For how long should I rest each muscle group before working out again? Should I train the same muscle group more than once a week?

By Anonymous ( - 129.10.176.107) on Sunday, November 26, 2000 - 09:01 am: Edit

Don't train the same muscle group twice a week, you may want to train them only once a week.

There are many different opinions about training the same muscle group whether once a week, twice a week or even three times a week. I have tried all, and I think the best one for muscle recovery, growth, and strenght is to train only once a week.
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By molsonman on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 11:02 pm: Edit

It depends upon your personal recovery ability. Some people recover faster than others. Never work a muscle if it is still sore.

By joehagy on Wednesday, December 27, 2000 - 03:08 am: Edit

most guys train each muscle group once a week. some guys, such as melvin anthony, who have a very quick recovery period, train each muscle group twice a week. i used to train each muscle group 2x's a week then i switched to 1x a week. i have noticed a great increase in strenghth. its all up to you. also, you should not lift for more than 1 hour a day( or 2 hours if your do a morning/night split) because your body produces a chemical that will actually BREAK DOWN MUSCLE. i read that in muscle and fitness. hope i helped. email me if you have any quesitons

By Leedog on Saturday, February 10, 2001 - 05:08 am: Edit

Depending on your type of workout. If you just want to look good and look more than just a stick boy, twice a week is fine.

If you want to gain muscle and be huge, work hard and only train once a week.

The bottom line: REST.

By joehagy on Saturday, February 10, 2001 - 06:02 pm: Edit

hmmmmmm... i think it has more to do with recovery than how you want to look. if it takes 5-7 days for your body to recover from a killer leg workout, then working them 1 a week is good. working them twice a week, when they are still sore, can prevent muscle growth from occuring. if you recover from a workout in 3-4 days( if your training like you should, hard, then this wont happen often) then hit each muscle group twice a week. some guys can do it, MOST GUYS CANT! i tried and failed like so many others. just listen to your body. dont overdue it, and when you train, go all out and be a crazy mo-fo. good luck

joe

By JamesHackett on Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 01:08 am: Edit

You can either work hard or work long. Do not combine the two. For example, 1 workout would be 3 sets of 10 in the bench press. This would be a constant weight, say 225 for 10 reps for 3 sets.
If you get all the reps, add 10% and next bench day, try to get 3 sets of 10 reps.
Now, you can also do an exercise to failure. Lets do squats. Do 1 set of 20 reps to failure. Thats it! Now how about the bench press? Do 1 set to failure, say 10 reps (NO FORCED REPS)do your 10 reps, rest 20-30 seconds do another "set" and that is it. Some people say this is not enough, but the 80 pounds of drug-free muscle I have gained over 8 years is proof enough. I would work each bodypart 1 time a week. If I was cutting up, 2times a week, with a lot of volume and higher reps.

By Anonymous (205.188.193.176) on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 06:43 am: Edit

ya'll must not know much because you should only work out one muscle group per week if you are just starting weight training and your muscles do not have a fast recovery time but if you have been weight training for a long time your body doesn't need as long for recovery. for instance you can do bench and curls 3 times a week especially curls because your biceps are the fastest recovering muscle in your body.

By bobo (128.175.251.48) on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 08:19 am: Edit

We all know plenty and it depends on the intensity that you work at. If i do 12-15 hard sets then I'm only doing them once a week. Whether your starting or not has nothing to do with it.