Do you know how often you should physically train to get optimum performance improvements and reach your fitness training goals? Unfortunately for many people, without proper regulation of both of these aspects of your training program, your results likely will be less than optimal. The good news is that proper frequency and volume are easy to implement within your program so that you can soon be reaping the results.

Training frequency 

Unless there is a strict schedule which includes adequate rest, simply beating your head against the wall is not going to yield results. Training frequency is the number of exercises devoted to a particular muscle group or lifts per unit of time. Mistakes concerning training frequency are made both by novices as well as veterans. In this article, we need to see some of the common mistakes made by both groups concerning training frequency.

Exercise frequency is defined as the number of training sessions you perform over a certain amount of time. For convenience purposes, training schedules usually are planned to repeat on a weekly basis. But, there’s no reason why a schedule can’t be designed around a monthly or even longer duration cycle. The proper frequency for you in a particular training program depends upon two major factors: your ability to recover from intense training and the way that you choose to divide your exercises.

For example, assume you find, as many people do, that you progress most efficiently in strength and muscle size by working each major muscle group or movement once a week. There are myriad ways to divide that work. One option is to perform a whole body workout once per week. You could alternatively split upper and lower body exercises into two separate days. You could also do a “push, pull, squat” type of division in which you work all of your pushing movements on one day, your pulling movements on another, and your squatting or lower body movements on a third. There are others, but those three can be effective for a large percentage of the population.

The problem of overtraining

Often they are so enthusiastic about the new training regime that they have uncovered that they overstrain in the first days itself in their enthusiasm, by the end of the week and start of the next one. The person is tired and does not have the motivation to keep with their program, and eventually, they drop out. The best training frequency for a person similar to this would involve not overtaxing them with the regime. 

If you can do six workouts a week, you can’t be training with real intensity, unless you’re one of the bodybuilding elite with genetics in the top 1 percent. Training in this way is damaging your progress. Weight training is a terrific sport with huge health benefits attached to it, but six days a week, or even a four day a week program will quickly become a drudge, and unless you’re a total fanatic, you won’t stick with it for long. I believe two hard workouts a week is your best chance of making real progress with the weights. Then, you can hit them hard, and have at least two days of recovery in between times.

Workout two or three times a week

If you really can’t keep yourself out of the gym in between times, try a cardio workout, which will be of more benefit than another weight workout. This could be 40 minutes on an elliptical trainer (use your MP3 player and listen to your favourite music) or swimming, or whatever else you prefer, as long as it’s not percussive to the joints. If you’re concerned about your fat levels, try doing cardio straight after hitting the weights. You’ll already be in calorie burning mode after the weights workout, so in theory, you’ll burn off more calories this way.

So, to sum up; two or at the absolute maximum three hard workouts a week, ideally not more than one hour in duration. If you’re on six days a week program, cut it back to twice a week and watch your body respond. The main mistake made by bodybuilders is also overtraining, in their case, it is commonly seen that the desire to push the entire body more becomes ingrained, this brings about poor training rate of recurrence with less rest time. This is very bad for your body because of its effects of exercise resulting in rapid weight loss, lack of urge for food, soreness in joints, regular aches in the muscles,headaches etc.Many of these people wrap up doing 3 x the work for the same result or in this case a negative effect.

Better results from lesser work

This kind of can is achieved by modifying your workout strategy to suit the changing aspects of your program, including more rest durations to formulate more muscle mass and allow healing of micro tears. The most significant thing to remember is that we shouldn’t dwell too much on the mechanics and calculations of a training frequency plan because when you put it into effect, it might turn out adverse results.

The key is to find out what suits your body type and what kind of regimen you are most comfortable with, in the end, this is what matters in reaching the gold standard in fitness. Volume and frequency are integral parameters of any strength training program. Getting them right can be the key to optimizing your results. Too much volume or frequency will prevent the body from recovering properly from one session to the next and can negatively impact not only strength and muscle gains, but also immunity, mood, and overall wellbeing. Pay attention to your body and use that feedback to help pinpoint the amount of training that works best with your particular physiology.