High Frequency Training
High frequency training has gained a lot of attention in recent years.
This type of training differs from most traditional training splits, but might have distinct advantages over traditional training schedules.
What is high frequency training?
High frequency training refers to a training schedule where you train the same muscle groups or movement patterns three times per week or more. For instance, you may train each muscle group three to five times per week.
This schedule differs from traditional training programs. With most traditional training programs, you train each muscle group or movement pattern once or twice per week.
With high frequency training, you use similar total training volumes for each body part, but spread that volume across the week instead of concentrating it into one session.
What are the benefits of high frequency training?
This type of training allows you to reduce fatigue, reduce soreness, increase total training volume, and accumulate more practice on specific movements.
First of all, this type of training reduces muscle specific fatigue. If you only train one quadriceps exercise per workout, your quads will feel fresh each session. In contrast, if you try five quadriceps movements in one workout, your quads will feel exhausted by the end of the workout. You might not be able to push yourself in the last three movements.
Secondly, high frequency training has been shown to reduce soreness and delayed onset muscle soreness. This type of training also reduces recovery time and boosts anabolic hormone levels more than traditional training splits.
High frequency training also allows you to increase your training volumes per body part more than traditional training splits. Like I mentioned earlier, if you spread your training volume for each body part into multiple days, you decrease fatigue and increase the quality of your training. This allows you to lift heavier weights and gain more size and strength.
Finally, high frequency training allows you to accumulate more practice on specific movements. Strength is a skill, and frequent, specific practice allows you to improve your technique faster.
Scientific Results of High Frequency Training
The Norwegian Frequency Project demonstrated that a group of national level powerlifters who trained each lift six times per week gained more strength and muscle than powerlifters who trained each lift three times per week. Total volume was equated between groups, so lifters in the high frequency group trained with less total volume per session to compensate for the increased frequency.
However, another study found that higher frequency training did not improve muscle growth or strength, but did reduce session perceived exertion. So, high frequency training might not lead to better results, but might make your training feel slightly easier.
Another study found a small advantage to high frequency training for muscle growth in resistance trained men. However, both the high frequency group and the body part split group performed roughly the same on one rep max strength tests.
However, a more recent study by Schoenfeld and others have failed to show that high frequency training produces better outcomes than standard training schedules.
According to these studies, we might conclude that high frequency training produces roughly equal or slightly better results than standard training schedules.
Is high frequency training good?
Training each body part more frequently may help you accumulate more training volume, reduce recovery time, increase skill specific practice and reduce fatigue.
Most of the research surrounding this topic suggests that high frequency training produces equal or slightly better results than a lower training frequency per muscle group.
How do you structure a high frequency workout?
You could structure your high frequency workout with 3-4 sets of a quad exercise, chest exercise, hamstring and glute exercise, back exercise, core exercise and rear deltoid exercise.
For instance, you might try 3 sets of 5 squats, 3 sets of 6 bench press, 3 sets of 8 glute hamstring raise, 3 sets of 8 chin ups, 3-4 sets of 20 seconds planks and 3 sets of 12 a rear deltoid fly.
Of course, you still want to use different exercises across each day of the training cycle.
Final Thoughts
High frequency training may improve your muscle size, strength or reduce fatigue and recovery time more so than training each muscle group twice per week.
What do you think? Have you tried a high frequency training program? If so, please let me know in the comment section below.
