How many times a week should you work a certain muscle group?
So this is a very popular question I get…
Here’s my answer.
It depends on your goals. I know, not the straightforward answer you wanted but here’s the reality of it.
If you’re looking to grow your legs, yes you’re going to want to hit legs at least twice a week. You can even go as far as three times a week if one of those days is full body or just a low impact, low intensity day. However, there is such a thing as over training.
If you do them too often, you won’t allow them to properly recover. Why is this bad? Because then the muscle fibers you ripped during your workouts won’t ever fully recover which is how muscle grows in the first place! You only actually get stronger when your body is resting and those muscle fibers are repairing.
This applies to any muscle group: back, chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders, legs etc.
If you overwork a muscle, you’re not doing yourself any good. If anything you’re actually harming yourself and increasing your risk for injury.
So what’s the optimal amount for training a muscle group?
I’d say no more than twice a week. If you must work it a third time because the muscle is involved in another movement, then that’s fine but be aware that the muscle is likely fatigued and you may not get the output you want.
Don’t over train despite how much you want a muscle to grow because you will be disappointed, confused and possibly even injured.. Do it right with safe targeted training and consistency over a long period of time.
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