How Often Do You Need To Train To Make Progress?

How often we need to train (aka training frequency) is a key factor in your programming.

Evidence suggests that regular gym goers between the ages of 20-50 are training between 2-3 times each week on average.

And while there's some who believe we can train more frequently, some maintain we actually need to train less.

There's nuance to this of course as we have to consider factors like a persons goal, training experience, age, stress levels and lifestyle.

Anyhow let’s look at some of the key influences of "modern day resistance training" and how they impact how often people train.

Firstly bodybuilding has certainly had its influence on training frequency.

Back in the earlier days a full body training approach training 3 days per week was the more common set up.

Then Joe Weider started to popularise body part split training, training multiple days each week with much more volume per body part.

His protege Arnold Schwarzenegger trained up to 6 days per week in his prime, and even twice per day in certain phases.

Then there were bodybuilders like Mike Mentzer in the 1970s who came along and went completely the opposite way.

Mentzer used shorter sessions, trained much less frequently advocating for 1 or 2 sets taken to complete muscular failure, and beyond using advanced techniques.

He would train only 2 or 3 times per week with plenty of rest days, with his "heavy duty" style of training maximising recovery.

Him and others of that era spawned the popularity of more "abbreviated" and "minimalist" styles of training.

The sport of powerlifting has also had some influence in training frequency and on the fitness space in general, especially those training for strength.

Powerlifting programs are focused around 3 main lifts, the deadlift, squat and bench press with additional accessory exercises as needed.

The more common training frequency in powerlifting is somewhere around 3-4 training sessions per week, sometimes more in very serious trainees.

In more recent years circuit style training such as CrossFit and Hyrox have become extremely popular in fitness culture.

The training frequency for people who use them is around 3-4 times per week on average, more for those who take it more seriously.

There's a community and competition aspect to CrossFit and Hyrox so this often helps encourage more participation.

On the other side though many people are training purely for general health, general fitness and longterm health.

Time constraints and hectic lifestyles mean people simply can't (or don't really want to) be in the gym many days of the week.

So what does some of the research suggest to be effective regarding how many times a week you need to train to make progress?

For starters a 2016 study found no significant differences in lean mass and strength between a group training 3 times per week, to a group training just once per week.

Both groups performed the same amount of volume (sets and reps) over the week, and the study was conducted to see if training a muscle more frequently was more effective.

A similar 2022 study looked at different training frequencies on max strength and hypertrophy, using a similar approach of 1 vs 3 times per week training on the 45 degree leg press.

Some participants were told to perform the same total volume whether they trained 1 or 3 times per week.

With some of the participants training 3 times per week allowed to do MORE total volume over the week.

The conclusion to the study was that a higher training frequency and volume didn't necessarily mean more strength and hypertrophy gains.

The authors stressed that managing total training volume over the week is likely most important for training results, and this often needs to be individualised.

Finally an interesting review looked at the minimum effective dose for resistance training.

This review found that 1 resistance training per week with a lower volume (under 3 sets per exercise) was still enough to build strength, though was more applicable to time poor individuals or beginners.

The authors also found that a minimalistic approach was effective for overall health in the following ways:

• Bone density

• Body composition

• Cognitive function

• Mobility and stability

• Reducing cardiovascular disease risk

• Reducing diabetes risk

• Reducing cancer risk

So while you might need to slightly up the total training over time, there's still potent benefits for those not overly focused on just “vanity metrics”.

By now you hopefully have an understanding of what the minimum requirements are to make some progress with resistance training.

The next most important thing is to make your resistance training plan suit your specific situation, your goals and lifestyle.

What’s your goal?

If your goal is to maximise fat loss then 1 session per week might not be optimal as a caloric deficit is required, however diet and lifestyle is also important here too.

Training 2-3 times per week may help more as long as you're recovering well, but consistency is key so make sure it’s sustainable.

Regarding hypertrophy you can make progress on a lower frequency of training as muscle recovery is important, provided the stimulus is good, you're tracking and seeing progress.

Author Stuart McRobert has written prolifically on abbreviated bodybuilding training and routines, aimed at natural trainees with average genetics.

His advice often leans more towards 2 hard and productive full body sessions each week spaced a few days apart to maximise recovery.

I highly recommend his books and articles if you want to learn more about maximising muscle gain assuming you train naturally, have less time or a hectic lifestyle.

On a final point about goals, if it’s purely health related then you can still get some benefits from training just once per week if that's all you wish to do or have time for.

As mentioned a couple of times already, CONSISTENCY over your life time is key.

Age matters…

Time of life matters regarding the amount of training you can handle and recover from.

The law of senescence means regeneration and recovery of living organisms slows down with age.

You can argue much of the advice regarding higher training frequencies is probably targeted more to the younger demographic who can get away with it.

Now I am 45 my own training frequency and volume has gradually been reduced so that I don't overtrain or pick up unwanted injuries.

The name of the game is training smarter as you age, understanding you can absolutely still keep making progress as long as you respect your body.

Stress and lifestyle considerations:

I have spoken on this before but training is just another stress on your system the same as poor sleep, stress at work and stress in your family life.

Even if you're young and healthy if you currently have much more stress in your life, your ability to handle a lot of training is going to be reduced.

Listen to your body, and reduce your training frequency when you know you're under the cosh with life.

Burning the candle both ends in this regard often leads to an injury or weakened immune system.

To wrap up…

Understandably many people just enjoy training and therefore naturally prefer training more often, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Whether its mental health related or its more of a social thing, enjoy your training as much as you like as long as its healthy for you, you're recovering and making progress.

Understand that not every session needs to be brutally tough or particularly long either, so there's ways to facilitate recovery even if you do prefer training more frequently.

Today's newsletter is not to tell anyone to train less either for that matter.

It's just to highlight that you also don't need to live in the gym to make progress, or to beat yourself up if you cannot train as much as you think you should.

There is no real definitive or optimal amount of weekly sessions that is suitable for everyone either.

As with most things regarding resistance training, it has to be tailored to suit you and be a plan you can sustain whilst you make steady progress.

Thanks for reading!

^{Behm DG, Granacher U, Warneke K, Aragão-Santos JC, Da Silva-Grigoletto ME, Konrad A. Minimalist Training: Is Lower Dosage or Intensity Resistance Training Effective to Improve Physical Fitness? A Narrative Review. Sports Med. 2024 Feb;54(2):289-302. doi: 10.1007/s40279-023-01949-3. Epub 2023 Nov 4. PMID: 37924459; PMCID: PMC10933173.}

^{Neves RP, Vechin FC, Teixeira EL, da Silva DD, Ugrinowitsch C, Roschel H, Aihara AY, Tricoli V. Effect of different training frequencies on maximal strength performance and muscle hypertrophy in trained individuals-a within-subject design. PLoS One. 2022 Oct 13;17(10):e0276154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276154. PMID: 36228016; PMCID: PMC9560172.}

^{THOMAS, M. H., & BURNS, S. P. (2016). Increasing Lean Mass and Strength: A Comparison of High Frequency Strength Training to Lower Frequency Strength Training. International Journal of Exercise Science, 9(2), 159-167. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4836564/1}

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