2 a days

[Lifter74]

Not crying but I work an extremely physical job and usually 11-13 hours Mon-Thurs. I take Tues and Wednesday off. I try to hit the gym Monday and Thursday but I ain't going to lie by the time I get off work I am 50% at best. So I have been doing 2 a days on F,Sat,Sun, about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs per session. I try to get 8-10 hrs between sessions. Is this beneficial or hurtful towards gains?

 

[genetic freak]

The biggest thing I do not like about it, is I would only be training a body part once a week. Sure, you could train it twice that weekend, but it has not recovered from the first workout to train again, so it would definitely hurt your gains to train it twice in such a short period of time.

I would also probably taper calories so that I ramp up for the weekend and ramp down coming out of the weekend. I prefer to keep my diet consistent, but if I had a large break between training days, I would have to change it to accommodate recovery and growth.

 

[Lifter74]

The biggest thing I do not like about it, is I would only be training a body part once a week. Sure, you could train it twice that weekend, but it has not recovered from the first workout to train again, so it would definitely hurt your gains to train it twice in such a short period of time.

I would also probably taper calories so that I ramp up for the weekend and ramp down coming out of the weekend. I prefer to keep my diet consistent, but if I had a large break between training days, I would have to change it to accommodate recovery and growth.

I always manage to hit each body part twice a week. Yeah I up my food on the weekends. It's tough brother with my schedule but I manage the best I can. As most I also have a family and a grandbaby that can't be left out. But I do I agree that a spread out 5-6 day workout schedule is far superior.

 

[Rock Diesel]

One of the biggest issues I can see is recovery in between workouts. However, you are getting a significant amount of rest from Sunday through Friday. (At least from the gym) I guess a lot depends on how you are breaking these two-a-days up. If you're managing to hit each body part twice within a 3 day period, that can be pretty brutal and you don't want to set yourself up for an injury.

Diet will also play a big part with you expending a tremendous amount of energy each weekend.

 

[MR. BMJ]

When you see a lot of these elite bodybuilder guys utilizing 2-a-days, it's usually because they are also taking lots of insulin with huge amounts of calories around their workouts to make it work. They are the ones with huge amounts of intra-w/o drinks etc.

 

[myosaurus]

Never liked it. Hard to manage volume and easy to burn out. Just train whole body while there, even if it takes 2.5hrs.

 

[Lifter74]

One of the biggest issues I can see is recovery in between workouts. However, you are getting a significant amount of rest from Sunday through Friday. (At least from the gym) I guess a lot depends on how you are breaking these two-a-days up. If you're managing to hit each body part twice within a 3 day period, that can be pretty brutal and you don't want to set yourself up for an injury.

Diet will also play a big part with you expending a tremendous amount of energy each weekend.

Yeah I lift on Monday and Thursday too but not as intense

 

[genetic freak]

Yeah I lift on Monday and Thursday too but not as intense

Then I would just drop the 2 a day idea and I would do my intensity training on the weekend and do some light pump training on Monday and Thursday. I might even drop Monday and just do a full body pump on Thursday.

 

[IronInsanity]

Never liked it. Hard to manage volume and easy to burn out. Just train whole body while there, even if it takes 2.5hrs.

This.

 

[sityslicker1]

When you see a lot of these elite bodybuilder guys utilizing 2-a-days, it's usually because they are also taking lots of insulin with huge amounts of calories around their workouts to make it work. They are the ones with huge amounts of intra-w/o drinks etc.

I agree with all of this. I will also say that lots of (not all of them) live on sponsorship money, selling gear and free gear from aas sources. They don't have real jobs like the rest of us who are putting in 40 or more hours a week.

To the OP if your under 30 you might be able to pull it off. If your older then I honestly think the 2-a-days will be counter productive since you never really get any days off for rest. Working long hard hours is very taxing. Something you might want to consider is DC training. It's a perfect workout schedule for someone who has limited time.

 

[Type-IIx]

I agree with genetic freak knowing now that you train 5 days a week, you could easily optimize your training (considering a demanding physical job and recovery needs) by dropping the 2x sessions (up to 3 hours of training in 3 consecutive days, 6 sessions[!]) to single sessions <1 hour each over the weekend (F through Su) & I'd probably make Saturday or Thursday the easy pump day (for mental reasons I'd probably opt for it on Saturday to break up the more intense sessions & monotony of Friday & Sunday). In line with myosaurus if you were only training over the weekend, it'd be optimal to just do full body training. With 5 days a week, you can accomplish a lot in under an hour per session (remember, you're training to stimulate not destroy and there is a necessary balancing between fitness/fatigue even with AAS, GH, and you grow during rest and sleep in particular).

 

[The other Snake]

No need for double sessions. You can get everything you need out of doing one body part a week. I have done 1 body part a week for decades and it works just fine. Did that while competing so it's not a sandbaggers work out.

Let me bounce this off ya.

Monday- ab work you can do at home
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- off
Thursday- Back and bis- no bent over exercises (save the lower back)
Friday- Chest, tris and shoulders- no direct rear delt work
Saturday- off
Sunday- Legs. Hell if all you can do is 4-5 sets of squats, that's plenty. Then some standing calf work

You have a nasty schedule but recovery is that will keep you growing.