Hello, dear readers!
Every year people become more and more busy. The pace of life is accelerating and there seems to be no free time left at all. It’s great when a person knows how to organize himself properly and find time for everything and everyone. But, unfortunately, this phenomenon is quite rare. And the same problem can arise with sports. In this case, a training program once a week will help you stay fit and pumped up. You can study.
To immediately dispel suspicious doubts, I will answer: “Yes! A training program once a week exists and works quite well.” Well, now the details...
It often happens that, no matter how much a person wants to play sports and improve his physical fitness, circumstances are not in favor of achieving the goal. And it seems like you want to do bodybuilding, and you have the mood, and you’ve stopped drinking and smoking... But it turns out that there are no funds for a gym in the budget. Or maybe in a large family there is no way to allocate time to visit him 2-3 times a week...
As you know, if there is a desire and a goal, then there will be means to achieve it. In this case it could be training. There will undoubtedly be success in gaining muscle mass, although not as quickly as we would like. It is always better to exercise at least some way than not to exercise at all. But in the proposed program, the training will not be done carelessly. And recovery during the time between workouts will be complete. Therefore, the muscles will grow.
FULLBODY workout
It is clear that if you have chosen 1 day a week for training, then during the training you need to have time to put a load on all muscle groups. This type of training is also called full body.
Fulbadi training can occur in two ways:
1) At each training session you perform the same set of exercises;
2) At each workout you perform different exercises, but on constant muscle groups.
Training once a week does not mean that you need to “puff” in the gym for 3 – 4 hours until you work out all the muscles. The lesson follows the same scenario as all training sessions. The only difference is that the exercises will be basic, which load many muscle groups at once. In 30-60 minutes of a full session, you perform only the most basic exercises for the development of large muscle groups.
When training according to the program once a week, the pyramid principle should be applied. This means that with constant or variable repetitions per set, you need to increase the training weight with each set. It turns out that each approach becomes heavier than the previous one. The last approach ends in failure. Muscle failure involves a state where it is no longer possible to perform a repetition without breaking the technique or without the help of a partner.
Thus, training for 1 time per week should consist only of basic exercises. Those who want to pump up their biceps can add one isolated biceps exercise. In our example, this is the EZ-bar lift. It is worth considering that the biceps, like other muscles, will work in pull-ups and horizontal rows.
Example of a training program once a week
- Squats 2-3 sets of 6-15 times.
- Pull-ups (in gravitron) 2 sets of 15 times
- Bench press 3 sets of 6-10 reps in a pyramid (for example, 40x10, 50x8, 60x6)
- Horizontal block row 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps
- EZ-bar curls for biceps 2 sets of 8-12 reps
Home workouts
Home workouts are a great addition to your workouts, especially if you have chosen a workout program just once a week. These can be simple push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and torso bends. You can also buy a kettlebell for training at home.
Such training should be fairly easy and short, only 10-15 minutes. They will greatly help your muscles recover and prepare for the next workout by maintaining your metabolic rate.
Thus, a training program once a week allows you to reach your intended goal - a good figure and great health.
Good day, my dear readers! “I’m a beginner, how many times a week should I go to the gym?” - that’s the question (via feedback form) received a project email from one of our readers. I thought this topic should be quite relevant to most people who are active (and not so much) in the gym, and especially for beginners. Therefore, it was decided to give a detailed answer in the form of an article, which, in fact, is in front of you. From this note we will learn how to properly approach the training process, consider some time parameters for training and how to determine them for yourself.
In general, make yourself comfortable, it will be interesting.
How many times a week should you go to the gym: theory
In one of our previous posts, in particular in this one, we already talked about what time and what physical activity is best to engage in during the day. Today we will continue to work in this direction and decide on the answer to an equally important question - how many times a week should you go to the gym?
As you know, the Internet is a fairly popular source (especially among young people) to find answers to a variety of “misunderstandings”. However, the quality of information and its novelty sometimes leaves much to be desired. This is roughly the situation with our topic - someone once wrote that it is optimal to walk 3 once a week to the gym/fitness room, and so it went for a walk throughout the network. Wherever you go, it’s like a cow has licked its tongue - the same numbers and paraphrased calculations - shame on you, comrades! :).
So, I could also write something similar, like, you need to walk 3 once and that's it. However, I am disgusted by such a poorly substantiated approach, and therefore today we will fully understand this numerical issue.
How many times a week should you go to the gym: dry statistics
Well, I would like to start with Her Majesty’s statistics, which tell us the following (see image).
Yes, most people (about 80% ) visit the hall 3 once a week, and I will say even more, these days are Monday/Wednesday/Friday and time from 18-00 before 21-00 . It is during these periods that there is the largest influx of people who want to get their body in order, and it is at this time that the apple has nowhere to fall. Such an emergency can be explained in a banal and simple way: a) habit b) this is the most convenient way to combine it with work/study.
In fact, if a person is determined to achieve serious results, he should take a slightly different approach to considering questions in the style of “how often?” and “when is best?” How exactly, we will now look at.
All processes to which a person exposes his body during training can be divided into 4 type:
- work with the cardiovascular system;
- development of muscle strength;
- endurance work;
- development of flexibility.
Main types of training
Let's go through each type in general terms.
No. 1. Cardio activity
Refers to the development of the functionality of organs such as the lungs, veins and arteries, which are responsible for processing and transporting oxygen to the muscles. As you continually work in this direction, your heart becomes more efficient - able to pump larger volumes of blood with fewer contractions. This implies a decrease in heart rate (heart rate, heart rate). A low heart rate means that your flame motor is working easily and efficiently, a high heart rate means the opposite.
Exercises that use oxygen (aerobic) are the ones that improve cardiovascular fitness and this is something to keep in mind when creating your training plan.
№2. Development of muscle strength and endurance
If you stop using your muscles, they shrink. (term “shrinkage”). Muscular strength is necessary for a person when performing movements from everyday life: lifting children, dragging bags, standing horizontally. Endurance allows you to perform certain actions for a longer period of time without showing signs of fatigue. Both of these qualities are necessary to maintain mobility and functionality, especially in old age.
It's also worth saying that muscle tissue uses more calories than "inactive" tissue, which is good news for those trying. Resistance training improves muscle strength and endurance.
No. 3. Flexibility
Flexibility is important in training, but it is often overlooked. But this is the degree of mobility (range of motion) joints. Without it, a person will be unable to easily perform simple tasks. Flexibility helps reduce the likelihood of injury and the risk of lower back pain. Therefore, such types of activities as stretching (cooling down) and yoga must be present in your routine.
From all of the above, the volume of training and specific numbers are derived. (how long, how much per week).
How to build the perfect workout
To answer the question yourself (and this is exactly what I urge you to do, and not to listen to any “leftist” advice from someone unknown) "with how many times a week should you go to the gym?, you need to know some basic principles that will allow you to get the maximum benefit (and safety) from your workouts.
First of all, they relate to: frequency, duration (intensity) and “difficulty” of classes.
It is also necessary to remember what the workout (or exercises) should include.
Let's look at each point in more detail, and in the end we will try to determine the answer to the main question of today's article.
Stages of training
Warming up (warm up) and “cooling down” (cool down) muscles
This type of activity can be performed along with your main exercise, only at a less intense level. For example, if according to your plan 45 - a minute cardio session (running) on the treadmill, then you can walk on it at a moderate pace.
It must be remembered that warming up:
- increases blood flow to muscles;
- reduces the chances of muscle and joint injuries;
- must occur within 5-10 minutes at low intensity.
It must be remembered that cooling:
- prevents blood from pooling in the extremities (for example, in the legs);
- must occur within 5 minutes with a gradual decrease in intensity level.
Stretching
You should stretch your muscles after your warm-up and cool-down. Stretching is very important because... it reduces the risk of injury and eliminates the feeling of muscle stiffness (making them more "resilient" to exercise) and also develops flexibility.
Note:
A common mistake is to stretch muscles “cold”. You must warm them up first and only then stretch them. Stretching cold muscles can damage them.
To finally decide what, how and where to warm up/stretch, I recommend reading the note:.
How many times a week should you go to the gym and how often should you exercise?
It is recommended to be physically active every day, performing light aerobic activity three to five times a week (eg brisk walking, cycling, swimming). People leading a sedentary lifestyle need to “roll” into the training process gradually and start with aerobic exercises 2 once a week and exercises with iron (or fitness) in the amount 2 once a week.
It is most effective to follow the following weekly scheme: Monday – gym training; Tuesday – aerobic; Wednesday – rest; Thursday – gym training; Friday – aerobic; Saturday/Sunday – rest.
How many times a week should you go to the gym: how long to train
Scientists have calculated the minimum time interval that the average person should devote to physical activity (exercise) and it is 20 minutes (excluding warm-up and cool-down). The maximum interval is 60 minutes. If you are a young beginner, then before going to the gym, you need to increase your time under load with 10 -minutes until 20-25 . It’s best to start with simple home exercises: and abs.
Maximum training difficulty: determine the intensity level
Someone in the gym rolls cotton wool or kicks, as a result of which their training time increases exponentially, while someone works hard and does heavy, voluminous work in record time. Therefore, intensity is an important factor that affects the time and quantitative intervals of classes.
In order for beginners to qualitatively improve their physical and functional performance, it is necessary to start with low-intensity physical activity. Then gradually increase the duration of the workout (total time under load), and only then increase the degree of its intensity.
To determine your current exercise intensity level (i.e. how hard you “get in the job”) you can use the following methods.
No. 1. Subjective method (test-observation)
Based on your own feelings, try to determine how hard you worked. If after training you:
- cannot speak without much effort;
- have difficulty moving your limbs when you return home;
- feel the urge to vomit;
- you feel like you’re “eating a wild boar.”
This all means that the training was intense and voluminous, and you “invested” in it to the fullest.
No. 2. Voltage scale
You can also rate your training on a scale from 0 before 20 . Your value should be between 12 (pretty hard) before 16 (hard) .
No. 3. Heart rate
You can calculate the intensity of your workout yourself. To do this, you need to know your maximum heart rate. (how fast your heart can beat). Maximum heart rate = 220–X (age). We'll let you 20 years then 200 beats per minute (BPM) - the maximum frequency of contractions.
There are ranges of heart rate zones within which certain tasks (weight loss, muscle gain, etc.) solved better (see image).
From all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion. To achieve good functional results and noticeable bodily transformations, it is necessary to work towards increasing frequency, time (duration under load) training and its intensity.
Note:
As an example: if you work out in the gym for 30 minutes at a comfortable intensity level (50%-60% from the Ministry of Emergency Situations) 1-2 once a week, you will not improve your physical fitness. You need to move in the direction of numbers: 40-60 minutes, 3-4 once a week and intensity 70-85% from your maximum heart rate.
What global conclusion can be drawn from all this chatter?
It's very simple - you have to figure out for yourself how often and for how long you need to train. This process is quite flexible, and even more so, you have all the necessary tools in your hands. For example, you could work out at a lower intensity six days a week or 3-4 times, but at a higher level. Now you are free to change your training picture and adjust its “time parameters” to suit your goals and objectives.
As you can see, in order to correctly answer the question - how many times a week should you go to the gym, you need to analyze all the above parameters in a complex and derive something of your own, tied to the nature of your life, work, training activities and body recovery processes.
You can take the simplest route and say that you need to train like everyone else - about an hour, 3 once a week, but then your final results will be standard. And all because they do not contain your efforts to study and derive numbers for your loved one.
Now let's look at the physiological side of the training issue.
How many times a week should you go to the gym: physiology
In addition to technical information, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of training and the processes that take place in it. In particular, we will now talk about supercompensation, overtraining and recovery.
As you know, muscles grow not during training, but after it. And in order for this process to proceed as favorably as possible, the body needs to be given a reasonable period for recovery. According to scientific data, such a weighted average period is 24 -hour. During this time, the body builds new structures (enzymes, mitochondria, muscle fibers) and replenishes energy reserves.
Also, recovery is directly related to the phenomenon of supercompensation. This is the post-training period, after which you have become “faster, higher, stronger,” i.e. the muscle exceeded the initial level.
This phenomenon looks like this:
It turns out that each subsequent visit to the gym should coincide with the peak of supercompensation - when the muscles have rested, become stronger, but have not lost their functional tone.
If you train often (For example, 4 or more times), then the body will not have time to recover. Protein synthesis will decrease, catabolic processes will begin to predominate, and ultimately all this will lead to. Too rarely is also bad, because... all phases of supercompensation will be wasted, and no significant increase in muscle mass will occur.
Conclusion: you need to look for a middle ground and train different muscle groups on different days, i.e. separate them (for example: Tuesday – chest, biceps; Thursday – back, triceps, etc.).
It is also necessary to keep in mind that there is a separate category of citizens who visit gyms/fitness rooms - these are people who are overweight and suffer from metabolic disorders. Standard clichés regarding training frequency often do not apply to them. Therefore, if you belong to this group, then daily physical activity is almost a duty for you. Scientific data says that to lose weight, a person needs about 300 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week, which corresponds to 1 an hour at the gym five days a week.
So, I think I managed to completely confuse you :).
In conclusion, so that you can finally decide on your training, I will give you a classic training cycle that is suitable for most average active people.
Of course, you don’t have to worry about all of the above, but then you shouldn’t have asked the question - how many times a week should you go to the gym? , just keep walking 3 once a week. However, I recommend that you still rack your brains and come up with quantitative training indicators, taking into account listening to your body and the characteristics of your life.
Note:
Arnold Schwarzenegger did not care about stereotypes and set them himself. In particular, he recommended training every day in the amount 2 once (in the morning and in the evening). I think he knew what he was talking about.
That's all, let's sum it up and say goodbye.
Afterword
In this article, we dealt with the quantitative indicators of training, namely, we found out: who, what and how much. I’m sure now you can easily figure out how much time you need to devote to building the body of your dreams. The main thing is to remember that you shouldn’t adjust the walkers, but you shouldn’t be relaxed about training either, look for your golden mean. Good luck, friends, may the masses be with you!
PS. Leave your mark on history by commenting below this post!
P.P.S. Did the project help? Then leave a link to it in your social network status - plus 100 points towards karma, guaranteed.
With respect and gratitude, Dmitry Protasov.
There is no doubt that you are doing your best to run regularly, even to the point of doing it every day. However, life dictates its own conditions to us and does not always allow us to train when we want it. If your schedule is so busy that you can't afford to go for a run more than once a week, is it worth it at all? Research shows that there is nothing wrong with being a "weekend runner" by running once or twice on the weekend.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed the relationship between life expectancy and physical activity. Observation of more than 64 thousand adults led to the conclusion that to increase life expectancy, it is enough to perform 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise over the course of a week. And it doesn’t matter how to distribute this time - between one or 6 workouts.
The researchers compared people who did at least some activity with people who neglected it. In other words, movement is better than stillness. This conclusion is obvious. Any regular activity will benefit your health in the long run.
However, training 1 or 2 times a week is more suitable for beginners who are just starting out. For more advanced “athletes”, it is still recommended to divide this time into several classes. Even 25 minutes of physical activity a day is already more than 150 required per week. Almost each of us can allocate that much time during the day for these purposes.
However, if you definitely cannot follow such a schedule, focus on full-body training through the use of interval training. The strength component will help maintain muscle mass, while the high-speed intervals will stimulate the cardiac system. You should maintain an elevated heart rate during training that includes mobility exercises (jumping rope, running). In addition to these, you should do bodyweight work, strength training and cross training, such as swimming.
While working out once or twice a week is an acceptable option, it's best not to waste your remaining days being passive and instead try to be as active as possible in your position. Try to move in any way and force your muscles to work (take the stairs instead of the elevator, take long walks), and then it will be easier for the body to adapt to the stress it will receive during weekend workouts.
Training once a week - this is a way out for people with a limited amount of time, which are the overwhelming majority of office workers and people building a career, raising small children, but who do not want to let themselves go. Training once a week, of course, will not give a great result in increasing muscle mass or strength indicators, but “bad training is better than no training,” especially since the training will not be so bad, and the result is quite acceptable. If you train only once a week, you need to have time to use all muscle masses in one workout, so the training will be circular.
Training once a week follows the same laws as all other training programs, so you don’t need to train for 3-4 hours, doing a bunch of useless work. You should have time to load all the muscles in 90 minutes, maybe the whole workout can take 120 minutes, with warm-up , stretching and cool down. The conclusion follows from this: the exercises should be basic, loading many muscle groups at once, and the exercises should be aimed at training large muscle masses, loading small muscle groups indirectly. Since you train only once a week, training is stressful for you, therefore, you need to gradually lead yourself to the “refusal” approach, so you should train according to the pyramid principle.
The pyramid principle involves gradually increasing the training weight from approach to approach, with or without maintaining the number of repetitions in the approaches. Thus, each approach gets harder and harder, and you end the last approach in “failure”. Muscle failure is a condition where you can no longer perform a single repetition without breaking your technique or without the help of a partner. All this suggests that training once a week should be high-intensity, but at the same time voluminous enough so that the athlete has time to prepare his body for the “failure approach”. The best scheme for such circuit training is three sixes.
In the modern world, being healthy, pumped up, fit and sculpted is very fashionable; moreover, it has a positive effect on a person’s health and increases his self-confidence. Unfortunately, not everyone can find time for 3-4 workouts a week, but most still want to be a role model. Today we'll talk about how to stay in shape with one workout per week. Bodybuilding once every 7 days is much better than no physical activity at all. With the right approach to drawing up a training plan, even one session will be enough for constant progression and improvement of form.
Naturally, bodybuilding once a week will not give the same effect as 2 or 3 workouts, but you will definitely not overtrain and you will be able to fully recover before the next session. You may even perform better than those athletes who train almost every day and do not have time to recover, which is why their muscles grow very slowly. Also, you will approach a single lesson very responsibly and with motivation, and when there is a lot of training, many athletes do not train at full strength.
Bodybuilding dictates its own conditions once a week - you must work out all the main muscle groups in one workout. If you distribute your legs for the first week, and your arms and back for the second, then there will be no benefit from this. Since you want to progress at least a little, then training the whole body in one session suits you best. All the exercises that you will perform should be basic - squats, pull-ups, bench presses, bent over rows. The workout should not take more than 70-80 minutes, since after this time the level of catabolic hormones (that destroy muscles) increases greatly. No calf raises or forearm exercises - you don't have time for that.
Bodybuilding once a week is a good solution for maintaining muscle tone, but if you also want to build muscle mass, then in this single session you must work to the limit of your strength. We recommend that you train as follows:
- Squats with a barbell (3-4 X 15-20);
- Pull-ups (3-4 X 8-12);
- Bent-over barbell row with a wide grip (3-4 X 8-12);
- Bent-over dumbbell row (3-4 X 8-12);
- Deadlift (3-4 X 8-12);
- Bench press on a horizontal or inclined bench (3-4 X 8-12);
- Dumbbell flyes (3-4 X 8-12);
- Close grip press (3-4 X 8-12);
- Lifting the barbell for biceps (3-4 X 8-12);
- Seated dumbbell press (3-4 X 8-12).
After completing all these exercises, you will work all the largest muscle groups - legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms. Deadlifts for legs come after back exercises, since if you perform this exercise before training your back muscles, you would not be able to perform bent-over rows of barbells and dumbbells.
This bodybuilding activity should be completed in 60-70 minutes, rest between approaches should not exceed more than 1 minute. Before starting training for each muscle group, it is recommended to perform one or two warm-up approaches or increase the weight on the apparatus using the pyramid method.
If you train once a week, then you can safely buy sports supplements such as protein and BCAA. The effectiveness of these sports complexes has been scientifically proven. You can do without these supplements, but we still advise you to buy BCAA. During high-volume training and heavy loads, BCAA will provide anti-catabolic protection and increase endurance. Moreover, the price will be of little importance to you, since with one bodybuilding session per week, one small jar will be enough for you for several months or more, because you only need to take them on the day of the training.