By Working the same muscle group twice a week is the perfect way to enhance the growth and strength of a particular lagging muscle/s. I use this strategy with my leg workout, as it allows me to achieve specific body composition goals at a faster rate. Although I would like to suggest that the twice a week training should only be implemented if you are well rested and have an enhanced nutritional plan. It does take more protein and carbs for hypertrophy and recovery. The amount will depend on your body shape, goals and gender.
Here are some great tips to get your into the groove of working out the same muscle groups twice a week.
6 ways to use split training to it’s best advantage.
- Train those compound movements during every session.
For instance, if it’s leg day on Monday, pick one multi joint (such as deadlifts) then alternate on Thursday with squatting. Make the best use of compound movements as you can make them as heavy as possible, using your entire musculature.
Multi joint exercises should account for 80 percent of your lifts, then use the 20 percent to perform smaller, isolated exercises such as leg extensions, biceps curls, triceps extensions etc. - Longer time under tension.
When a muscle is under stressed due to the contraction it’s producing, it activates genetic pathways that trigger protein synthesis. This means increasing muscular growth – in other words hypertrophy. - Focus on the eccentric phase of the movement.
This is the lowering phase. The lengthening of the muscle with this motion causes muscular damage (it’s a good thing!) Emphasising this movement by slowing it down also leads to the release of growth factors, stimulating protein synthesis. - Allow yourself to fail.
Failure is when you lift to that point where you cannot use proper form, not when you are forcing yourself to make the movement (this causes injury, so please don’t do it). This produces muscular damage, and a protein synthesis response, favouring hypertrophy. One way I get around this in my training is to always keep a weight that is a few KG’s lower beside me. When I fail the movement, I transition towards a lower weight, so I may still get the adequate reps into the picture. This in itself is a great strategy for anyone looking at increasing their lifting weight. - Monitor your rest periods in between sets (no texting or scrolling on facebook allowed!).
When training for strength, you must allow enough recovery time in between your sets. But the time cannot be extended, because muscles still need continual stimulus on order to grow.
If you are interested in fat burning, allow 60 seconds between your sets. If opting for muscular strength with heavier lifting, then 2 minutes rest is more than enough. - Don’t forget to abandon slow rate cardio (unless you are doing a low impact walk).
Any kind of exhausting, prolonged cardio is detrimental to your muscular and strength gains. If you are looking to lean up, then HIIT for 20 minutes, a couple of times a week is more than enough. Better yet, why not opt for hill walks on the treadmill, at a fast pace. This allows you to get your cardio in, without diminishing any muscular gains. Focus on conditioning with weights, both heavy and moderate, in order to achieve the conditioning you want. It works, but patience and hard work is required.
I hope this has helped you get a few more ideas of how you can integrate twice a week body part training, and increase your results faster. If you would like to keep in touch during your journey, please do contact me on these various platforms if you need further assistance. I have plenty of other material on my blog or join me on facebook and instagram account. Please feel free to upvote this answer.
