Thoughts on hitting each muscle 1x per week?

[livindagym]

Question guys. 37 yrs old. Started a lean bulk a month or so back. Have been doing an Upper/Lower split for what seems like forever now. Dont care for it at all. Thinking of trying GST but noticed youre basically hitting at least the core lifts once per week. Anyone run this program or hit each major lift once a week? The past year or so ive just felt pretty run down and constantly exhausted. I dunno if im doing too much in the gym or just getting old or what, so a program like this kinda has my attention.

[drudixon]

If I remember right, that program is a week at 15, then, 10, then 5, but it was 3 days a week.

Once per week isn't effective for me and my goals, but plenty swear by it.

[livindagym]

If I remember right, that program is a week at 15, then, 10, then 5, but it was 3 days a week.

Once per week isn't effective for me and my goals, but plenty swear by it.

HST is setup like u mentioned. GST is 4x a week but different muscle group each time vs the full body HST 3x a week. Ive ran HST before i may just go that route again.

[drudixon]

HST is setup like u mentioned. GST is 4x a week but different muscle group each time vs the full body HST 3x a week. Ive ran HST before i may just go that route again.

Ah yes, thank you.

[OldFartTom]

If you like U/L style, how about a 4 day a week phul?

[AD1985]

Personally raising frequency has helped me increase gains

[grubman]

Personally raising frequency has helped me increase gains

^^same here. When I felt like my workouts were "draining" me too much, I increased the frequency and reduced the volume per workout accordingly. Shorter harder workouts more often have worked wonderfully for me.

[wesleysh21]

I'd think its okay to hit the "major lifts" once per week but I've never gained anything hitting a muscle group once per week. There is a big difference between doing a particular lift only once and hitting the muscle only once. I hit each muscle 2-3 times per week but I try not to do the exact same lift more than once per week.

[bayrider]

I am currently following wesleysh21's approach and have seen the best gains. I hit each muscle group twice per week and the exercises are changed so that a particular movement is only done once per week.

[CW47]

I agree with wesley as well.

@OP, not sure if you saw it, but I posted a reply to you in the GST thread that shows a template which has you hitting each muscle group twice per week.
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...post1543813731

[blue9steel]

^^same here. When I felt like my workouts were "draining" me too much, I increased the frequency and reduced the volume per workout accordingly. Shorter harder workouts more often have worked wonderfully for me.

This has held true for me as well.

[Bando]

Once per week isn't effective for me and my goals, but plenty swear by it.

My favorite is the 1X/week Brosplit. When you do chest day, you're indirectly hitting shoulders & triceps etc. It does get stale after awhile and then I change it up to that newfangled programming you youngsters use.

[smokinal]

My favorite is the 1X/week Brosplit. When you do chest day, you're indirectly hitting shoulders & triceps etc. It does get stale after awhile and then I change it up to that newfangled programming you youngsters use.

I'm a once a week bro split guy as well. But mine is as this:
mon=delts/bis/tris
wed=legs, traps, forearms
fri=chest/back

So, between direct work and indirect work, my bis/tris get hit twice. I pound the piss outta myself and am sore for a good 3-4 days after each bodypart. I know that isn't nesessary but I like it anyway.
My son is on Naturally Enhanced and has made rediculous gains these past 1.5 yrs. I'm going to have him train me with this program this summer when he's home from college.
That's a 2 day/week schedule; full body both days. I'm interested in how that works for me after bro splitting for the past 34 yrs....

[Bando]

I'm a once a week bro split guy as well. But mine is as this:
mon=delts/bis/tris
wed=legs, traps, forearms
fri=chest/back

To me that's more of a push/pull. The classic Mon/chest, Tue/back, Wed/Legs, Thu/Shoulders, Fri/Arms is what I'm typing about. It's terrible for legs and probably the reason why I still bench close to what I squat, but it does build muscle.

[livindagym]

Think im gonna run HST. I didnquite a few cycles of it a few yrs back and had some solid gains despite alot of db work over barbell cuz of shoulder issues. Gonna use barbell this time so its easier to keep increasing the load and see where it gets me.

[tkdnj]

^^same here. When I felt like my workouts were "draining" me too much, I increased the frequency and reduced the volume per workout accordingly. Shorter harder workouts more often have worked wonderfully for me.

Grubman: so what did your workout wind up looking like? i.e. how often do you hit each muscle? and how many sets for each muscle? for example, I've seen high frequency for chest defined as 6 sets 3 times per week or 12 sets 2 times per week)

Thanks!

[justinfore]

I think once/week is too seldom...your muscles don't need a week to recover. I think the best combination is higher frequency, maximum intensity, and lower volume. If you're not at least as strong on the next workout, your volume is too high.

I do a two day split, one rest day a week, so I'm hitting every muscle group three times/week. In one year, I've trained each muscle group over 150 times...on a 7 day split, you're only training each muscle group 50 times in one year.

I only do two working sets per exercise, but both sets are to failure...I think anything more is hard to maintain that level of intensity (to push to failure on every set). Likewise, I keep the workout short...50 minutes, maybe an hour max if I get delayed.

...but not every workout is the same to prevent overuse injuries to joints and connective tissues. For instance I don't squat and do OHP on every leg/shoulder day, nor do I bench and deadlift on every chest and back day.

[grubman]

Grubman: so what did your workout wind up looking like? i.e. how often do you hit each muscle? and how many sets for each muscle? for example, I've seen high frequency for chest defined as 6 sets 3 times per week or 12 sets 2 times per week)

Thanks!

I'm still in the (final) tweaking stage of the new Volume Periodization workout based primarily on the core ideas of Dr. Mike Israetel .

The workout itself is an extension of what I worked on last year, but with the periodization (and deload) worked in.

There are a LOT of details that go much further beyond just listing sets. I might outline in 5 or 6 months if I see some "dramatic improvements" worth sharing. But at this point, I don't want to extensively detail the workout and reasoning, when I don't have any conclusive findings yet when it comes to results.

In any case, it's push/pull 6 consecutive days (Monday off). About 10 minutes of dynamic stretching and warm-up before going right into the workout. I do additional dynamic stretching and warm-up for lower body when I get to it.

Push (Tu, Th, Sa): Chest, Front/Side Delts, Tri, Quad, Calves
Pull (We, Fr, Su): Abs, Back, Rear Delts (and traps), Bi, Hamstrings

Week 1: Deload (more on this below)
Week 2: 3 sets big (9 per week), 2 sets small (6 per week)
Week 3: 4 sets big (12 per week), 3 sets small (9 per week)
Week 4: 5 sets big (15 per week), 4 sets small (12 per week)
Week 5: ? See below

So far I'm really liking it and enjoying it...but progress is what matters.

I'm going on week 4 of the second "cycle", or micro-cycle, or whatever you would call it. I planned on 5 weeks, but the first time around, I was wiped after week 4, and decided to go into deload. So, as of right now, I don't know if there will be a week 5 included in the plan, or if it will just be 4 weeks, as I try to determine the maximum recoverable volume.

As far as the deload (and I'm open to commentary), this is my first time incorporating a scheduled deload week. The first time I did it, I decided to keep the volume the same as week 2 and drop the weights to about 60%. Since this was much less taxing, I also decided to combine the push/pull into a full body, and run it 3 days that week, maximizing recovery time.

I didn't like this.

First I felt it was far to easy (I mean really easy), and second...going from working out almost every day to every other day and then 2 days off was mentally and physically nerve-racking. I was anxious feeling and frustrated about working out (or not), I was sleeping horribly and waking up early, and I was lethargic all day on the days I didn't work out.

So this time around, I'm going to go the alternate route and keep the intensity and frequency the same, and drop the volume to 2 sets for big, 1 set for small. I think this will be less disruptive to my life (and thus, more productive).

Of course, there is always the possibility that I will discover this new deload volume is actually my minimum recoverable volume (or maintenance), in which case the duration of the cycle will change.

Edit: The week 2 workouts take about 35-45 minutes. week 3 take about 45-55 minutes, and week 4 take about an hour to an hour 15. Approximately 1 1/2 minute rest between sets, 2 minutes for legs.

[tkdnj]

I only do two working sets per exercise, but both sets are to failure...I think anything more is hard to maintain that level of intensity (to push to failure on every set).

Justinfore: two working sets per exercise, but how many exercises per muscle?

[tkdnj]

I'm still in the (final) tweaking stage of the new Volume Periodization workout based primarily on the core ideas of Dr. Mike Israetel .

The workout itself is an extension of what I worked on last year, but with the periodization (and deload) worked in.

There are a LOT of details that go much further beyond just listing sets. I might outline in 5 or 6 months if I see some "dramatic improvements" worth sharing. But at this point, I don't want to extensively detail the workout and reasoning, when I don't have any conclusive findings yet when it comes to results.

In any case, it's push/pull 6 consecutive days (Monday off). About 10 minutes of dynamic stretching and warm-up before going right into the workout. I do additional dynamic stretching and warm-up for lower body when I get to it.

Push (Tu, Th, Sa): Chest, Front/Side Delts, Tri, Quad, Calves
Pull (We, Fr, Su): Abs, Back, Rear Delts (and traps), Bi, Hamstrings

Week 1: Deload (more on this below)
Week 2: 3 sets big (9 per week), 2 sets small (6 per week)
Week 3: 4 sets big (12 per week), 3 sets small (9 per week)
Week 4: 5 sets big (15 per week), 4 sets small (12 per week)
Week 5: ? See below

So far I'm really liking it and enjoying it...but progress is what matters.

I'm going on week 4 of the second "cycle", or micro-cycle, or whatever you would call it. I planned on 5 weeks, but the first time around, I was wiped after week 4, and decided to go into deload. So, as of right now, I don't know if there will be a week 5 included in the plan, or if it will just be 4 weeks, as I try to determine the maximum recoverable volume.

As far as the deload (and I'm open to commentary), this is my first time incorporating a scheduled deload week. The first time I did it, I decided to keep the volume the same as week 2 and drop the weights to about 60%. Since this was much less taxing, I also decided to combine the push/pull into a full body, and run it 3 days that week, maximizing recovery time.

I didn't like this.

First I felt it was far to easy (I mean really easy), and second...going from working out almost every day to every other day and then 2 days off was mentally and physically nerve-racking. I was anxious feeling and frustrated about working out (or not), I was sleeping horribly and waking up early, and I was lethargic all day on the days I didn't work out.

So this time around, I'm going to go the alternate route and keep the intensity and frequency the same, and drop the volume to 2 sets for big, 1 set for small. I think this will be less disruptive to my life (and thus, more productive).

Of course, there is always the possibility that I will discover this new deload volume is actually my minimum recoverable volume (or maintenance), in which case the duration of the cycle will change.

Edit: The week 2 workouts take about 35-45 minutes. week 3 take about 45-55 minutes, and week 4 take about an hour to an hour 15. Approximately 1 1/2 minute rest between sets, 2 minutes for legs.

Thanks Grubman... I appreciate the detail

[justinfore]

Justinfore: two working sets per exercise, but how many exercises per muscle?

3-4...sometimes 5 at the most.