Working out 3 days a week - enough to gain muscle?
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jaybird20162016
Posts: 4 Member
Hi all,
Gonna keep it as short and sweet as poss. Would love your help & advice!
Got into (beginner) weight training last year. Fell off the bandwagon because my regime was unsustainable (5/6 Workouts a week and constant calorie surplus eating my body couldn't hack)
I want to workout 3 days a week max and gain muscle. Is this doable?
I am 5ft 9, female, slim, weigh approx 130 pounds, looking to gain muscle with limited fat gain. Main focus is on my lower body, while also having a goal of managing to do unassisted pull ups this year!
Gonna keep it as short and sweet as poss. Would love your help & advice!
Got into (beginner) weight training last year. Fell off the bandwagon because my regime was unsustainable (5/6 Workouts a week and constant calorie surplus eating my body couldn't hack)
I want to workout 3 days a week max and gain muscle. Is this doable?
I am 5ft 9, female, slim, weigh approx 130 pounds, looking to gain muscle with limited fat gain. Main focus is on my lower body, while also having a goal of managing to do unassisted pull ups this year!
3
Replies
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Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body1
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It depends on what you're doing in the gym on those three days. With a good, intelligently designed workout program, three days a week is plenty. With a random/poorly designed workout program, even 6-7 days a week in the gym wouldn't result in any appreciable gains.4
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I think that is just the right amount of time. You just have to be persistent!
2 -
It depends on what you're doing in the gym on those three days. With a good, intelligently designed workout program, three days a week is plenty. With a random/poorly designed workout program, even 6-7 days a week in the gym wouldn't result in any appreciable gains.
This is so true. So many people think you have to be going to failure and be in pain everyday to build muscle. Quality over quantity.. more is not better.2 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.2 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.
Were these studies performed with men or women too? If only men, it would be interesting to see the affect on women. I have been doing some digging in research lately (from Bret Contreras and Menno Henselmans mostly) regarding women and training and what is generally more optimal due to the way we recover. From what I have gathered, most research will indicate women do better with higher frequency, so training body parts multiple times per week, as well as more volume, less rests between sets, higher reps, etc. Again, this is general and probably won't apply to all women but just something interesting to think about and consider3 -
Thanks to everyone so far! ☺ I put my potential routine in the original post but it didn't save!
Short version
Day 1 & 3 Lower body
2 x Compound lower body exercises (e.g. squat, deadlifts, etc) (3 sets for either 3-5 or 6-8 reps)
3 x lower body isolation exercises (e.g. cable kickbacks, glute raises, lunges) (3/4 sets at 10-15 reps
Day 2 Upper body/Ab
2 x Compound upper body exercises (bench press etc)
3 times isolation exercises targeting different sections (dumbell curl, tricep pull down, lat pulldown etc)
2 x ab exercises (machine and floor work)
Assisted pull ups every workout1 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.
Were these studies performed with men or women too? If only men, it would be interesting to see the affect on women. I have been doing some digging in research lately (from Bret Contreras and Menno Henselmans mostly) regarding women and training and what is generally more optimal due to the way we recover. From what I have gathered, most research will indicate women do better with higher frequency, so training body parts multiple times per week, as well as more volume, less rests between sets, higher reps, etc. Again, this is general and probably won't apply to all women but just something interesting to think about and consider
I believe the discussions center around studies mostly performed with men as the subjects.
Lyle's women's book (when it eventually comes out) should be an excellent reference and I'm sure he discusses those topics in depth. He's published a few excerpts from it in his FB group and I do believe you're right regarding differences in frequency, volume, reps, etc. - I just don't remember specifics. To be honest, I'm only kinda collaterally interested in the gritty specifics of it since it doesn't apply to me and I'm not training anybody else.
Bret Contreras is a great one to follow. He has pretty extensive experience with training women and designing programs aimed at their goals.1 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.
Were these studies performed with men or women too? If only men, it would be interesting to see the affect on women. I have been doing some digging in research lately (from Bret Contreras and Menno Henselmans mostly) regarding women and training and what is generally more optimal due to the way we recover. From what I have gathered, most research will indicate women do better with higher frequency, so training body parts multiple times per week, as well as more volume, less rests between sets, higher reps, etc. Again, this is general and probably won't apply to all women but just something interesting to think about and consider
I believe the discussions center around studies mostly performed with men as the subjects.
Lyle's women's book (when it eventually comes out) should be an excellent reference and I'm sure he discusses those topics in depth. He's published a few excerpts from it in his FB group and I do believe you're right regarding differences in frequency, volume, reps, etc. - I just don't remember specifics. To be honest, I'm only kinda collaterally interested in the gritty specifics of it since it doesn't apply to me and I'm not training anybody else.
Bret Contreras is a great one to follow. He has pretty extensive experience with training women and designing programs aimed at their goals.
Yea I can't wait to read it.. it is all really interesting stuff.. I am kind of becoming a fitness nerd over here.
Bret's style of training definitely works for me and what I want to achieve . But obviously in the end it will depend on a woman's goals and preferences. Some people really don't like training full body, and if you really don't like it you probably won't stick to it. So personal preference can be a big factor to success as well.0 -
As a novice I only did 3 lifts a day 3x per week. I did Starting Strength. With this program I went from not exercising in 15 years to a 900 combined in about 3.5 months.
My results would be different as a male but many women run the program and Niki Sims, one of their female coaches is awesome. Very no BS honest answers to questions.
Here is an article from Rippetoe on differences they have observed between female and male lifters. https://startingstrength.com/article/training_female_lifters_neuromuscular_efficiency#.Vn3OgmSDGko)
It’s kind of long and hits few different things but here is a sample...
“After the first couple of months of training, “heavy” sets of 5 for a female may not be heavy enough to drive the stress/recovery/adaptation cycle the same way it does for male trainees. Therefore, the productive training stress a male can apply with sets of 5 may have to be produced with relatively heavier weights, heavy 3s for example. Volume can be maintained with more sets, and 5 sets of 3 reps have been successfully used to drive a strength adaptation for females longer than 5s have.”
1 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.
Were these studies performed with men or women too? If only men, it would be interesting to see the affect on women. I have been doing some digging in research lately (from Bret Contreras and Menno Henselmans mostly) regarding women and training and what is generally more optimal due to the way we recover. From what I have gathered, most research will indicate women do better with higher frequency, so training body parts multiple times per week, as well as more volume, less rests between sets, higher reps, etc. Again, this is general and probably won't apply to all women but just something interesting to think about and consider
So from what I have gathered in my research is that women, in general, have higher amounts of Type I (slow twitch - endurance) muscle fibers which is why they respond better at higher rep ranges than most men; thence the difference between BLS and TLS, and Bret's observations that I have seen. But even within a standard population the make up of the individual can vary (like all things).
Anecdotally, what I have noticed between my lifting partner and myself, is that he responds much better at higher reps and I respond better at low reps. From a strength perspective I am much higher in all the core lifts by roughly 20 to 30% even though we have equivalent lifting experience. But he can lift more at higher rep ranges than I can, with the exception of leg press which I am almost 2x his weight.
I would think that most women would have a better time recovering from exercise, too, as they hold higher levels of body fat; no different that how women can maintain muscle mass better than males (comparatively, things obese vs lean individuals in muscle retention). [Side note, I will see if I can find the video from Eric Helms on this one].2 -
jaybird20162016 wrote: »Assisted pull ups every workout
Do you have a pullup bar at home where you can practice flexed arm hangs/negatives(jump ups)?
IF so, that's the ticket for getting to unassisted pullups.
Errday(as long as it doesn't conflict with your other training)
1 -
Yup definitely possible (I've done it). I would recommend following a full body program if you are working out 3x per week. Strong Curves is a great one with a focus on the lower body
A lot of the research and discussion I'm seeing from Eric Helms, Brad Schoenfeld, Lyle McDonald, Alan Aragon, etc. are indicating that working each muscle group around twice weekly is the "sweet spot". A full-body routine works, as does something like an upper/lower split in which you alternate weeks working ABA/BAB ("A" being upper and "B" being lower) - that works each body part about every fifth day. I don't know enough about Strong Curves itself to comment on it other than that Bret Contreras is very well regarded and a lot of people have reported success with his program.
But again, it comes down to doing an intelligently-designed program with progression/periodization included. A lot of people who design their own programs without the requisite knowledge waste a lot of time and effort accomplishing basically nothing in the gym.
Were these studies performed with men or women too? If only men, it would be interesting to see the affect on women. I have been doing some digging in research lately (from Bret Contreras and Menno Henselmans mostly) regarding women and training and what is generally more optimal due to the way we recover. From what I have gathered, most research will indicate women do better with higher frequency, so training body parts multiple times per week, as well as more volume, less rests between sets, higher reps, etc. Again, this is general and probably won't apply to all women but just something interesting to think about and consider
So from what I have gathered in my research is that women, in general, have higher amounts of Type I (slow twitch - endurance) muscle fibers which is why they respond better at higher rep ranges than most men; thence the difference between BLS and TLS, and Bret's observations that I have seen. But even within a standard population the make up of the individual can vary (like all things).
Anecdotally, what I have noticed between my lifting partner and myself, is that he responds much better at higher reps and I respond better at low reps. From a strength perspective I am much higher in all the core lifts by roughly 20 to 30% even though we have equivalent lifting experience. But he can lift more at higher rep ranges than I can, with the exception of leg press which I am almost 2x his weight.
I would think that most women would have a better time recovering from exercise, too, as they hold higher levels of body fat; no different that how women can maintain muscle mass better than males (comparatively, things obese vs lean individuals in muscle retention). [Side note, I will see if I can find the video from Eric Helms on this one].
Awesome thanks for sharing. This is in line with what I have read too.0 -
stanmann571 wrote: »jaybird20162016 wrote: »Assisted pull ups every workout
Do you have a pullup bar at home where you can practice flexed arm hangs/negatives(jump ups)?
IF so, that's the ticket for getting to unassisted pullups.
Errday(as long as it doesn't conflict with your other training)
I don't unfortunately! Might look into getting one though. Thanks ☺️0 -
You can get a pull up bar to hang in a doorway for under $50 from amazon. Totally worth it0
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Best equipment is your own body. You can do so much with body mass. No cost and don't need to make space. I got resonable gains with nothing but my own restance and s $7 yoga mat. I recommend a adjustable weight dumbbell set. I just work out upper body 3 tines a week.5
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