Frequency and rest, some questions

webhead · 01-07-2008, 08:39 AM

Hi all,

With the recent holidays my gym closed for 3 days around christmas and new year and I moved my monday and wednesday training to sunday and thursday. I've always been training each body part twice each week except for my legs during workouts. I still make steady progress.
With this closedown and forced 3 days rest I noticed I felt more energized and I could train with more intensity.

This being said I'm now considering training each part once/week which I feel would give parts like my chest a better recovery and I might do some periodisation like the triphase workout, however:

1) I've never felt like I need more recovery for my arms so I feel I might be "undertraining" them.
2) I already do about 10 sets per part so I don't think I should increase the load by more volume. Maybe better recovery will allow me to increase weight more rapidly?
3) I'm currently cutting and if I'm not going to increase volume I'm definetly going to spend less time in the gym. Not burning as much calories and the overall feel of 'not training as much' is a MAJOR concern to me.

4) This triphase thing supposedly works best with a hypercaloric diet or when bulking. Should I seek a different program or 'theory' while cutting?

webhead · 01-07-2008, 03:57 PM

bump
I like some insights

angel84 · 01-08-2008, 01:51 AM

1) I've never felt like I need more recovery for my arms so I feel I might be "undertraining" them.

*If you are making steady gains, as you mention earlier, then there is no reason to change your rest period.

2) I already do about 10 sets per part so I don't think I should increase the load by more volume. Maybe better recovery will allow me to increase weight more rapidly?

*You mention later you are in a cutting cycle. If so, increasing the weight would not be an ideal modification in your training. Ideal training for a cutting phase includes lower weight at higher repititions.

4) This triphase thing supposedly works best with a hypercaloric diet or when bulking. Should I seek a different program or 'theory' while cutting?

*Yes. Search the boards, theres alot of interesting methods regarding fat loss.I personally use High Intense Cardio 2x a week with 4 days lifting on and then 3 days off. This training particularly appeals to me because I had previously been a runner before I picked up BB'ing. Do some research and find something that resonates with your personal style/interests.
-Best Wishes

semperfi_psalm121 · 01-08-2008, 03:30 AM

Cutting fat while trying to build lean muscle is tricky and takes some pratice especially with a diet. there is a good article at bb.com. Do a search for how to cut weight and gain muscle or something like that.

webhead · 01-08-2008, 03:41 AM

I'm not looking for building muscle as much as I'm trying to preserve mass and strength. Afaic that takes a similar hard training and muscle stimulation.

My forced days off however made me realize I might be taxing my body too much and results could suffer from fatigue. At the same time I'm worried that training less will slow my cut down...
It's a dilemma.

BabyBodybuilder · 01-08-2008, 03:50 AM

I'm not going to get anything to be my assumptions up, other then my logic, but here's what I think.. If you're training and creating tears in the muscle, but not giving the body the nutrients it needs to repair those tears, will results in no size gains, and perhaps possible muscle lose.

However, if you were to take a BCAA supplement. It contains the three amino acids that are muscle repair but aren't metabolized in the stomach, so you can possible repair the tears will still losing fat.

IMHO.

webhead · 01-08-2008, 04:06 AM

It's not as simple.
In theory your fat loss could supply the energetic needs for your tissue repair. Protein can and is salvaged from other tissues. Ofcourse supplementation with essentials while keeping other calories low (like BCAA) aids a tremendous amount. I do take BCAA and a PWO protein shake as well as some multi vitamins. As a test I once abruptly stopped taking them and kept my workouts at the same level: at the end of week 2 I was slouching. It sure helps recovery...
We could go into great biochemical detail about this but that's not the point here and not the thread/forum as well.