Title: Lifting weights, Strength Training. How Many Times Should You Train Each Week.
Headings: STRENGTH TRAINING FREQUENCY
STRENGTH TRAINING FREQUENCY
For beginning exercisers, there is research to support recommending strength training three times, two times, or even once per week.
Study two
Study three
Study four
Summary
The studies’ research findings are summarized as follows:
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Content: The two-day-per-week exercisers gained 2.2 pounds of lean muscle weight, and lost 4 pounds of fat weight. Surprisingly, the men and women who trained just twice a week experienced 88 percent as much muscle gain and 87 percent as much fat loss as those who trained three times per week (see Table 2). As in the first study, twice-a-week training proved to be a highly productive exercise protocol, even though in this study the Tuesday/Thursday participants performed only two-thirds as much work as the Monday/Wednesday/Friday subjects. The Tuesday/Thursday training program produced significant improvements in both lean and fat weight for these previously sedentary subjects. Because twice-a-week training is more time-efficient than traditional Monday/Wednesday/
Friday exercise programs, it is an excellent alternative for time-pressured individuals who have difficulty fitting strength training into their busy schedules. Other studies have demonstrated similar results, leading to the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendation to perform strength training two or three non-consecutive days per week.1,3
Study three
Although twice-a-week strength training may be acceptable for most people, a recent survey indicated that many adults may be limited to only one exercise day per week.6 For this reason, another study was conducted to compare the effects of one, two and three brief strength workouts a week on strength development. The subjects in this study were 218 previously sedentary adults and seniors, average age 50 years, who enrolled in a 10-week beginning exercise program. During each training session, the participants performed about 25 minutes of strength training with 12 resistance machines, and about 25 minutes of endurance exercise (treadmill walking or stationary cycling). One hundred and three subjects trained on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 86 subjects trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 29 subjects trained only on Saturdays. With respect to strength development, the three-day-per-week exercisers increased 21.2 pounds, the two-day-per-week trainees increased 15.5 pounds, and the one-day-per-week participants increased 15.5 pounds (see Table 3).