Reactive Training Systems

Frequency is a tough question.... It really depends on the individual. I squat 3 times a week (and deadlift 3 times a week -- some are on the same days). I have guys that only squat once a week. I know other guys who have clients squatting 6 days a week. The point is how you handle the workload.

What is your current training like? How are you handling the work that you're currently doing?

I'll try to provide a better response in the coming days. I'm just out of time for now. Sorry!

Personally, I squat anywhere from 3-6 times per week. It took me a while to build up that sort of recovery and work capacity, but back when I was still training Westside, a DE workout would leave me completely gassed. What I did to increase recovery and work capacity:

I left in my Max Effort day, and structured the week like this:

1- Max Sq
2-50%x5x5
3-off
4-60%x4x4
5-off
6-70%x3x3
7-50%x5x5

The % days were done raw, beltless. The first couple weeks I was pretty beat up, after that I made all the days 5x5, then a few weeks later I restructured my week like this:

1- Max Sq (full gear)
2- off
3-off
4- Progressive overload day (raw)
5-off
6- Pause Squats (raw)
7-off

the off days I may go in and do some active recovery. After I stall out on days 4 and 6 I will change them to DE work and Anderson squats. Hope this helps!

hahahah nick i love the last comment

The question in this case is, although you CAN do it many ways, which way is best? This is an individual process and variances are normal, but here is some general info to follow with it.

If you know the physiological effects of training, then what you do from there gets pretty simple. If your training objectives lead you to a morphological block composed of higher volumes of high-effort training, then you may need lower frequencies to recover. If your objectives lead you to a block aimed at inter/intra muscular coord composed of moderate volumes, moderate intensities, then the frequency can and should be higher to aid the process. Of course, your overall fitness and work capacity will play a big role in which particular frequency is appropriate for you.

When you decide to try 2x per week, I'd cut the volume of each workout in half and just do it over the course of 2 days. That's usually a good place to start. You will feel sore and beat up for a couple of weeks, but that should go away. Then, after you get used to two "half-volume" workouts, gradually increase the volume over the course of many weeks. When you get back up to 2 full workouts weekly, you may want to repeat the process to 3x per week or maybe not, but this process usually works pretty good for most.

sort of.
Theoretically, it's better to do multiple shorter sessions because your brain learns better in this manner (inter/intra muscular coord). Hypertrophy/morphological changes can be different, however.
Now, as with all things there is a point of diminishing returns. This point varies greatly from person to person and is a major reason why people have varying successes with varied programs.
The next logical question is what causes this point of diminishing returns? Work capacity is the main thing, but that's vague. Your work capacity can fall short for a number of physiological reasons. Maybe your hormonal systems can't keep up. Maybe your autonomic nervous system is out of balance. Maybe your central nervous system is fatigued. Maybe the muscles themselves don't have the capillary beds to flush out waste products quickly enough. The list goes on and on through energy reserves (ATP, CP, etc), enzymatic issues in the muscles themselves, electrolyte deficiency, and I'm sure I'm missing plenty of others. The interesting (and complicated) thing is that most of these issues are addressed differently as well. Other limitations may be heavily influenced by genetic circumstances and won't change much over time. That leads to some people getting a lot out of High Frequency and some do not.

This goes back to the issue of finding what works best for you. Programs work differently for different people because of their circumstances. It's not because I'm me and you're you that we get different results. It's predictable based on our starting point. That's where a good knowledge of this stuff comes in. If I know where you are, and I know where you want to go, the rest becomes easier (still not easy, but significantly easier). That's where my interest in non-invasive testing comes from. It helps me better find out where my athletes are so I can get them the most efficient plan possible.

Hope that makes sense.

jamwithtupac wrote:

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Mike, I guess you believe in the theory to squat more weight, squat more?

Do you think that once you can handle once a week training, you should increase it slowly to 2 , then 3 times a week as you believe you get stronger quicker this way?

similar to the bulgarian weightlifting training, where they started a basic routine, and added an extra day of training every few months untill they were working out multiple times a week

is this the equivalent of your theory?

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The frequency of training for a lifter is highly dependent on two things in my book...

1. Level of preparedness of the lifter, the more highly prepared (world class, etc) the more frequency you will need to further strength gains. Intensity is also this way, the more prepared you are, the more you will need to train at higher intensities.

2. The level of fatigue you are trying to create. If you want full recovery between workouts, once a week should be sufficient. But if you want to accumulate fatige so that you may deload and experience supercompenstation, you will need a higher frequency, 3, 4, 5 times a week? Whatever. But this will still go back to number one to help you decide the frequency.

So in my opinion, your frequency of any lift should change based on where you are in your training plan and the 2 things above. There are times when i will perform each lift once a week, twice a week, up to three times a week at this point depending on what i'm trying to accomplish.

The bulgarian training plan is a great example of what highly prepared athletes must do to continue to gain strength.

 

-- Edited by Binford on Thursday 23rd of April 2009 01:40:51 AM