Most bodybuilders practice utilizing a physique half break up. This implies they work completely different muscle teams on completely different days. For instance, chest on Monday, again on Tuesday, legs on Thursday, and shoulders and arms on Friday.
Such a break up implies that each main muscle group is educated as soon as per week.
Some lifters practice their muscle mass a bit of extra typically, maybe two and even 3 times per week. Examples of this are full-body exercises and push-pull routines.
These exercises are greatest described as a low-frequency, high-volume strategy to coaching.
Whereas there is no such thing as a denying coaching this manner works, that doesn’t imply it’s the one strategy to arrange your exercises. Excessive-frequency, low-volume coaching is the alternative finish of the exercise spectrum and might be a viable different for some exercisers.
On this article, we clarify what high-frequency, low-volume coaching is, checklist the advantages, and offer you some pattern exercises to attempt.
What’s Excessive-Frequency, Low-Quantity Power Coaching?
Excessive-frequency, low-volume power coaching is fairly self-explanatory. It’s additionally a little bit of a mouthful, so, for the needs of this text, we’ll be utilizing the abbreviation HFLV.
The intention of any break up routine is to unfold your coaching quantity over a number of exercises. Workout routines are often grouped by physique half, so that you’ll have a leg exercise, a chest exercise, a again exercise, and so on., every week.
Every exercise includes a number of workouts, and every train is finished for a number of units. This lets you accumulate loads of muscle-building coaching quantity per week.
HFLV coaching takes that very same weekly coaching quantity however divides it evenly throughout extra exercises. So, as an alternative of doing 12-15 units of chest coaching in a single session, you may do 2-3 units of chest per exercise 5-6 days per week.
So, every week, you do roughly the identical variety of workouts and units per muscle group, however as an alternative of cramming all that work for every physique half into a few weekly exercises, it’s unfold over extra coaching periods.
For instance:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
Higher physique push | Higher physique push | Higher physique push | Higher physique push | Higher physique push | Higher physique push |
Higher physique pull | Higher physique pull | Higher physique pull | Higher physique pull | Higher physique pull | Higher physique pull |
Legs | Legs | Legs | Legs | Legs | Legs |
Whereas this strategy flies within the face of conventional bodybuilding coaching, it mirrors the best way that many Olympic lifters and gymnasts practice, and it’s an strategy that’s extraordinarily fashionable with calisthenic athletes.
That’s to not say that HFLV coaching is healthier than the extra widespread strategy to bodybuilding. Research recommend that coaching quantity and depth somewhat than frequency are essentially the most important elements for constructing muscle (1, 2).
Nonetheless, as a result of your physique adapts so readily to virtually any coaching stimulus, it’s all the time helpful to have different approaches out there so you’ll be able to range your exercises, keep away from plateaus, and preserve your progress.
Additionally, for some folks, HFLV coaching could also be extra handy and gratifying than common bodybuilding coaching.
The Advantages of Excessive-Frequency, Low-Quantity Power Coaching
If you’re used to following a standard break up coaching strategy to bodybuilding, chances are you’ll be skeptical concerning the validity of such an uncommon exercise system.
Nonetheless, there are many advantages to HFLV coaching:
1. Larger common coaching depth per week
While you do a number of workouts per muscle group and a number of other units per train per physique half, by the top of your exercise, your muscle mass will likely be drained, so that you gained’t have the ability to raise a lot weight or do as many reps. For instance:
- Bench press – feeling robust, excessive vitality
- Incline dumbbell bench press – a bit of drained, vitality nonetheless fairly good
- Dumbbell flyes – getting drained now, weights feeling heavy
- Chest press machine – numerous fatigue, very low vitality
- Cable crossovers – actually drained now, solely simply capable of full the exercise
For that reason, most good packages frontload your exercises, so essentially the most difficult and productive workouts are in the beginning, and the simpler workouts come on the finish.
However, with a HFLV exercise, you solely do one train and a few units per muscle group per exercise. Which means you gained’t should deal with rising fatigue ranges. As an alternative, you should use heavier weights and do extra reps for ALL the workouts per muscle group just by doing them on completely different days.
2. Decrease RPE per exercise
RPE is brief for Score of Perceived Exertion and is a scale from 1-10 used to explain how exhausting a exercise feels. Doing a number of workouts for a number of units often results in a excessive RPE as there may be plenty of localized fatigue. That RPE will climb as coaching quantity will increase.
With HFLV coaching, exercise RPE is often decrease. Doing fewer workouts and units per exercise means you gained’t really feel as drained. So, regardless of a mean enhance in weekly coaching depth, your exercises will really feel simpler.
A decrease RPE means you’re much less prone to dread your coming exercise and may really feel motivated to place in additional effort. In any case, how exhausting can only one train for a selected muscle group be? It’ll be over earlier than you understand it!
3. Much less muscle soreness
Excessive-volume, low-frequency exercises are usually related to extreme muscle soreness. All these workouts and units actually take so much out of your physique. Muscle soreness usually kicks in 24-48 hours after a exercise and lasts 3-7 days, relying on how exhausting you educated. IN some circumstances, it may be very debilitating.
HVLF coaching is much less prone to produce a lot muscle soreness. The exercises aren’t voluminous sufficient to trigger plenty of post-exercise ache, and coaching the identical muscle teams every day will assist keep at bay soreness, too.
Not satisfied? Take into consideration this: which can lead to extra ache, working a marathon at present, or working a number of miles daily to cowl the identical distance over per week? The reply is definitely fairly apparent, and we are able to apply the identical rationale to power coaching.
4. Shorter exercises
Spreading the identical weekly coaching quantity over extra exercises implies that every coaching session will be shorter. So, when you often practice for 90 minutes 4 occasions per week, you’ll be able to minimize the size of every exercise to 60 minutes when you practice six occasions per week.
Nonetheless, you’ll be able to most likely scale back the size of your exercises much more as a result of the coaching depth is larger. You gained’t have to do as many units per train to set off hypertrophy.
For instance, you may usually do 4-5 units per train while you observe a break up routine, however with HFLV coaching, 2-3 units must be adequate.
In any case, you’ll most likely be hitting that very same muscle group tomorrow. Doing greater than a few units will impede restoration and make your subsequent exercise much less productive. As such, chances are you’ll discover that 30-45 minutes is greater than lengthy sufficient for every day HFLV coaching.
Immediately or not directly, these advantages could imply that you just get higher outcomes from HFLV coaching than a extra conventional bodybuilding break up.
That’s very true when you’ve been following an ordinary strategy to bodybuilding coaching for a very long time and your progress is slowing or has come to a whole halt. HFLV coaching is so novel that it may reignite your progress and get you again on the good points practice.
Pattern Excessive Frequency, Low Quantity Power Coaching Program – Weights
This program is designed for lifters with entry to a well-equipped health club. Every exercise consists of three major workouts (push, pull, legs) plus a few ancillary workouts to plug any developmental gaps.
If you’re actually in need of time, simply do the primary three workouts of every exercise. The secondary workouts (biceps, triceps, abs, calves) will not be your precedence and will be omitted if vital.
Take every set inside a rep or two of failure and relaxation 2-3 minutes between units to make sure you can push your muscle mass to the restrict on every train and set. Just do 2-3 units per train.
If unsure, do fewer somewhat than extra units. See how little coaching quantity it’s worthwhile to develop somewhat than how a lot you’ll be able to tolerate. You’ll be able to all the time enhance coaching quantity over the approaching weeks.
Finally, it doesn’t actually matter whether or not you do units of 6, 12, or 20+ reps. As long as you are taking your set near failure, you’ll set off an adaptive response (3).
Exercise 1
- Barbell bench press
- Pull-ups
- Squat
- Rollouts
- Standing calf increase
Exercise 2
- Incline dumbbell bench press
- Bent over row
- Leg curl
- Dumbbell curl
- Cable crunch
Exercise 3
- Barbell shoulder press
- Lat pulldown
- Deadlift
- Triceps pushdowns
- Weighted stability ball crunch
Exercise 4
- Weighted chest dip
- Chin-up
- Leg extension
- Hanging knee increase
- Standing calf increase
Exercise 5
- Decline barbell bench press
- Single-arm dumbbell row
- Bulgarian break up squat
- Dumbbell biceps curl
- Dumbbell facet bend
Exercise 6
- Barbell push-press
- Chest-supported dumbbell row
- Romanian deadlift
- Dumbbell cranium crusher
- Hanging knee increase
Pattern Excessive Frequency, Low Quantity Power Coaching Program – Calisthenics
Excessive-frequency calisthenics is a good way to construct muscle, get match, and burn fats with out utilizing a lot gear. Actually, you’ll be able to practice at dwelling with only a pull-up bar and an train mat.
You have to to do high-rep units for a few of your workouts to succeed in fatigue. Nonetheless, analysis strongly means that high-rep, low-load coaching will be efficient for constructing muscle, offering you practice to failure (3).
Exercise 1
- Push-up
- Chin-up
- Strolling lunge
- Plank
Exercise 2
- Dip
- Pull-up
- Air squat
- Aspect plank
Exercise 3
- Decline push-up
- Inverted row
- Bulgarian break up squat
- Reverse crunch
Exercise 4
- Deficit push-up
- Paused pull-up (pause for 2 seconds on the prime of every rep)
- Sissy squat
- Bicycle crunch
Exercise 5
- Diamond (shut grip) push-up
- Weighted chin-up
- Reverse lunge
- Russian twist
Exercise 6
- Paused dip
- Weighted inverted row
- Excessive step-up
- Reverse crunch
HFLV Power Coaching – FAQs
1. Do I’ve to range my workouts from exercise to exercise?
Train variation shouldn’t be important however will be useful. Working your muscle mass from a number of angles will assist forestall overuse accidents and may stimulate a wider vary of muscle fibers to supply higher outcomes. It should additionally maintain your exercises recent and fascinating.
Rookies could profit from fewer train variations to allow them to give attention to mastering their kind within the fundamental lifts. So, for instance, they may choose three pushes, three pulls, and three leg workouts and use them in rotation as an alternative of doing completely different workouts every day.
2. Are 2-3 units actually sufficient for muscle development?
Research have proven that one set is sufficient to set off hypertrophy offering that you just practice to failure or near it. Nonetheless, doing 2-3 units will produce higher outcomes (4). Greater than three units gained’t result in way more muscle development however will create extra fatigue, which suggests you gained’t have the ability to practice daily.
Offering you accumulate between 10-20 units per muscle group per week, you must get good hypertrophic outcomes from the HFLV model of coaching (5).
3. Can I actually get better sufficient to coach the identical muscle daily?
It’s typically stated that it takes a muscle 48-72 hours to get better from a exercise. That’s true when you do plenty of quantity per muscle group per session. Nonetheless, by limiting your self to only 2-3 units per muscle group per exercise, you’ll get better far faster, and 24 hours must be adequate.
In fact, restoration can also be affected by different elements, together with sleep, vitamin, and age. If you happen to really feel you’re unable to get better between HFLV exercises, scale back the variety of units you do per session. Additionally, experiment with staying a bit of additional away from muscle failure a few occasions per week.
4. How does cardio match into high-frequency, low-volume coaching?
Cardio is vital for well being, fats loss, and weight upkeep. As such, it must be a part of everyone’s exercise.
You are able to do your cardio instantly after your HFLV power coaching exercise or later that very same day. Do brief, high-intensity interval coaching exercises or longer, simpler low-intensity regular state coaching as most well-liked. Or, you’ll be able to alternate between these two cardio strategies, i.e.:
- Monday – 20-second dash/40-second restoration x 12-15 units
- Tuesday – 20 minutes at 60-70% of most coronary heart price
- Wednesday – 40-second dash/80-second restoration x 6-8 units
- Thursday – half-hour at 50-60% of most coronary heart price
- Friday – 3 minutes quick/1-minute gradual x 4 units
- Saturday – 20 minutes Fartlek (blended tempo)
Associated: HIIT vs. LISS Cardio: Which One Is Finest for Health and Fats Loss?
5. Is HFLV coaching higher for slicing or bulking?
The primary distinction between slicing and bulking is your eating regimen somewhat than the exercise you’re following. For instance, when you eat 300-500 energy greater than your TDEE (Complete Each day Vitality Expenditure), you must bulk up and construct muscle.
In distinction, when you scale back your calorie expenditure to 300-500 energy BELOW your TDEE, you must burn fats and get leaner.
So, modify your eating regimen in accordance with your physique composition objective. Eat extra to construct muscle and fewer to lose fats. Prepare exhausting to stimulate muscle development or protect your current muscle mass throughout your slicing eating regimen.
Learn extra about slicing vs. bulking right here.
Be taught extra on power coaching
Wrapping Up
Elite gymnasts, fighters, and weightlifters construct spectacular physiques by coaching daily. However, to observe a high-frequency coaching plan, you additionally want to cut back your every day coaching quantity to make sure that you may get better between exercises.
That is the alternative of what most bodybuilders do, however that’s why this coaching methodology works!
Doing the identical exercise time and again will finally cease producing outcomes. Altering workouts might help forestall plateaus, however there are solely so many productive workouts to select from.
Manipulating exercise frequency is a simple strategy to change up your coaching and reignite your muscle-building progress. With HFLV coaching, you do roughly the identical variety of weekly units per muscle group however divide them throughout extra exercises, coaching every muscle virtually every day.
Whereas this strategy might not be superior to extra conventional bodybuilding strategies, its novelty might be simply what it’s worthwhile to get your muscle mass rising once more.
Attempt it – it might be the power coaching answer you’ve been ready for.
References:
1. PubMed: Coaching Quantity, Not Frequency, Indicative of Maximal Power Diversifications to Resistance Coaching https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29324578/
2. PubMed: How Many Instances Per Week Ought to A Muscle Be Skilled to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30558493/
3. PubMed: Results of Low- vs. Excessive-Load Resistance Coaching on Muscle Power and Hypertrophy in Effectively-Skilled Males https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25853914/
4. PubMed: Single Vs. A number of Units of Resistance Train for Muscle Hypertrophy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20300012/
5. PubMed: Dose-Response Relationship Between Weekly Resistance Coaching Quantity and Will increase in Muscle Mass https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27433992/
6. PubMed: Low-Quantity Excessive-Depth Interval Coaching Periods with Totally different Work-Restoration Durations and Muscle Harm in Skilled Males https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35294320/