Weak Points training frequency ?

When you want to do some specialization on a weak bodypart it is a good thing to try and train that bodypart 2X per week and try to spread it out so that you can still recover yet not really overlap the other bodyparts so that they still get their needs met as well.

So lets say we were trying to specialize the legs, I would make one day a power day and the other day a volume workout and then give the heavier day the extra day off and this would be the way i would spread it out for the 6-8 week max time frame. Then go back to hitting everything with a balance; this way you can prevent overtraining and especially an injury to that area.

Sunday-legs-power

mon-chest/tris

tues-off

wed-shoulders/traps

thurs-legs-volume

fri-off

sat-back and bis-no deads during this time for this time frame.

I hope that this can help you out.

Yes it does thanks I was thinking about doing this but didn't know if it was a good idea or if I was just being impatient .

I'll give it a go cheers

Rob 

GREAT topic!

Weakpoint training is something that everybody wants to address sooner or later. My old training partner (Wayne...where are you!?!) and I named it "Weakpoint Wednesday".

This topic goes back to the notion that a lot of bodybuilders hope is true: The more you train something, the better it gets. Only that is completely wrong. The human body just can not recover as fast as we would like it to. So while I don't necessarily think you need to wait 7 days for each and every group, you do need to make sure its totally recovered before you hit it again.

It is kind of funny when you stop to think about the notion that we always talk in 7-day-terms. "once a week, etc". Our bodies don't know the difference between Saturday and Sunday. They just get torn up and then they heal up. So try an experiment and arrange your workouts based on recovery...not the day of the week. That may yield a 6 day rotation or a 16 day rotation...but I am willing to bet you will see better results than trying to cram everything into 7 days.

What do you guys think?

This is so true sean about the 7 days a week and splits can go beyond that, but I have used that before and it has worked out pretty well. 

I know that some individuals can't wokrout on the weekends, but really certain bodyparts do not need to fall on MONDAYS like CHEST! Haha!

Just repeat the cycle whenever the cycle or split you set up is over and it does not have to run on a 7 day week. Just get the adequate rest and then be ready to train again. 

I set up 4 day splits with clients and then do it 2 days on and one day off and then the repeat falls on the 7th day instead of back on the same day next week and then the confusion sets in, it's ok for these bodyaprts to end up on different days. 

But usually when you specialize on a certain bodypart it is good to make sure that this cycle or style is done for only 6-8 weeks as this body part could get the better of you down the road! 

I liken it to powerlifters who train a body part or a particular lift even 3x per week - but different rep ranges, tempos, exercises per that body part, etc.  In lectures I've often drawn a simple X/Y axis graph and on the horizontal register, put a straight line to represent normal, maintenance, homeostasis.  Training drives you under than line into a need to recover.  Mechanical and chemical inflammation "tears up" (as Sean said....but I hate terms like that...you don't "tear down muscle" as people say and then "rebuild it" - it's just worked tissue) muscle.  The more inflammation you cause; the more stimulus for adaptation you create.  Imagine that line on the graph going deeper based on harder training.  It would take longer to move upward (in days) to be fully recovered and then go ABOVE that line into compensatory adaptation....GROWTH.  If you train so hard that it takes 6 days to get just back up to the baseline and you train again - you didn't get into that growth phase.  You have to be FULLY recovered whether that takes 3 days or 10 days or you're missing some potential growth. 

Now, truth be told, much of the muscle may be recovered sooner than some, so would ENOUGH tissue be recovered to train, though some tissue is not?  Yes.  But, you risk the over-training of the not-recovered muscle and injury to steal a little training for the tissue that is.

Making any sense?

Trying to find pics of it for affect here. But when you compare undamaged muscle tissue to muscle tissue that has been damaged in weight training, its like looking at nice rows of cells and then looking at hamburger.

So ummm....yeah Joe...I say that one can use the word "torn up" to loosely describe what happens. ;) Jokes aside nothing actually tears. But the aftermath sure looks nasty and its easy to see why we get sore. Will keep hunting for those pics...

Great topic!! I want to work on increasing the size and shape of my quads and hammie's. So how do I know when I've fully recovered from the last leg workout? I have always listened to the old school saying.....hit legs once a week! I think I need to hit them more than that/maybe every 5 days or is it every 4 days? I need to know and figure out what  is best for me?

As a rule, once a week is a great number for legs. These are big muscles that are getting beaten hard when you train them and recovery is key. This question though is going to be directly correlated to training program design. Because there are times when you can train legs every 5 days...and there are times when you can train them every 10 days. And it's all 100% dependent upon your overall program, goals, nutrition and genetics.

Great subject! I'm 54 and sometimes the best choice for me is to let my wife do "leg day" by herself and play racquetball. Sometimes I'm not ready in 7 days:(

I've always subscribed to spending extra time working what I think is my best and worst muscle group.

Robert brings up a great point here - recovery.

"weak points" and "strong points" are nothing more than genetic curses or gifts, respectively. The tissue in any skeletal muscle abides by the same laws of physiology though. So regardless, we have to let it heal before we hit it again. In some cases, things are good to go after a few days. And in others, you want more than a week.

Anybody every do a nasty leg workout, get really sore for about 5-6 days and then as soon as the soreness is gone, try another leg workout only to find that strength is down and its just a pretty bad workout in general? The reason for that is recovery. A lack of pain is not the best indicator of total recovery. In fact I will go so far as to say this: If there is any doubt as to whether or not you are recovered, wait another day. No harm in that. Success in this sport is measured in months and years - not days and weeks. No rush.