Training Volume And Frequency

One of the most frequently-asked questions that has dogged weight trainers for decades is, how long should workouts be? Along with that comes, how often should a person train with weights? If you've read Ironman or any of the other magazines for any length of time, you know that there is no absolute consensus for an answer. We have Mike Mentzer, who insists that doing anything more than a handful of sets with four to seven days between to recover constitutes gross overtraining.

At the other extreme, we have methods such as the "Bulgarian Burst" system, popularized several years ago in a mail-order course by Leo Costa and Tom Platz, which advocated training three times every day, and was backed up by the success of tiny Bulgaria in Olympic weightlifting. Of course, there have also been suggestions for virtually every other possible frequency and volume, from ten sets of ten, to sets of one hundred reps, etc. Who's right, and how do you know which method to choose? The answer, silly as it sounds, is that the correct methodology is the one that works for you. We all have different physical make-ups, and unique needs for exercise and tolerance to the same.

You might be able to thrive on a high-volume routine that involves very frequent training. Your friend, on the other hand, might burn out and even start feeling sick and run-down on the same routine. He may get better results training a body part just once a week, while you need to hit it twice or else you feel as if you're losing size and strength. This is the real reason pro's go through so many training partners. Almost everyone over forty in the gyms of Los Angeles claims to have been Arnold's training partner at one time or other.

Nowadays everyone you run into has been a training partner of one of the Olympia competitors. Why aren't they still training with them? It's not that these amateurs can't "hang" with Shawn Ray or Flex Wheeler in the gym. Many amateurs train just as hard or harder than the pro's. The reason they went their separate ways is because their style of training doesn't deliver the same results. When you're training with one of these guys for the Olympia or Arnold Classic, you train their way if you want to be there with them in the gym.

While it may seem like a fantasy come true to train with a star for a while, the inspiration only carries them so far before they realize that they were making better progress before. Of course, sometimes they get lucky and the pro trains in a style that gives both men or women fantastic results. The point is, there are no hard and fast rules governing how often to train and for how long. You may have already discovered what works best for you. If not, keep searching. Somewhere out there is a simple formula that will allow you to make the best gains of your life.