http://www.t-nation.com/article/most_re ... t_training

An interesting article regarding training twice a day, particular point that i noticed was the opportunity to have 2 post workout shakes.
Is it really that beneficial, I can see the benefit to bulking, is there any benefit while cutting?

Anyone done anything similar before?
I currently have the time (just need to find the motivation) to do a session at say 6.30am and another in the evening.


Found it while looking for something that i dreamt up on the way home last night - total body workout when limited for time: chins, dips, squats (in the article it mentions chins, dips, DLs).

I have done 2 a day in the past but it was a workout cut into 2 rather than 2 full bore workouts . It was to do with lack of time .
Even that left me tired and I found having the extra sleep better than extra training

Dont see the benefit if you are unassisted

That was my other thought, it seems like it would be perfect for someone on gear.

If I had the time I'd definately work on a 2 day split.

I work on a form of rotation doing compounds in the first and isolations in the 2nd.

Alex wrote:If I had the time I'd definately work on a 2 day split.

I work on a form of rotation doing compounds in the first and isolations in the 2nd.

Interesting idea. So say Dips and incline press in the morning then flyes etc in the evening?

Read that yesterday.

If I had the time, I would without a doubt train like that.

You're not actually training for much longer than you would usually. There's two really important and very good points to using this. The fact you get two post workout shake opportunities, and it also allows you to put more maximum effort into exercises that would usually get less because they are later in the routine.

The only fault I can see is the time factor, myself and most simply don't have the time to do that....

I suppose I could one day of the week. I train on a Saturday so I could train early and then later in the evening. To be fair though, i'm usually too busy.

but you work out at home, you should have all the time you need to train twice a day :p

training twice a day is excellent for getting bigger. And if done right you'll lose body fat too. But it's just very very demanding; physically & mentally. Plus you really have to be even stricter with nutrition; I mean that you have to eat right and well. Else you're negate all the good stuff done in the gym.

I've done a few leg & chest+back sessions twice in a day. Real hard. Good though.

Training twice a day like that kind of takes you out of 'hobby league' and more into 'serious/pro league'. Apart from the sheer dedication there's also the facts already pointed out in this thread, such as time, etc.

There's evidence that training twice a day (cardio) + workout can help to burn twice the calories.

However, having said that Cortisol is a highly catabolic hormone that breaks down protein and suppresses immune function. Training twice a day (morning and afternoon) is known to produce a dramatic increase in cortisol which can lead to overtraining, poor results and illness.

Training twice a day requires twice the amount of planning and preparation.

Exactly... simply too much for someone doing this as a hobby. Though if I was serious enough to take gear and had the time then I'd certainly consider it.

Morba wrote:

Alex wrote:If I had the time I'd definately work on a 2 day split.

I work on a form of rotation doing compounds in the first and isolations in the 2nd.

Interesting idea. So say Dips and incline press in the morning then flyes etc in the evening?

Or even opposing compounds.

I dreamt up a 6 day split based on training twice a day. It dealt with all compound movements in the 1st 3 days and then all isolations in the 3nd 3 days. The obvious contraint being time.

I train twice daily quite often...only ever for 2 weeks at a time mind you as any longer can lower test levels. I've done so preriodically for about a decade after reading an article by poliquin. Sometimes it's the same bodyparts trained in the pm session, sometimes not. The second workout is nearly always higher reps/isolation work, and also ancilliary work (rotator cuff, abs etc). I find it much better than cardio for getting lean. If you can train in your lunch hour or before work, then all you need is a basic home gym set up to get your second workout in....

Also like anything else you can adapt/build up a tolerance.... so training twice a day isn't going to totally wipe you out. Work capacity can always be increased, and everyone should really be striving to increase it.

I find all this talk of overtraining and 'recovery' comes from a lack of understanding on how the body adapts/compensates. If you're never taking yourself past current limits in recovery, then you'll have the same work capacity and tolerance for volume/frequency/intensity (as in % of 1RM) in a years time as you do today....and that's just stagnation. Just because you're training 'intensely'....doesn't mean you're progressing.

True... also you just need to look at the volume Alex is able to use and still progress for proof of that.

Orinoco wrote:I train twice daily quite often...only ever for 2 weeks at a time mind you as any longer can lower test levels. I've done so preriodically for about a decade after reading an article by poliquin. Sometimes it's the same bodyparts trained in the pm session, sometimes not. The second workout is nearly always higher reps/isolation work, and also ancilliary work (rotator cuff, abs etc). I find it much better than cardio for getting lean.* If you can train in your lunch hour or before work, then all you need is a basic home gym set up to get your second workout in....

Also like anything else you can adapt/build up a tolerance.... so training twice a day isn't going to totally wipe you out. Work capacity can always be increased, and everyone should really be striving to increase it.

I find all this talk of overtraining and 'recovery' comes from a lack of understanding on how the body adapts/compensates.** If you're never taking yourself past current limits in recovery, then you'll have the same work capacity and tolerance for volume/frequency/intensity (as in % of 1RM) in a years time as you do today....and that's just stagnation. Just because you're training 'intensely'....doesn't mean you're progressing.

* my man

** it's a lack of understanding about many things including good nutrition. Gulp down all the liquid protein/carbs whatever you like, but if you solid food sucks then you will do (sooner or later).

And the Poliquin method of twice a day training makes sense to me: work heavy & compound exercises in the am then do isolation "lighter" work in the evening.

Bison wrote:True... also you just need to look at the volume Alex is able to use and still progress for proof of that.

Yep, there's more than one way to skin a cat...

Our bodies have an amazing built-in antioxidant system that improves with regular exercise training. A person who exercises regularly is thought to suffer much less free radical damage to their tissues than someone who does not exercise frequently. However, there is a direct association between exercise intensity and levels of oxidative (free radical) stress. The harder the exercise, the more free radical damage occurs and the more depleted your antioxidant defenses become. Also, as we age, our body’s build-in antioxidant system begins to falter.

Ref: Decline in skeletal muscle mitochondrial function with aging in humans
Kevin R. Short*, Maureen L. Bigelow*, Jane Kahl*, Ravinder Singh†, Jill Coenen-Schimke*, Sreekumar Raghavakaimal*,
and K. Sreekumaran Nair*‡ 2005.

Canuck PT wrote:Our bodies have an amazing built-in antioxidant system that improves with regular exercise training. A person who exercises regularly is thought to suffer much less free radical damage to their tissues than someone who does not exercise frequently. However, there is a direct association between exercise intensity and levels of oxidative (free radical) stress. The harder the exercise, the more free radical damage occurs and the more depleted your antioxidant defenses become. Also, as we age, our body’s build-in antioxidant system begins to falter.

Ref: Decline in skeletal muscle mitochondrial function with aging in humans
Kevin R. Short*, Maureen L. Bigelow*, Jane Kahl*, Ravinder Singh†, Jill Coenen-Schimke*, Sreekumar Raghavakaimal*,
and K. Sreekumaran Nair*‡ 2005.

Interesting. All the more reason to pay careful attention to diet and supplementation.

yes that's why I am trying to find a freez dried blueberry powder as I iam tired of eating frozen blueberry.

An ESN freeze dried fruit powder (maybe organic) blend with super high ORAC by the kilo would be great.

Hugh wrote:yes that's why I am trying to find a freez dried blueberry powder as I iam tired of eating frozen blueberry.

An ESN freeze dried fruit powder (maybe organic) blend with super high ORAC by the kilo would be great.

Im looking into a massive range of fruit extracts and powders as we speak for further additions down the months to come....dates on these arent as great....also an awesome phyto blend.

KP

Excellent !! ! I think ESN is gonna rock the market soon !! phyto powder are such a nice tool, recovery, general health, to some extent performance enhancement by scavenging free radicals. Did U use the web address I put online in the supplement source thread?

Training full bore twice a day is something I'd love to try as soon as it becomes practical. I have fairly often trained with a main workout in the evening and a short 10-20min ancilory session in the morning to do easy to train bodyparts like ab's, calves & forearms, and this seems to work well as the am session isn't very demanding.

If training full on twice a day though I think I'd be shit hot on ensuring I consumed high levels of Vit C to fight the cortisol and also that I took plenty of antioxidants. I agree also that diet and other supp use would have to be spot on and consistent.