To Build Strength, Focus on How Often You Work Out, Not for How Long

B.And by now you’ve probably heard that short, all-day workouts (also known as “workout snacks”) can potentially be just as good as longer sessions. but new research suggests that short sessions of strength training five days a week can be significantly better to build strength than doing a longer workout once a week.

Why could this be?

Rachel StraubPhD, exercise physiologist and co-author of Weight training without injuries: Over 350 step-by-step images including what not to do!explains that improvements in the strength of endurance training they come from both increased neuromuscular adaptations and increased muscle size (hypertrophy).

“During the initial phase of strength training (approximately the first month), improvements in strength result primarily from improvements in neural drive, as hypertrophy does not become a dominant contributor until week three to five,” says Dr. Straub. Since this study only lasted four weeks, it is likely that the observed gains were due primarily to neural adaptations.

These adaptations are what allow your brain to recruit more muscle fibers in a coordinated and efficient manner, resulting in more forceful muscle contraction. “More frequent sessions provide more frequent neural stimulations, with adequate rest,” says Dr. Straub. And when the brain receives a stimulus more frequently, changes occur more easily.

Doing short strength training workouts every day instead of one or two long workouts a week also provides other benefits. “If you strength train only once a week, fatigue limits your performance and there is a huge delay in the training stimulus,” explains Dr. Straub. “However, if you strength train every day, you can alter your focus (such as one lower body day versus another upper body day), so fatigue becomes less of a limiting factor.”

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So what should your weekly routine look like?

With this in mind, if you’re going to aim for regular strength training, skip the full-body sessions and focus on one particular body part each day so your muscles get enough rest. (Generally speaking, you should take 48 to 72 hours between workouts that target the same muscle groups.)

“The American College of Sports Medicine recommends split-body workouts for advanced strength training, which is defined as four to five days per week,” notes Dr. Straub. “Full-body workouts are more appropriate if you strength train less frequently (two to three days a week).”

For the upper body, Dr. Straub suggests training the biceps, triceps, back, chest, and shoulders. On lower-body days, he suggests focusing on your hamstrings, quads, and glutes. “The core could be incorporated on both days, or on either day,” he adds.

When determining the loads to use and the number of reps to do for each exercise, Dr. Straub says to consider your primary goal. For example, performing very few repetitions at maximum eccentric strength is ideal for increasing muscle strength and size. But if your goal is to increase muscular endurance, focus on using light loads with high reps (15+) and very little rest. Either way, he says, “if the last one or three reps of any set aren’t challenging, the load is too light.”

Here’s an example of how you might structure a week of strength training mini workouts: