_bb]

I feel 2x a week is best. it doesnt take an entire week for the muscle to heal so ur basically wasting that time.

Me too. But different strokes for differewnt folks.

[fuzzwazser]

Me too. But different strokes for differewnt folks.

glad someone agree's. I feel those who say "it didnt work for me" simply dont know how to train.

[xenithon]

glad someone agree's. I feel those who say "it didnt work for me" simply dont know how to train.

WTF? So you are saying all the people on these boards working muscles once a week don't know how to train? Um, ok. Similarly I could say those working twice a week don't know how to train, because if you give it your all for, lets say, a leg workout, you can hardly WALK for a week nevertheless train it again! But, I won't say that, cause that is hypocritical. I think most people would agree that what works for one may not work for another. That is one of the joys of BB - learning to listen to your body and find YOUR optimum.

I think people need to experiment more and look at the results. It is for the same reason that some people eat 2k cal a day to maintain, others need 5k+ to maintain; the same reason some people need cardio 5x a week to get cut and others can do it with little to no cardio. Everyone is different and I think you have a very ignorant viewpoint saying they do not know how to train. I aint looking to pick a fight here but there is no need to criticise in such a general fashion as you have.

X

[brokenchair]

glad someone agree's. I feel those who say "it didnt work for me" simply dont know how to train.

That's too simplistic a statement for my tastes. things are rarely that cut and dry.

[ovidiu]

from what i know, some bodyparts tend to recover slightly faster than the others... like calves...
personally, i do each bodypart once a week except for calves and abs which i do twice/week

[fuzzwazser]

WTF? So you are saying all the people on these boards working muscles once a week don't know how to train? Um, ok. Similarly I could say those working twice a week don't know how to train, because if you give it your all for, lets say, a leg workout, you can hardly WALK for a week nevertheless train it again! But, I won't say that, cause that is hypocritical. I think most people would agree that what works for one may not work for another. That is one of the joys of BB - learning to listen to your body and find YOUR optimum.

I think people need to experiment more and look at the results. It is for the same reason that some people eat 2k cal a day to maintain, others need 5k+ to maintain; the same reason some people need cardio 5x a week to get cut and others can do it with little to no cardio. Everyone is different and I think you have a very ignorant viewpoint saying they do not know how to train. I aint looking to pick a fight here but there is no need to criticise in such a general fashion as you have.

X

I have no problem with those who lift once a week. It does work and many can get good results. The thing is u mentioned "go all out". I'm assuming you are talking about going to failure a lot and really hammering yourself into the ground. Thats great for beating the hell out of your cns but your muscles can take so much more. Thats silly to me. fact is if you dont train to failure you can increase both frequency and volume. If a muscle only takes 72 hours to heal why wait more? It's not an efficient way to train.

Also my comment was people who say training 2x a week didnt work for them don't know how to train. They most likely didnt manage their total volume correctly still trained to failure and "gave it their all".

I'm not trying to start a fight these are my opinons. Sorry if my first post seemed inflamatory.

[ManOfSteel-138]

I for one train each bodypart twice per week, except legs and lower back which I train once a week. Sometime I do alternate and do those twice a week but I cut back on the intensity. I will not say that once a week doesn’t work, it just doesn’t work for me. I say try it and if you are making progress stay with it if not try something else. Keep in mind if you do try the two day a week thing try it this way. On your first day try a rep range like 3x8 and then the second day for the same exercises switch it up and do 8x3. Yeah, that’s right. Why? Well, it keeps the you from getting burned out too fast. Notice I said try it...because what works for me may not work for you!

[xenithon]

fuzzwazser - I do not mean going to failure all the time, I know how that can kill the CNS. I just mean going as hard as possible just before failure. I refer mainly to intensity. You know when you walk out (or crawl out ) of the gym and know you worked bloody well without overextending yourself.

I myself actually rotate - a few months once a week, a few months twice a week. Keeps the body guessing, keeps things dynamic, and keeps results coming.

I know some people who even follow training routines based on 8 or 9 days, training a muscle once every 9 days etc. and they have fantastic results. It is simply how their body responds. As brokenchair said, things are rarely so simple.

[fuzzwazser]

fuzzwazser - I do not mean going to failure all the time, I know how that can kill the CNS. I just mean going as hard as possible just before failure. I refer mainly to intensity. You know when you walk out (or crawl out ) of the gym and know you worked bloody well without overextending yourself.

I myself actually rotate - a few months once a week, a few months twice a week. Keeps the body guessing, keeps things dynamic, and keeps results coming.

I know some people who even follow training routines based on 8 or 9 days, training a muscle once every 9 days etc. and they have fantastic results. It is simply how their body responds. As brokenchair said, things are rarely so simple.

I can respect that. I have my viewpoints you have yours. All that really matters in the end are results.