For More Muscle Power: That’s How Often You Have To Train

Muscle Power: How often should you train a week if you want to build more muscle strength: short but often or long less often? Experts can now answer the question.

How often you should train in a week is a question many athletes ask themselves, especially when building more muscle strength as quickly as possible.

A study by the Australian Edith Cowan University in cooperation with the Japanese universities Niigata and Nishi Kyushu can now answer the topic without a doubt.

Study: How Often Should You Exercise Per Week?

In their study, the researchers examined 36 subjects. Of these, twelve were female, and 24 were male.

The physical condition of the subjects was impeccable – neither neuromuscular nor orthopaedic damage was present. Furthermore, none of them suffered from chronic diseases. The most important selection criterion: Six months before the study, none did any regular strength training for their arms.

How The Study Went

There were three groups, each with twelve people. Their assigned workout: eccentric bicep contractions. This exercise is about lengthening the muscle. For example, the power is guided downwards during a biceps exercise. By contracting, the biceps slow down the movement. The study participants mastered this training unit on a machine designed for this purpose. It was able to measure muscle strength during the campaign.

But to find out how often the strength training should take place per week to exhaust the maximum quota of muscle strength within the specified period, they assigned the students an individual training program that they had to complete for four weeks.

The first group did five contractions each, six days a week. The second group trained once a week with all 30 contractions, and the third group taught once a week but only performed six contractions.

 Result: This Is How Often You Should Train Per Week

The result provides a clear answer: If you want to increase your muscle strength, you should train daily because the group that trained six times a week with five exercises each had a muscle circumference almost six per cent larger and increased muscle strength by ten per cent.

The group that did 30 reps once a week had a 5.8 per cent increase in muscle size. However, their muscle strength will not increase.

In the group in which only six contractions will complete per week, no significant developments could be determine.

The Conclusion Of The Study

This research supports older studies that found similar observations. Another study by researchers at Edith Cowan University found that training frequency is more important than training length.

Therefore, according to the research team, training several times a week is best to build muscle strength.

“Even though these study results are limited to training the biceps muscle, the results can also be transferred to other muscle groups – at least to a certain extent.” At least that’s what Ken Nosaka, a teaching professor at the Department of Sports Science at Australia’s Edith Cowan University in Australia, thinks in a related article.

“We need to know that every muscle contraction counts and that it depends on how regularly you train it,” Nosaka emphasizes. It is, therefore, more essential to train a little every day than to train intensively once a week.

Nevertheless, it would help if you did not overexert yourself and should consider rest days.

Why Strength Training Is So Important

Strength training is becoming more and more important as a healthy sport. Because it is generally good for your physical fitness, well-being and mental state, and the risk of injury in the event of a fall, your physical performance and posture improve.

Your bones also become more stable through weight training. As a result, it could positively affect old age long-term, minimizing the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Your cardiovascular system also benefits because your heart muscle will train during the training sessions. In addition, due to the increased pumping capacity of the heart, the hollow power becomes more substantial with constant training.

You can also rely on strength training if you want to strengthen your immune system because this will also train. In addition, adrenaline will release during strength training. It is there to form new immune cells and increase blood pressure. It will strengthen your heart and improve blood circulation.