Extreme Frequency

[Ramstein II]

Have any of you worked the full body more than 3x per week? I read a study a while back discussing how full body 4x a week was shown to be superior to 3x per week. More data in favor of chronic stimulus versus acute as in HST.

I've let go of isolation moves except for calf raises, situps (kinda an iso move), and 1-2 sets of curls (just for fun but they're about to go too). Current routine: Legs (squats, romanian DL, calf raises), Push (bench press, incline bench press, military press, dips), Pull (chins, DB row, upright row, BB curls). I hit this 3 day split 4-6 x a week. 1-3 sets per movement, single progression program using sets of 10, with 1% incremental increase per session. Results have been phenom for this advanced lifter. Would I screw up a good thing to do full body 3-4 times a week like this:

Squats
Romanians
Push movement alternated per session (Bench Press, Incline Bench, Dips)
Pull Movement alternated per session (chin, DB row)
Upright row alt with Military Press
Situp
Calf Raise

I'd stick with 10 rep single progression/ low volume (1-2 sets) as it has proved slow but steady. Or would a weekly periodization be better: ie. day 1 10s -day 2 8s- 6- 4. increasing poundage by 1-3% next week.

What are your thoughts on using what I would call extreme frequency like this?

 

[Freddy]

Have any of you worked the full body more than 3x per week? I read a study a while back discussing how full body 4x a week was shown to be superior to 3x per week. More data in favor of chronic stimulus versus acute as in HST.

I've let go of isolation moves except for calf raises, situps (kinda an iso move), and 1-2 sets of curls (just for fun but they're about to go too). Current routine: Legs (squats, romanian DL, calf raises), Push (bench press, incline bench press, military press, dips), Pull (chins, DB row, upright row, BB curls). I hit this 3 day split 4-6 x a week. 1-3 sets per movement, single progression program using sets of 10, with 1% incremental increase per session. Results have been phenom for this advanced lifter. Would I screw up a good thing to do full body 3-4 times a week like this:

Squats
Romanians
Push movement alternated per session (Bench Press, Incline Bench, Dips)
Pull Movement alternated per session (chin, DB row)
Upright row alt with Military Press
Situp
Calf Raise

I'd stick with 10 rep single progression/ low volume (1-2 sets) as it has proved slow but steady. Or would a weekly periodization be better: ie. day 1 10s -day 2 8s- 6- 4. increasing poundage by 1-3% next week.

What are your thoughts on using what I would call extreme frequency like this?

I know of an athlete who trained 4-6x per week using almost exclusively squats, powercleans, and overhead presses. I think he might have done one extra lift, but it was not more than 4 compound lifts. I know he did NOT do 5 lifts. He trained these lifts almost on a daily basis...about 5 times per week, although sometimes it was 4, and sometimes I think it was 6. However, he used the inverse of the set/rep scheme you are using, in that he would do many sets of triples, doubles, and singles...I don't think he ever went above 5 reps.

He was a "pretty good" athlete too, and I'm not giving him due credit...as he was probably better than "pretty good" but he never chose to compete (which is a damn shame). At a bodyweight of roughly 190 pounds (sometimes he was up to 200) and a bodyfat percentage of 9% (I'm not exeragerating) he had a 550 pound narrow stance ATP high bar Olympic squat (butt 2" from the floor), a 335 pound powerclean (I think he got even higher than this too), and a 300-something overhead press (he might be up to the mid 300s now). He used AAS very moderately, and a lot of these lifts were done when he had been clean for months.

I don't know if this will work for everyone. For one thing, he is at the very least above what we would call "genetically average". I don't know if he's a super stud, but he is at least above average. He also has an excellent understanding of his body. Most people think they do, but few really do. He actually does. And finally he has a very good attitude towards hard work, and is very disciplined.

I don't know if these qualities are REQUIRED for this type of training...but they certainly don't hurt. When doing this type of training, I think it would be important to make sure that stress is periodized, like JS has explained to us often in the past.

For the first 4-5 weeks, use a lot of volume to the point where you are "over-reaching". Add a little weight incrementally every workout. Make sure frequency is between 4-6 times per week, and keep volume high. This is the 'loading phase'.

For weeks 6-8, lower frequency and volume. Limit training days to only 3 times per week, and use few sets. However, use more weight than previously, shoot for some personal records, and continue adding weight incrementally every workout. The heaviest weights should be lifted in this period. This is the "recovery phase."

I should also say, that JS trains his athletes with high frequency and high volume for at least part of every training cycle. An athlete's back, regardless of their ability level, is particularly capable of recovering from training like this...and one could argue it might even be NECESSARY for the back muscles if you wish to be at your best. In fact, most great powerlifters, Olympic Lifters, and strongmen train their backs heavy and with lots of volume at least 4 times a week. Hell, its what I do. I train my back hard monday, wednesday, friday, and sunday.

Just some different points to think about.

 

[Biggriz]

Everyone responds to training stresses slightly different. I say instead of asking ...do it yourself and find out if it works for YOU!!! Hint---one of the first signs of overtraining is not being able to sleep.

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Be sure to monitor your lower back and shoulders carefully whenever doing high frequency stuff. Although the frequent stimulus might be great for size, if you injure yourself you won't be training very long like that.