Movement Frequency
This year I have been doing a simple weightlifting routine, lifting twice a week with a Workout A and a Workout B. This means that there is a week's time between each particular workout.
Yesterday, I started on the Workout B routine, but it didn't feel all the way right. I felt I had "lost the feel" for the exercises, and started to wonder if a week between specific movements is too long (at least while trying to build strength/muscle). So halfway through, I switched and went back to Workout A from a few days ago.
It felt fine, and in fact, it seemed pretty obvious to me the muscles had adequately recovered. So I continued to load up the weights and had a good workout. Now I'm thinking about just doing the same routine with the same exercises twice a week and see if that yields better results.

Is twice a week enough volume? I know of no-one who has built a muscular physique by working out twice a week. I don't know what the right volume is and I would bet that most bodybuilders over-train, but twice a week seems low. Especially if its a high intensity routine with limited sets. Even Doggcrap and Max-OT are three times a week (or more). Maybe you are not gaining muscle because you are not training enough.
Posted by: J. Bennet | February 21, 2008 at 10:30 PM
I did a couple posts about frequency last year:
http://www.mattmetzgar.com/matt_metzgar/2007/12/optimal-resista.html
http://www.mattmetzgar.com/matt_metzgar/2007/12/optimal-resis-1.html
To me, this suggests that twice a week should be enough. But I'm not against more frequent training if it turns out to be necessary. I'll just see how it goes.
Posted by: Matt Metzgar | February 22, 2008 at 09:11 AM