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Why do some people go to the gym every day and benefit from these visits? Why is 2-3 times enough for others? Is it possible to pump every day? Is there any point in such activities? Is it possible to swing at home? Is there a difference in how to swing on a horizontal bar or on other exercise machines?
Optimal timing of body regeneration
Let's start with the minimum: a person needs 24 hours for recovery, that is, complete rest. This is exactly how much time should pass from one lesson to another.
This applies to:
- new to sports
- not young people over 50 years old
- people with little activity in the gym
Exactly 24 hours is the required minimum from one sport activity to another. During this time, the body is able to create new structures (enzymes, muscle fibers, etc.) and recharge itself with energy for the next activity.
The maximum that can be spent on rest without harming body composition is three days. This is good for:
- professional athletes using heavy weights during training
- actively training large muscle groups (legs, back, arms)
These are general concepts and there is no need to focus on them. The norm of rest is always determined by an experienced trainer or mentor, taking into account the characteristics of the body.
Find that your newfound strength is of little use
You can be a superhero in training, but most of the time you look like Superman with a piece of kryptonite in his pants, or Tony Stark with a short circuit in the arc reactor in his chest. In other words, your muscles are too stiff and sore from your last workout to actually do anything useful.
For example, you need to raise a kitten. Warm up first and do a few sets of light kittens and move on to heavier kittens until you can lift a “working weight kitten.”
But the result is worth it! Is not it?
Training frequency of each group
In order for your success in increasing muscle mass to be continuous, you need to decide on the amount of time for recovery; this is purely individual. But based on certain rules:
Large muscle groups - require longer recovery time
Remember, the larger the muscle, the more thoroughly it needs to be pumped and the more it needs to rest. Some manage to combine pumping up two categories of muscles, one of which is considered large. Often the legs are connected to the shoulders or biceps.
This is absolutely not the right approach. The part allocated to the legs is 50% of the total muscle mass of the human torso, therefore it is absolutely not advisable to conduct such combined training. There will be a defect in both directions. It is best to set aside a specific day for your legs and devote the entire training time to them. But it will take more time to rest 50% of the muscles of the whole body than, for example, 25% of the muscles in the arms.
Smaller muscle types (triceps, shoulders, etc.) rest faster than larger ones. Therefore, their training can be done more often. For example, when pumping the pectoral muscles, the triceps and shoulders are used as accessory muscles.
Beginners require less rest
This is due to the fact that during training, more experienced bodybuilders are able to take more serious loads on the body and, accordingly, they will need more time to recover. And newcomers to the sport are not so prepared to inflict the same attack on the muscles as experienced athletes.
Beginners will need less recovery time and for them there is a rule: when working on large muscle groups, rest should be from 36 to 48 hours, and for experienced athletes these figures range from 48 to 72 hours.
Athletes with experience – more respite
These people are able to lift iron with particular intensity. In this regard, the workload they receive is many times greater than that of innovators. During training, experienced athletes most often use the split principle - they divide the entire torso into categories and work out one category at a time, but very intensively.
Each muscle is given its own period and only during this period is it worked out with special care. This contributes to quality rest for the whole week. For example, if you pumped your chest on the 10th, then the next one will only be on the 17th.
Number of sets and training time
Everyone knows that the most optimal workout is 40-50 minutes in the gym. The duration of the lesson is directly affected by the number of approaches and repetitions. As usual, for larger groups, a larger number of sets (from 4 to 6), and for smaller groups, a correspondingly smaller number of sets (from 1 to 3).
The big secrets of elite bodybuilders
One of the most famous bodybuilders in the world, Arnie, was in the gym constantly. He literally devoted every minute to improving his already meticulous body and creating even greater relief forms. He studied every day, sometimes several times a day.
But he worked towards this for many years, and it all started like everyone else, with 2-3 times a week. Every day his body became more and more accustomed to the stress, and the number of days he visited the gym had to be increased, but this was provided that his muscles did not hurt. In addition, when the first victories, awards and, of course, money came, the need arose to visit the gym constantly, and for this it was necessary to move away from the classical schedule of classes.
In order to survive in tough competition, I had to train with enormous intensity, lie under the barbell for even more time, doing mass exercises, and increase the number of workouts. To speed up the process of adaptation and recovery of the body, some athletes resort to the help of medicine, namely drugs containing steroids and protein.
Another secret of famous bodybuilders was their ability to concentrate, namely, they could reach exhaustion using little weight. This happens due to the strong brain-muscle connection, and also due to the ability to imagine the final result.
It is a mistake to think that daily training was constant, but this is not the case with such frequency immediately before the competition and began to be used three, four weeks before going on stage.
You will feel what old age is like long before it comes
Here we need to clarify a little. After you've been lifting weights for a while (a couple of months), you'll feel good, even great... as long as you sit completely still.
When you get up and start doing something: “Hello, the old man who advertises various ointments (Viprosal, Dolobene) for the back and joints!”
You won't just "get up" in the morning. Your whole body will be so sore after exertion that you will have to roll out of bed and pick yourself up piece by piece, like some cheap mass-produced piece of furniture from IKEA.
Some parts of your body will wake up faster than others, but until all your decrepit joints are in sync, you'll walk "as if you were running toward a ringing phone with your pants down to your knees."
But the result is worth it, of course!
Training schemes
Now let's move directly to the training schemes, choose the most suitable one for yourself, and train according to it.
Pumping a specific muscle group every seven days
Example of training by day:
- Mon. – thoracic region;
- t. – dorsal region;
- Wed - break;
- Thurs. - legs;
- Fri. – shoulder section;
- Saturday and Sunday – break.
You were able to see that during the week the only large category of muscles is worked out. The break between trainings is seven whole days. Be clear about the quality of the load on a specific muscle.
Days spent empty, without tension, will slow down the development process. Increased load is also not the best; it is necessary to determine a strict balance between training and stress. It is necessary that she approaches the next pumping, in the best shape, and with new strength for new loads.
Leveling up each category three times within seven days
Sample trainings by day:
- Mon. – entire torso;
- Tue. - break;
- Wed – the entire torso;
- Thurs. - break;
- Fri. – the entire torso;
- Saturday and Sunday – break.
A separate group is worked out three times, the rest interval between trainings is 1-2 days. A little stress is created for the body so that the body has time to recover in a short period of time.
Pumping three times involves the use of 3 to 4 approaches, for a different muscle group, during each of the three weekly sessions. Since the activity and frequency are quite high, the amount needs to be reduced. It will be 9-12 approaches in seven days.
Leveling up each category twice within seven days
Sample trainings by day:
- Mon. – upper torso;
- Tue. - lower torso;
- Wed – break;
- Thurs. – upper torso;
- Fri. – lower torso;
- Saturday and Sunday – break.
You already understand that each muscle group is worked on twice a week. This is the middle ground between the two options proposed earlier. There is a danger of giving too low or too high a load, but in this position it is difficult to do this.
The categories are worked out twice, involving approximately 5-6 approaches in each group of exercises. Since the chosen tempo is moderate, both the frequency and volume will not be excessive. The volume will be 10-12 approaches in seven days.
You'll never eat anything tasty again
Now you definitely won’t be envied. You'll eat to gain muscle and burn fat at the same time—a nutrition trick that's more like Houdini. While this is entirely possible, it's basically like trying to start a fire underwater.
In addition, your menu will not be very diverse.
What does "not too much" mean?
Did you know that you feed your dog the same dry food every day for his entire life?
Well, compared to your new diet for muscle growth, dog food is a gastronomic delight that causes delight in the mouth and tongue. Everything you eat from now on can easily fit into a short list of standard high-protein, low-fat foods—flavorless muscle-building foods.
And you will never taste sugar again. Instead, you'll ingest so much artificial sweetener that you'll wonder why your insides haven't gelled yet.
But it's worth it, of course. Is not it?
Advice
The most popular among the population is working out with a frequency of once every seven days. But they are the least effective. Naturally, they work, but too much time is allocated for rest and this is not beneficial for muscle development.
Let’s compare the numbers, we get 52 trainings for each muscle category per year, but with a frequency of twice a week, we get 104 trainings per year. Which is better and more effective in my opinion is obvious. According to the previously drawn up diagrams, we have:
- training each muscle alliance once a week is the least effective method presented;
- training each muscle alliance three times a week is the most acceptable scheme for beginners;
- training twice a week is the best option for those who want to increase strength, gain weight, and lose excess weight.
That's probably all.
People will think you're stupid
Once your T-shirt begins to fill with muscle, people around you will immediately begin to think that your mental ability is inversely proportional to your muscle level. No one will take you seriously unless it's about your bench press or your diet.
And if you say something smart, people will be stunned. They will treat you the same as if they met a chimpanzee who has learned to use the toilet, or some four-year-old child who has memorized the text of Eugene Onegin.
At times it will feel quite humiliating.
Girls don't actually like muscular guys.
This is the biggest joke.
You started working out at the gym to become more attractive to women, but most girls don't like the overly muscular look.
It's the equivalent of the O. Henry story where the guy sells his watch to buy his wife with luscious long hair a set of combs, completely unaware that she cut her hair and sold it to buy a chain for his gold watch. As a result, they were very upset and were so shocked that they jumped off the bridge hand in hand.
Of course, this story doesn’t end that way, but it could have happened that way.
Yes, of course, many women will look with delight at male striptease at parties or in nightclubs. But in everyday life they wouldn't dare date one of these ripped, muscular guys.
Instead, they like cute, smart boys with toned figures and smooth skin.
But maybe you'll get lucky. And quite by chance, ironically, you will meet a girl who cares little about such little things as appearance and physical attractiveness. And she will love you for who you are and won't mind your muscles.
Yes of course! Repeat this to yourself often!
