March 7, 2017

Your guide to twice-daily training

Dein Ratgeber für ein zweimal tägliches Training

Your guide to training twice a day

There aren't many situations where two isn't better than one...(just use your imagination). With hypertrophy training, the same is true...if you use the right approach.

Can't find a job for the summer vacation and are you ambitious enough to go to the gym twice a day? This article will show you a few ways to work out twice a day. As a bonus, I'll include a sample program that uses many of the methods described.

Let's get down to business

The rules

Rule #1: Exercise in the morning and afternoon/evening

If you work out twice a day, then there should be a minimum time gap of six hours between the two workouts so that you can reap the maximum benefits of each workout.

In other words, you should not start your first training session of the day at 14:00 and then try to do your second training session at 16:00. It is better to train in the morning and then again in the afternoon or early evening.

Rule #2: Do the more challenging workout at the time of day when you feel best

This is a very relative rule, but one that you need to consider if you want to go to the gym twice in one day. This rule is relative in that some people feel better when they work out in the afternoon, while others feel better when they work out in the morning.

The demanding nature of a particular training session, repetition ranges, etc. can also be relative. One person may easily complete a 12 x 4 training session and struggle with the metabolic demands of a repetition range of 8 to 12 repetitions. And the complete opposite may be true for another person.

In short, you should choose the workout that you find more challenging and do it at the time of day when you generally feel best.

Rule #3: Use a split program

Full-body programs and upper/lower body split programs are great tools that have their rightful place in workout planning, but neither are ideal for a two-workout-per-day program. The volume would be insane and your body would break down, which is why you shouldn't even try these workout splits on a two workout per day program. (You have been warned!).

If you want to train twice a day, then it's better to use a more varied split. I recommend a pairing of two muscle groups as in the example below:

Pairing 1: Chest/back
Pairing 2: legs hip dominant/shoulders
Pairing 3: Arms
Pairing 4: quadriceps dominant legs/calves

The above pairings follow one of two rules. The pairing is either

a set of antagonistic upper body muscles or
a large muscle group paired with a smaller muscle group

Large muscle groups require large, demanding exercises (e.g. squats and deadlifts for quadriceps-dominant and hip-dominant leg workouts) and are paired with smaller muscle groups using smaller, less demanding exercises.

Rule #4: Never train the same muscle group twice in one day with the same set/repetition scheme

If you train the same muscle group twice a day, you need to target different skeletal muscle components by using different stimuli/repetition ranges. Training the arms in the morning with sets of 10 repetitions and then again with the same repetition range in the afternoon/evening is not productive as the second training session will only interfere with recovery after the first training session.

Four approaches to training with two training sessions per day

After looking at the rules to follow, let's take a look at some approaches to training twice a day.

Approach #1: Mix it up

Many training programs use different repetition ranges within the same training phase to train a given muscle group with different stimuli throughout the week. Usually there is a "heavy" day where many sets with few repetitions (e.g. 12 x 4) are performed and then a "lighter" day with fewer sets but a higher number of repetitions per set (e.g. 5 x 12).

An excellent approach to a two workout per day training program is to mimic this heavy/light protocol, using these different repetition ranges on the same day rather than during the same week. Using this approach, your morning training session could be your heavy training session and your afternoon training session could be your light training session.

I would do this over the course of a week as follows:

Monday morning: chest/back (12x4)
Monday afternoon: chest/back (4x12)

Tuesday morning: hip-dominant legs/shoulders (12x4)
Tuesday afternoon: hip-dominant legs/shoulders (4x12)

Thursday morning: arms (12x4)
Thursday afternoon: arms (4x12)

Friday morning: quadriceps-dominant legs/calves (12x4)
Friday afternoon: quadriceps-dominant legs/calves (4x12)

Keep rule number two in mind when deciding which repetition range to use during the morning/afternoon training session. If you prefer to train heavy in the afternoon, then you should do so.

Performing the last two sets of the 4 x 12 training sessions as a superset with an isolation exercise is also a good idea. For example, if you perform bench presses, you can perform the last two sets with flying movements in the superset. If you perform standing shoulder presses, you can perform the last two sets in the superset with side raises.

As this approach is very demanding, I would not use it for more than two weeks in a row.

Approach #2: Pump up the volume

Another approach to a training program with two daily training sessions is to increase the weekly volume by training different muscle groups in the morning and afternoon. For example, if you typically train in the manner described below, then with two daily workouts you will be able to achieve your normal weekly volume in just two days.

Monday: chest/back
Tuesday: legs hip dominant/shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: quadriceps dominant legs/calves

I would recommend the following for a training program with two daily training sessions based on the "Pump up the Volume" approach:

Day 1 morning: chest/back
Day 1 afternoon: leg curls/shoulders

Day 2 Morning: Arms
Day 2 Afternoon: Legs quadriceps dominant/calves

Day 3: No training

And this sequence is then repeated, with every third day being training-free.

I would also not use this approach for more than two weeks at a time due to the high volume.

Approach #3: Quality over quantity

With the "quality over quantity" approach, the workload per training session is halved and only one muscle group is trained per training session. This is a great approach to keep the CNS fresh and rested, promote better workouts and improve nutrient partitioning to each individual muscle group. I would run it as follows:

Day 1 Morning: Chest
Day 1 Afternoon: Back

Day 2 Morning: Leg curls
Day 2 Afternoon: Shoulders

Day 3 Morning: Biceps
Day 3 Afternoon: Triceps

Day 4 Morning: Quadriceps dominant legs
Day 4 Afternoon: Calves

Day 5: Training-free

This sequence is then repeated, with every fifth day being training-free. If I was able to train twice a day on a regular basis, the majority of my training sessions would look like this. Nothing will make you feel better than after a 20-minute training session.

Approach #4: Specialization

This approach uses days with two training sessions only to target and help develop one or two lagging muscle groups. A specialization program for arms might look like this:

Monday: chest/back
Tuesday: Leg curls/shoulders
Thursday

o Morning: arms (12x4)

o Afternoon: arms (4x12)

Friday: quadriceps dominant legs/calves

The Double Trouble hypertrophy program

If you are able to train twice a day on a regular basis, the following is an excellent training block that is sure to help you make spectacular hypertrophy and strength gains.

Week 1-2: Mix It Up approach, as described
Week 3: Unload, low volume, 3x10
Week 4-5: Pump up the volume approach, heavy/average volume, 6x4
Week 6-7: Quality over quantity approach, light/high volume, 8x10
Week 8-9: Quality over quantity approach, light/low volume, 4x10
Week 10-11: Mix it up approach
Week 12: Unload, low volume, 3x10

The first two weeks follow the "Mix it Up" approach described above. Week three is a transition/unload week, during which a lower training volume is used (train each muscle group once a week with 3 sets of 10 reps. During this week there is no day with two training sessions).

Weeks four and five follow the "pump up the volume" approach using a "heavy" set/repetition scheme with average volume (6 x 4 is the scheme of choice here). During weeks six and seven, move to the "quality over quantity" approach with a light set/repetition scheme and a high volume (during this week 8 sets of 10 reps are the order of the day).

For the next two weeks, continue with the "quality over quantity" approach with a moderate volume set/repetition scheme (4 x 10). Each workout during these two weeks will be less than 15 minutes long.

The "Mix it Up" approach will be repeated during weeks ten and eleven and the training block will conclude with another unload/supercompensation week of 3 sets of 10 reps per muscle group.

Summary

Training twice a day is an effective way to achieve fast results in a short period of time. Having said that, it should be mentioned that additional stimulation on its own is not what will get you there. There are a number of ways to mess this up, such as under-training or over-training - success depends on the right approach. And with the information presented here, you now have a whole range of approaches to choose from.

If you have the time and ambition to give Double Trouble Hypertrophy a chance (and some good nutrition), I'm confident you'll make immense gains in muscle mass and strength within 12 weeks. Give it a try!

From Joel Marion | 06/07/07

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/double-trouble-hypertrophy