Is it better to work out only one muscle group a day, or to work out two or more?

I work with a trainer and he told me to only work out ONE muscle group a day. Are you drinking protein shakes?

Well it depends on your body type. Like if you work more than one muscle your burning more of your energy so you won’t be able to put in the reps you need/want for a certain muscle group. But, personally, I like to do as much as I can in a day. I mean I use the “rest times” to work on other muscle groups. For example, let’s say I just did bicep curls, I need a little break before I do biceps again but my triceps(a completely different muscle group that wasn’t worked) can be worked while my biceps are resting. Granted, I’m trying to get lean muscle and get “ripped” not necessarily “big”. Also, meal plans, protein shakes, and snacks are key to getting muscle(although I’m sure you already know this). Finally, again I’m sure you know this but, when it comes to bulking you want to set the weights so that you struggle to push out the last 2(in a set of 8 or so), When I was trying to bulk up I NEEDED a spotter because on my very last set I was basically failing after 5 reps…that’s what you should be experiencing.

There are various approaches. You certainly shouldn’t strength train the same muscle group hard two days in a row. Some people weight train 3 days a wheel and do both upper and lower body. Some alternate between upper body and lower body workouts and strength train every day usually with one day off a week. I’ve seen the rapidest gains using a technique called High Intensity Strength Training. The point behind HIT or HIST is quality over quantity. Instead of tons of reps, burnouts, drop sets, etc. you concentrate on one very intense set working to failure with only one or two exercises per muscle group and slow negative reps. Personally I do both upper and lower on the same day since HIST workouts are quick and I can’t get to the gym as often as I’d like. Funny thing is that several personal trainers I talked to used HIT for their own workout but none of them use it for their clients. They claim that they don’t think most people can push themselves hard enough to get the most from HIT but I think they just keep the good stuff for themselves.

Thanks guys. I think I’m going to just finish up my fourth week with one muscle group, maybe do the 5th week, then switch into two muscle groups…. Muscle shock gained me a quick two pounds when I switched from two to one last month :D

Yea once I’m done putting on mass till about January, im going to start cutting. I got the diet down for now, it’s pretty easy because I just eat my favorite foods :P no junk food though… And when it comes to the actual workout I go for maximum 7 reps, and I’m always pushing the last 1 or two.

Scientifically, Frequency> Volume. That means training muscles twice a week as opposed to once a week will yield more results. Provided of course that you’re on a diet that is in a caloric surplus over your maintenance.

This topic is dependent on your own body and preferences. I’ve experimented with 4-day splits training each muscle twice a week, once a week, 5-day split training only one muscle group a day once a week, and 6-day splits training 2-3 muscle groups a day 2-3x week. Also, it comes down to preferred volume that your body responds to the best. For me, I prefer lower volume, higher weight, whereas others prefer lower weight and higher volume (more sets). You can’t have both, so you have to choose one or the other, otherwise, you’ll be going nowhere.

Another factor you have to think about is time. Do you have and are you willing to do a 5-day split training everything once a day? If not, switch to a 3-4 day split training two groups a day. At one point, I had time for 6-day split and took advantage of it. Now I go back to 4 days because I’m a little busier in my day doing other things.

To the people saying it burns more energy, that’s true, but if your diet is made for a surplus of calories, you don’t have to worry. Also, you said you’re not seeing results, how much calories are you over eating? If it’s under 500, you’ll be gaining .25-.5lb./week which is slow progress and you won’t see that much of a change in a short time. If you don’t care about fat, eat at 1,000-1,500 over for a few weeks and you’ll gain 3-5lb./week. I did that for a week and jumped from 150-153lb. in a few days.

Also, from your comment to someone else, I don’t think you’re training correctly. If you train to failure on every set and exercise, you’re counterproductive and won’t make any gains. If you’re looking for size, go higher on the reps, to 8-12 instead of 1-7. 1-6 is basically the strength method and you’re going to 7, which isn’t helping much. What’s your routine anyway, perhaps you should get on a real routine instead of your own. Jump on over to Bodybuilding.com and I and other users can help you out there.

http://funadvice.com/r/15g81ja4dvf thats the routine i was using for 4 weeks, and i was doing 4-7 reps

this is the one im doing now, and i am really feeling it http://funadvice.com/r/bn2gg15cvam

as for calories im going minimum 1500, with about .8 grams of protein per lb of weight.. i was getting strenght gains, just not mass, but i have gone up 5 pounds the passed two weeks so i am happy,,, if you can give me feed back on the routine i have now i would appreciate it, but it looks great