With that said, this post isn't going to be overly technical.
Take a second and ask yourself: "how much time do I actually want to spend in the gym building muscle?"
"How often should I go to the gym?"
"5 times a week?...More?"
No and no.
While there's certainly no one "correct" frequency for working out, there is a generally accepted range of effective frequencies, volumes, and intensities that have been proven most effective.
For our purposes today, I want to lay out what the bare minimum is for the cost of time commitment in exchange for maximal reward.
I plan to do a more in-depth and sciency post about this subject later on, but, that will have to wait till I get off for Christmas break. For now, you'll just have to take my word for it. Trust me!
In terms of frequency, hitting a muscle group twice per week (aprox. every 3-5 days) is often considered optimal. The truth, however, is that this higher frequency is not actually proven to be proportionately more effective than working out just once a week (aprox. every 7-10 days).
Though you may be able to put on a little more muscle for the extra time spent in the gym, that extra muscle gain is not, in fact, equivalent to the extra time. Working out twice as often does not allow you to build twice the muscle. According to much of the scientific evidence, double the frequency will only yield about a 30% increase in results. If we think about this in terms of money, it's as if a grocer gave you an option between 1lb of potatoes for $1 and 1.3lbs of potatoes for $2. The first option is obviously the better deal.
I'm not saying that working out more frequently is wrong. I'm just saying, if you're ever strapped for time, or if you have a busy schedule that only permits a couple hours per week to workout, you can still see results. Even more, these results will come at a more reasonable cost for the reward achieved.
Now lets assess workout volume and rep ranges.
It's generally accepted that working out in the 4-8 rep range is incredibly effective at building solid muscle. Moreover, 2 work sets seems to be the minimally effective dose per body part if you workout in the 4-6 rep range, and 3 work sets is the minimally effective dose per body part if you workout in the 6-8 rep range. As a note: the 4-6 rep range will put a greater emphasis on myofibrilar hypertrophy (that's growth of the actual muscle fibers), and the 6-8 rep range will give you a mix of myofibrilar and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (that's growth of the muscle fibers and the fluid in the muscle); though, there will still be a greater emphasis on myofibrilar growth.
So, with these thoughts in mind, let's set up a minimalist program that will give you the greatest reward proportionate to time spent:
Workout A
Weighted Chin/Pull-ups 2x4-6
Cable/BB/DB Row 3x6-8
Cable/BB/DB Row 3x6-8
Cable Face Pull/Rear Delt Fly 3x6-8 or 10-15
EZ-Bar Curl 2x4-6
DB Curl 3x6-8
EZ-Bar Curl 2x4-6
DB Curl 3x6-8
Workout B
Weighted Parallel Bar Chest Dips 2x4-6
Dumbbell/Barbell Incline Bench Press 3x6-8
Dumbbell/Barbell Incline Bench Press 3x6-8
Lateral Raise 3x6-8 or 10-15
Skull Crushers 2x4-6
Cable Extension 3x6-8
Skull Crushers 2x4-6
Cable Extension 3x6-8
Workout C
Trap-Bar Squat 2x4-6
Romanian Deadlift 2x4-6
Romanian Deadlift 2x4-6
Jump Squat/Box Jumps/Step-ups 3x45 seconds/1 minute rest between sets
Calf Raise 3x10-15 (calves seem to respond best to higher rep ranges)
Seems pretty spartan eh? But, when the demands of life get in the way, sometimes this sort of routine is just what the doctor ordered. Some notes:
*Warm-up with 1 set of 12x50% of your target weight for the day on the first lift, then do 1x10x50%, 1x4x70%, and finally 1x1x90%. There's no need to warm-up for any other lift than the first.
*The weight should be heavy. You should be able to get no more good reps than the max number of reps prescribed per workout.
*The tempo for each rep is 2 seconds down, 1 second pause, 2 seconds up.
*Don't compromise form, and give every rep and set your all! When you limit yourself like this, everything you do counts!
*When you can get the top number of reps listed on the first set, and stay within the prescribed range for the following set(s), add 5-10lbs to the bar or weight belt or dumbbells.
*You could either do these workouts on a 7 day or 10 day cycle (or anywhere between really). If 7 days: A, off, B, off, C, off, off. If 10 Days: A, off, off, B, off, off, C, off, off, off.
Please know that I'm not saying this is the perfect routine by any means. Only you know if this routine is "perfect" for you, because you know your schedule and your commitments.
All I'm saying is: You don't have an excuse!
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