The traditional bodybuilding split calls for training each body part once per week. While that may be sufficient for a beginner, or in brief training blocks, it is NOT ideal if maximum hypertrophy in the shortest amount of time is your desired outcome.
On average, muscles are repaired within 48-72 hours depending on the size of the muscle and the extent of mechanical damage inflicted upon it.
The rate-limiting factor is how quickly a muscle can recover from one training bout to the next.
The more frequently you can train a muscle, the more often protein synthesis will be stimulated within it… the more often protein synthesis is spiked within a muscle, the faster it grows!
In highly-trained individuals, there is even evidence to suggest that protein synthesis can be localized as often as every 12 hours.
This means that with the right training and nutrition protocol, designed to optimize recovery, we can train the same muscle group more frequently, and grow FASTER.
Enter, Scaled Frequency Training!
Your nutrition will be of paramount importance over the next 6 weeks. To maximize your results, I highly recommend that you pick-up the meal plans I’ve designed for you – available through the download area for the workouts.
Now, when attempting to increase training frequency, total volume must be carefully considered.
Contrary to what we want, simply haphazardly doubling up on the same workouts during the week for example is likely to cause you to quickly overreach / attempt a volume that you are not yet prepared to recover from.
So the key here is intelligent planning, appropriate volume and careful exercise selection.
Over the next 6 weeks we will gradually scale up frequency and volume, building up to an ‘overreaching’ phase in week 5, and a ‘supercompensation phase’ in week 6.
You will notice that there will be less variation in exercise selection between some phases – I want you to become very effective / neurologically adapted to performing a few key movements (think, movement patterns), which will allow you to use maximal weight with optimal form.
If you have been following any of my other programs up until now, you will find that total workout volume for each body part will be lower than what you are accustomed to in each individual workout… that’s all part of the plan. You will be hitting that same body part more frequently each week.
However, you will still no doubt be tempted to add in extra sets / increase volume in the first two weeks in particular regardless… that would be a mistake! RESIST the urge!
Think of this as ‘the calm before the storm’.
The program will become more challenging as the weeks progress, but you will quickly begin to adapt, and, if your nutrition is on point, not only will you experience improved recovery, you will experience improved growth above and beyond what you may expect.
There will no 2 x training days in this program – you will need to maximize recovery between each workout, and the intensity will be undulated throughout the week for each body part.
Start your engines boys and girls, it’s time to ramp up your training frequency, and your results, with Scaled Frequency Training!
Ben
