Good article reporting on strength training frequency research, updated August 2017: https://www.painscience.com/articles/strength-training-frequency.php Bottom line: less is more than enough.
There are a couple of large studys by Walcott where his subjects, average age of 65, performed 25 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weight training. One group did this three time per week and the other group did this two times per week. The study lasted six weeks and both groups lost weight. The three times per week group gained significantly more muscle mass than the two times per week group. I believe it is important to manage glycogen levels either through excercise or diet as some health problems appear to be related to sustained high blood glycogen levels. High intensity interval training(HITT) increases one's VO2 maximum(cardiovascular efficiency) and is part of the aneraerobic energy system that utilizes ATP and lasts for 8 to 15 seconds under maximum effort, depending how it is measured and individual differences. As ATP is used up in intense excercise, the body will utilize it's lactic acid cycle(aka alactic / creatine cycle, I believe) This anaerobic energy system lasts from 45 seconds to two minutes. The final energy system is aerobic, meaning with oxygen and involves the utilization of free fatty acids. It is apparently possible to train these energy systems by the type of excercise you do. Since maximum effort can be maintained for 8 to 15 seconds, this may imply that 1 to 3 reps per set before failure will train your muscles to better utilizes the energy system. ATP replenishes typically at the rate of near 90% in 1 minute and is almost completely replenished within three minutes. Thus, an appropiate resting period might be 1 to 3 minutes between sets for a particular muscle group. For the lactic acid cycle, using a cadence of 2-1-2(Excertion, pause, release, measured in seconds) implies 9 to 24 reps per set before failure. For the free fatty acid cycle, one can obviously excercise at a lower energy level for a long time while utilizing fat stores. When I do workout, I will do a single set of 12 to 18 reps for my lower body and a single set 8 to 12 reps for my upper body three times per week. Occasionally, I will do heavier sets. In addition, I will do two different HITT profiles. The first profile is 5x30/90. This means after warmup, I will attempt maximum effort on either a row machine, elliptical trainer, or stationary bike for 30 seconds and low effort for 90 seconds as I recover. I do this five times. On the second profile, I will do a 5x120/180, where after warmup, I will use strong, but submaximumal effort for 2 minutes and rest for 3 minutes for 5 reps. This HITT program is different than the one's I've read about, but seems to more closely match the bodies energy and recovery profiles better. I believe walking helps to maintain strong bones because of the load being put on. The rest of my excercise is rounded out by a long hike. I do not look like a body builder but definately has some lean body mass(LBM). I believe a recent diet change where I all but eliminate simple carbohydrates(carbs) and starches in exchange for a higher proportion of vegetables and vegetable oils. I remember reading somewhere that the body can only digest 3 to 4 ounces of meat at a time. This may imply that more frequent, smaller meals may be beneficial to increase one's effective protein intake. Then again, this is probably where protein powder comes in. My goals include staying in reasonable shape under a chaotic schedule. Any feedback on my plan would be appreciated as I am still unclear on theoretical aspects and have relatively little practical experience. Note: Some abbreviations and terms were included to possibly accommodate a broader audience than excercise professionals. Thanks.
The article is waaay to long to read in its entirety. What was your takeaway from it? What conclusion(s) did you draw?
Strength is built in the gym, using basic heavy compound movements. The look is built in the kitchen-diet.
That's somewhat inconsistent with the majority of the studies referred to in the article and the ones I have come across elsewhere. I suppose it depends on the intensity of effort employed by the participants in the study. You have to juggle intensity, volume and frequency to find the right mix, keeping in mind that the more intensity you employ, the less volume and frequency you can endure and recover from properly. And intensity is the most important variable because it is the least forgiving, in that if the intensity is below a certain and indeterminate minimum threshold level, then no amount of volume and frequency can really compensate.
There's your answer. If you spend time in the gym, it is worth your while to read this article in its entirety. Even if you don't agree with all or any it for whatever reason, it will get you thinking about your own workout regimen.
Just to be clear, are you saying you only do 2 sets in total per workout, or that you do a single set of a number of different exercises for both upper and lower body?
That's a fair number of sets to do 3 times a week. Just curious, how close to failure do you go for your work sets, and, ballpark, what is your age range?