Question on changing number of days per week to work out (review of workout etc.)

[rickcr]

I'm still confused on something. The traditional plan of HIT has you work out 3x week (every other day and then a rest of two days.)

I hear many mention that if you could spread that over more days it's actually better. Currently I have the time now to spread it out to four or five days per week (leaving weekends off since the gym is close to my work.)

Is it more beneficial to switch to a 4 or 5day/week workout? If so how does it change the exercises you do and/or the weight increment changes?

Currently I'm alternating between the two workouts:

A
--
Overhead Press
Squat
Flat Bench
Bent Over Rows

B
--
Dead Lifts
Incline Bench
Pull Downs
Upward Row

On each of the days, I'll often throw in some ancillary bis or tris work depending on my mood and often some ab work.

 

[whistledixie]

I'm still confused on something. The traditional plan of HIT has you work out 3x week (every other day and then a rest of two days.)

I hear many mention that if you could spread that over more days it's actually better. Currently I have the time now to spread it out to four or five days per week (leaving weekends off since the gym is close to my work.)

Is it more beneficial to switch to a 4 or 5day/week workout? If so how does it change the exercises you do and/or the weight increment changes?

Currently I'm alternating between the two workouts:

A
--
Overhead Press
Squat
Flat Bench
Bent Over Rows

B
--
Dead Lifts
Incline Bench
Pull Downs
Upward Row

On each of the days, I'll often throw in some ancillary bis or tris work depending on my mood and often some ab work.

"Better" is a relative term. What is better for you might not be better for me.

For some, splitting the workout up between upper/lower body and doing 6 sessions a week (3 for upper, 3 for lower) is better. For a while, I did 6 sessions a week but split up between AM/PM sessions on 3 days of the week. My training partner didn't like that so we switched to 1 session, 3x a week. I enjoyed the AM/PM split more.

Is training more often during the week better? Maybe. Can you handle the additional volume without overtraining? If your body can handle it, you will see more gains with more volume. But if it inhibits recovery, you won't see progress - you could see a reversal in progress.

I'm toying with the idea of splitting upper/lower next cycle. I might train 4 days a week instead of 6, though. I don't think I could handle just 1 day off per week - as a matter of scheduling, not recovery.

 

[rickcr]

I should add that I'm also 41 so I do notice that recovery isn't what it used to be. I have been seeing gains in size with the 3x per week so I think I'll stick to that, however I might take a break and go back to Madcow's 5x5 Intermediate Strength training http://madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm for a couple of months, after this HST cycle, then probably back to HST.

I'm in my second full HST training cycle and I'm in the middle of the 5s and noticing that my strength really hasn't moved up much at all (if any) and this is after a previous 8 week cycle and now into my 6th week of the second cycle. It's possible my diet has been crappy though since I've noticed I've definitely gained some more fat... even though I do try to consume a lot of protein. I know HST isn't a strength building program so I'm not really complaining.

 

[Toolman]

IMO, HST is perfect for us older guys because it doesn't stress the nervous system nearly as much as other programs. I'm in my sixth HST cycle and making much better gains in size and strength than I have in years. I attribute this mostly to the periodization built-in to the program. I've been training and making steady gains for almost a year without overtraining, which has been my downfall for most of my adult life.

My advice is to give HST at least one more cycle, but spend a fair amount of time planning the next one in terms of exercises and weights. I like the exercise selection your posted above. For those exercises that you're using during this cycle, make sure you go to failure on each of them on the last day of the cycle and use those weights plus 5-10% as your goal for the end of next cycle. For other exercises that you aren't using this cycle, spend a week to determine your RM's for those and set your goals accordingly.