Everyone has their own set of rules in the gym. Some are learned and others seem to have come from the dark ages. People tend to abide by these rules and end up realizing some of those rules limited their ability. The most interesting set of fitness rules comes from misinterpreted studies and end up being hammered away in educational magazines. How and when to train specific muscles becomes a big topic of discussion.
The concept of overtraining and gaining muscle seems to be taboo for some and a miracle for others. You hear some people saying you can’t train a muscle group more than once per week. Others say growth comes from hitting muscles a few times per week. The decision needs to be made based on research and oftentimes the size of the individual preaching the message. If it’s a big guy saying that training arms 3 days per week is best, he’ll either get a huge following or steroid whispers.
Diving into the necessary recovery period for muscles seems a bit overdone. Let’s look at it from a different angle. Take your best muscle group, the one that people usually say is “God given” (based on genetics or similar). Chances are you are very comfortable putting this muscle group to work when you see fit. If it’s a couple back to back exercises or training it on consecutive days. Fact is that you know you’ll get the response from the muscle that you desire. You have confidence in it.
This is where people tend to stay the course with all other things and decide to try a few shock sets. Maybe add in a few other advanced techniques for growth. The end result is some growth and more frustration. People often point to guys in prison or the dude at the gym with huge arms. Prisoners seem to be jacked. The dude with huge arms seems to work them 5 days per week. The response to the dude at the gym is the same “I hope he has big arms, he trains ‘em every flippin’ day.” Exactly! You just answered your own question. You can and should train a weak muscle more often. This does not mean every muscle gets worked everyday.
What you need to do is take a muscle group (i.e. quadriceps) and train them more frequently. You can overtrain (and experience all of the fun flat muscle, low energy sides) easily by overworking each muscle week in and week out. Periodize your training so that you are “overtraining” a specific muscle for a set period of weeks. Generally, 4-6 weeks would be a solid timeframe and analyze results at the end. You will definitely see results from this and they will be positive results. Be sure that you are eating properly along with getting proper rest. Lacking fuel and a full night of rest can wreak havoc on your progress. If you are having trouble with a specific muscle, I’d be glad to help you, simply email: [email protected]
