2 Days per week - is it enough?

[MASShole]

I wonder sometimes if everyone has a troll account so they can post dumb shit.

 

[kjos8035]

I wonder sometimes if everyone has a troll account so they can post dumb shit.

Circuits are dumb. So is equalizing push/pull. So is not sitting around for 5 minutes in the gym while you flex in front of a mirror and admire yourself between exercises.

In actuality, what about my routine is "dumb shit"?

 

[Eastie Boy]

I've been lifting 2x a week for about a year now (sometimes adding another day in for more variation). The key to making 2 day's work is changing things up enough to keep your body guessing.

Right now I'm doing the same routine twice a week, just changing the amount of reps/sets. Yesterday did 5x5, sunday will be doing 3x15. I'm currently doing full body circuits with minimal to no rest in between stations. The routine looks like:

bench
deadlift
supersetted curls/upward rows
cross situps
weighted widegrip pullups (move in a grip every time through the circuit)
bentover rows
russian twists
supersetted hammer curls/overhead press
weighted situps supersetted with bycicles
skullcrushers

repeat circuit 3-5 times depending on set/rep day, then throw in some burnout dips at the end.

I'll be doing this routine for a week or two more, then switch it up completely. I'm doing legs on different day, so I'm not getting everything in 2 days a week, but pretty close.

Are all those exercises really necessary? Particular for strength gains (which is what the TS was asking)

 

[Tosa]

In case you are not, in fact, a troll, allow me to explain where you are wrong.

I've been lifting 2x a week for about a year now (sometimes adding another day in for more variation). The key to making 2 day's work is changing things up enough to keep your body guessing.

There is no need to keep the body guessing, elicit muscle confusion or any of that nonsense. There is a need for planned variation, periodization, progression and programming. Which to might seem like "keeping the body guessing" to somebody who is ignorant such things, but they are very different things.

Right now I'm doing the same routine twice a week, just changing the amount of reps/sets. Yesterday did 5x5, sunday will be doing 3x15. I'm currently doing full body circuits with minimal to no rest in between stations.

Full body circuits with minimal rest are useful primarily for conditioning, not strength. So it's not relevant to TS's goals, and may not be relevant to your own.

bench
deadlift
supersetted curls/upward rows
cross situps
weighted widegrip pullups (move in a grip every time through the circuit)
bentover rows
russian twists
supersetted hammer curls/overhead press
weighted situps supersetted with bycicles
skullcrushers

You should be putting more effort into fewer exercises instead of doing 13 different exercise, including 4 variations of ab work, 2 kinds of curls, all done 5x5.

You should be putting more effort into fewer exercises I'll be doing this routine for a week or two more, then switch it up completely. I'm doing legs on different day, so I'm not getting everything in 2 days a week, but pretty close.[/QUOTE]

I wonder how you do deadlifts without using legs? And saying that you can get pretty close to everything without "legs" is stupid, and clearly means you aren't putting enough effort into squats.








Anyway to contribute more to the question asked by TS:

If I were to train 2 days a week, the exercise selection might look something like this:

Day 1
Low bar Squat
Bench
Dead (alternate weeks between conventional, and sumo, possibly include variations like deficits, chains)

Day 2
Clean and Press
High bar squat
Chins

Stuff like grip work, core work, face-pulls, would be done depending upon how I felt on a particular day. Or at other times.

 

[TheBrokenVow]

I find two days is optimal for me. Along with the ability to 'recover' physically from training, I find the breaks ensure I'm dying to get back in the gym mentally.

 

[KnightTemplar]

Thank you for all the replies and(the sensible)advice, guys.

 

[Forgottoduck]

I find two days is optimal for me. Along with the ability to 'recover' physically from training, I find the breaks ensure I'm dying to get back in the gym mentally.

Yeah, psychologically you don't over do it when training twice a week and you can spending your time desperate to get back in the gym and thinking about your technique a lot.

 

[TrevorRoss]

Oh yeah, just as long as you're busting your ass.

 

[Prodigal Son]

I think I've gotten some of my best results lifting hard twice a week.