How many times a week is the most appropriate amount of strength training?

For the vast majority of non-professional competitive fitness enthusiasts, strength training 2-5 times a week is within a reasonable range. There is no absolute "optimal number of times". The frequency that suits your goals, time, and recovery ability is the most appropriate.

Two years ago, I encountered a big pitfall when I entered the gym. I saw the "6 workouts per week chart" of professional players online and copied it as soon as I got excited. I went through the chest, shoulders, back, legs, arms and core exercises one by one. On the third week of training, my patellar tendon hurt when I squatted. I had to hold on to the handrails even when climbing to the third floor. When I went to the rehabilitation department, the doctor scolded me, saying that I slept for 6 hours a day and fabricated such a large amount of training. It was purely to cause trouble for my joints.

In fact, the controversy about training frequency has been quarreling in the fitness circle for almost 20 years. Practitioners of different projects have completely two sets of logics. I know a friend who competes in provincial powerlifting competitions. He is a typical advocate of "high frequency and low volume". He practices 6 times a week, and only practices one action pattern each time. Deadlift on Monday, bench press on Tuesday, squat on Wednesday, and then rotate these three actions from Thursday to Saturday. The total training volume each time is not high, and he can rest for 5 minutes between sets. His logic is that increasing strength does not rely on muscle soreness. Relying on the adaptability of nerves to movements and the proficiency of high-frequency movements is stronger than anything else. It took him 8 months to increase the weight of the three major items from 400 kilograms to 500 kilograms. Of course, his recovery conditions are not comparable to ordinary people: he sleeps for 9 hours at a fixed time every day, eats protein at a precise rate of 2 grams per kilogram of body weight, and only drinks sugar-free milk tea, which is equivalent to treating fitness as half a job.

Most of my friends who take the bodybuilding and beauty route don’t recognize this high-frequency logic. A guy I worked with at the gym had been training for 7 years and his arm circumference was almost 45 centimeters. He would train 4 times a week, and he would focus on one part every time. On the day of chest training, he did 12 sets of flat plates, inclines, dumbbell flyes, and rope chests. After the training, his chest hurt so much that he couldn't lift it even when he was wearing clothes. He raised his arms and waited until the soreness was almost gone. It was time to do chest training next week. He always said that muscles grow during rest, and just give them enough stimulation at one time. Training too frequently would not give the muscles time to grow. He has been using this frequency for five or six years, and the size has been increasing steadily.

But in the final analysis, the above are all training methods for semi-professional players who want to go professional. How can we ordinary office workers have so much energy, sleep, and food? There is a colleague in my department, 996, who can only squeeze one hour each Tuesday and Thursday night to go to the gym every week and practice four compound movements: deadlift, bench press, squat, and press. Four sets of each movement are completed. After practicing for half a year, the bench press has gone from an empty bar to being able to push 70 kilograms in one set. His body fat has dropped by 3%. Even the lumbar protrusion that he has suffered all the time no longer hurts. Do you think it is useless for him to do it twice a week? Obviously not. What suits his rhythm and can stick to it for a long time is more effective than any "standard answer".

Many bloggers on the Internet like to shout black and white slogans, either saying that "not practicing three times a week means you are blind", or saying "practicing more than four times a week means overtraining". In fact, these are too absolute. Novices have strong neural adaptability when they first get started. Even if they only practice once a week, with standard movements and sufficient capacity, they can still see their strength increase in the first three months, just a little slower, which is better than lying still. ； As long as you have a good foundation, get enough rest, and keep up with your diet, it's absolutely fine to practice five times a week. There's no uniform red line.

To put it bluntly, the relationship between training and recovery is like swiping your credit card. If your monthly salary is 5,000, don’t force yourself to pay 20,000. Otherwise, it will be overdue sooner or later. Your recovery ability is your monthly salary, and the amount of training is the money you spend. If you spend too much and too often, your body will definitely have problems. You don’t need to ask others how many times you should practice. You can count it by yourself after two weeks. The core is to look at two signals: first, are you looking forward to or irritable every time you think about going to the gym? If you feel scared when you think about training, it must be that you are tired from practicing too frequently. If you need to reduce, then reduce. ； The second is whether your weight can steadily increase for the same movement. For example, this month you can bench press 60 kilograms for a set, and next month you can touch the edge of 65 kilograms. If the weight does not increase or even falls for two or three weeks in a row, either the movement is wrong, or you have practiced too much and cannot recover.

Now I am adjusting flexibly. When I am not busy, I do squats, push and pulls three times a week. When the project is online and I need to work overtime, I change it to full-body training twice a week. When I am in good condition, I take an extra hour to practice arm core on weekends. On the contrary, I have made much faster progress than before when I was stuck five times a week. Originally, fitness is something that adds points to your life. It is not about competing in competitions to get rankings. There is no need to be obsessed with the number of times. The number of times that you can happily persevere is the best choice for you.