Train Twice a Day the Right Way – T NATION+ – COMMUNITY

Training twice a day can burn you out and help you reach your goals. Here’s how to do it the right way.

The most important things to do:

When you’re more energized and less fatigued, start with heavier, harder workouts. Think of it like heavy deadlifts at the beginning of a traditional once-a-day workout, rather than at the end of a series of isolation exercises. You want to get the most out of each workout and order things so that programming elements don’t interfere with each other. You want them to have additive effects.

What are the biggest benefits of training twice a day? You can set up your workouts to complement each other. Don’t sabotage yourself by doing a second workout with insufficient recovery. Get enough rest between workouts by properly spacing your workouts.

In general, the longer the time between workouts throughout the day, the better. If you do your second workout 8 hours after your first workout instead of 5 hours, you’ll feel less fatigued the second time around.

Your training frequency and volume will be higher than usual. In response to situations of heightened stress, perform decompression weeks at least every 6-8 weeks. This will give you longer-term improvement, although the load reduction is frequent.

If your goal is to build strength with twice-daily workouts, do the following:

Use your first workout to directly increase strength (traditional method). Choose the lift you want to improve and train the main muscles involved – the prime movers.

For example, if you want to focus on improving the traditional barbell deadlift, your workout should include some combination of compound movements involving the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and trunk extensors. Keep your training intensity at 85% of your 1RM or higher, and your repetitions at 6 or fewer.

The goal of this workout is to make it easier to work the muscles you trained in the first workout. Your second workout should target the stabilizers so your body can better support maximum effort.

Stabilizers are isometric muscles that help keep your body parts in a fixed position during a given movement. Identify and train the stabilizer muscles of whatever lift you’re doing. For example, if you focus on traditional barbell deadlifts, focus on the transverse abdominis and lats, as well as other stabilizing muscles (5). If you know of any personal weaknesses, use this workout to emphasize those weak areas.

Keep the intensity between 67% and 80% of 1RM and set for 8-12 repetitions. This allows you to get the most out of your training, even though you’ll be a little tired during this workout.

If your goal is to gain muscle, do the following:

Your first workout should focus on a small number of related muscle groups that often overlap during lifting, such as the chest, triceps, and deltoids. Train them like any typical muscle-building program, with a strong emphasis on compound movements involving two or more muscles.

Exercises should be performed between 80% and 85% of 1RM for 6-8 reps. This training intensity and rep range will bias hypertrophy toward the larger motor units. This is easier to do when the fatigue level is lower during the first workout. This workout provides enough training stimulus for each muscle trained to at least maintain the size of those muscles.

The purpose of this workout is to specifically train the one muscle you targeted in the first workout. This allows you to take advantage of the benefits of training twice a day, significantly increasing your total training volume for this muscle and making greater progress.

It’s okay to focus on just one muscle during this workout because your first workout provides enough stimulation for the other muscles. After every 6-8 weeks, rotate the targeted muscles.

Since you used a lower rep range for the first workout, switch to a higher rep range for the second workout. Use 8-15 reps ranging between 65% and 80% of 1RM. This rep range is intentionally wide so that you can choose the value in that range that works best for the fiber type composition of the muscles you are particularly concerned about.

If your goal is to lose fat, do the following:

The goal of this workout is to help maintain the muscle you already have, rather than focusing exclusively on fat loss. Focusing solely on fat loss while trying to lose fat is a common and understandable mistake. Losing fat is great, but you’ll look better if you also limit muscle loss.

Therefore, your first workout will focus on building muscle. Do 6-12 repetitions between 67 and 85% of 1RM. Include some exercises at the low end of the rep range and some at the high end, but on the low side. This can help you retain the muscles you’ve worked so hard for.

For this workout, focus solely on increasing your calorie burn and forego other training priorities. It’s simple: move more, limit rest.

Choose exercises that involve multiple joint movements and require some effort to stabilize, such as kettlebell swings, as they burn more calories. Energy expenditure was further increased by performing circuit training with rest periods of less than 30 seconds to increase excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) (6,7). Increasing EPOC is an effective way to increase energy expenditure through lifting.

Plan for high-intensity training, but don’t expect it to last long due to short rest periods. Do 10-15 reps between 65% and 75% of 1RM. Alternatively, you can replace the extra cardio with a second weight training session on days that feel right to you.