Hi Warriors, how are you? After that title, I’m going to give you a minute to get your mind out of the gutter… OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I want to address a topic that comes up a lot and especially this time of the year. And that’s how to fit your goals around a three times per week strength training schedule.
As a personal trainer, the majority of the programs I write include strength training three times per week. First and foremost, this is the amount of time that most people can dedicate to strength work. This can be for many reasons. More days than this, and oftentimes people feel like working out becomes another job. And during busy seasons of life, you might not have any more than that to give.
The other reason I write a lot of programs around three times per week is because I believe that you can tackle just about any strength goal you have within that framework. And I’m going to prove it to you by not only talking about how, but by giving you three different sample plans based on different goals and workout arrangements.
Frequency Focus
Let’s start off with a frequency based week. Frequency in strength training refers to how many times per week a certain muscle group is stressed. High frequency strength training is great if you are looking to manage a health condition or for weight loss and management. This is where most people are looking to start as it helps develop routine and offsets the worst of delayed onset muscle soreness.
With a frequency based program, you are looking at a full body lifting routine that you complete each of the three times you train. Now, the simplest version of this will also have you repeating the same exercises, but I find that clients often get bored quickly. So, I prefer to keep the target on the muscle group but vary the input with different exercises and movements. This also aids in taking repeated stress off joints and ensuring the same joints can move in all their different ranges.
Volume Focus
Moving on to a volume based program. Volume is the amount of work done; in strength world that means the number of sets, repetitions, and exercises per muscle group. If you’ve been in a gym, you’ve probably seen a guy who has a huge upper body on somewhat spindly legs. This is the result of far more sets and reps concentrated on the upper body without matching the lower. (Random note in the name of gender equality, girls usually go the other way with a lot of volume trying to grow their glutes and not enough for their upper body.)
Volume based training is amazing if your goals include increased work capacity and endurance and improvements in technique. Simply put, if you are going to do a gazillion reps of any exercise, you are going to get better at said exercise. Both in terms of your form and in terms of how much you can lift. It’s the same reason why we tell runners to run more – physiological and metabolic changes. Volume based training is also clutch for increases in muscle mass, both true hypertrophy and smaller increases for a metabolism boost.
Intensity Focus
Last, but certainly not least is intensity based training. Intensity is how hard you go, which in strength training means how much weight you are pushing. Basically if your goal is to get really strong or to put on a crazy amount of size, this style of lifting is for you.
It’s important to note here that the sets and reps might look crazy, but if you do the math, the totals are not that different from the frequency focused program (i.e. roughly equal volume for a given exercise). The real kick here is both the amount of weight lifted and the concentration of exercises. In other words, you’ll do a lower body day with a whole host of exercises but you won’t lift lower again. The idea is to create a lot of mechanical stress on the individual muscles that needs to be repaired because the awesome happens during the repair process.
Each type of training induces change differently, so they each tackle a different set of goals. However, reaching your goals can be done with three strength workouts per week as long as you remain consistent.
Until next time, move well friends!
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