How many times do I train per week? Balancing work, family and other commitments are not easy. An easier answer to this question is ‘whenever I have the time.’ Not so fast Tubby. A better answer would be, how many training sessions would I need per week in order to accomplish my goals. Yes, goal setting. We talked about that in one of our first articles. Let me give you a crash course on how to determine the answer to this question. First of all, training once every 1-2 weeks is going to do jack for you, unless you are 90 years old, have 10 kids, 3 jobs (2 of which happen to be advertising) and absolutely no testosterone. Yes I’m talking to you, the pudgy guy who shows up to the gym every couple of weeks, does a couple of half-assed workouts and struts around like he’s a don. With that out of the way, here’s the lowdown: 1. Gaining Muscle- if this is your goal, and you have a fulltime job, I’d recommend around 3-4 sessions per week as optimal. However these sessions need to be brutal. You need to really stimulate those muscles in order to grow. If you are training 3 days a week, I recommend either 3 total body workouts or an upper/lower split. If you can train 4 times a week, you can do a push/pull/legs/arms split. 2. Gaining Strength- this is one goal that can vary. Some programmes have you training twice a week, some have you training up to four times. I recommend 3 times a week. You will be training very heavy, and your muscles and joints will take a serious pounding. Hence you’d need some time to recover from them. Here an upper/lower/upper split on week 1 and lower/upper/lower split on week 2 (rotate back and forth) is highly recommended. 3. Getting leaner- in addition to dialing your diet and skipping those biryanis and cupcakes, you need to burn as many calories as possible in order to burn fat. So you need to train more often. The more active you are the better. Hence no less than 4 days a week and going up to 6 days for a short burst of time would be beneficial. It’s important that atleast 2 sessions have some decent strength training, and the others can be cardio and endurance focused. In addition, walk on your off days the first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Hey no one said this was easy! You know your body better, and may have already figured out what works for you. But incase you don’t, these are guidelines to get you started. Post questions if you need anything clarified. Hopefully I’ve given you something new to ponder over.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 03:43:25 +0000
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