Measured as the number of times you train a given muscle group per week.
Example: If you train your biceps 4 times in one week, then your biceps frequency is 4x per week, due to you targeting those muscles 4 times in one week. You’ll see most guys in the gym doing what’s known as a “bro split”, where you only train one or two muscle groups per session, once a week.
Like “Chest day” every Monday, this has been proven to be least optimal for people who aren’t on performance enhancement drugs (PEDs) as you have a very low frequency by only stimulating your chest 1x per week.
Having a higher frequency of 2-3 times per week for each muscle group is the most effective for naturals lifters (non steroid users), and gives you the most bang for your buck.
This is because the key to building muscle is triggering Protein Synthesis, which is the process in which your body uses amino acids to build tissue. If you want more muscle growth, then protein synthesis has to be elevated to a higher degree and has to stay elevated longer. So in laymen’s terms…
After a workout, protein synthesis remains elevated in the trained muscles for around 24-36 hours – slightly more or less depending on the workout. So if you only train your chest on Monday, by Wednesday, your chest has stopped growing, regardless of how hard you hit it, because you aren’t keeping protein synthesis elevated for long in each muscle.
Not only that, if you’re training each muscle only once a week, you might actually lose the positive adaptation (muscle growth) by not stimulating it soon enough and training the movement, aka improving performance.
So the key is to train the same muscle groups at a higher frequency, and that means stimulating each muscle group 2 to 3 times per week for optimal results. Also, by having a higher frequency, this gives you the ability to work on your technique and proper form more often.
Think about it, if I benchpress once per week and you bench 3 times per week, who’s gonna have a more dialed in form and most likely a stronger bench?
This also known as greasing the grove, which makes the movement easier, more effective because it becomes second nature, you’re more comfortable with the movement pattern, reducing risks of injury and increasing risks of gains. In addition, if you’re hitting a muscle group 2-3 times in one week, chances are…