How many times a week should I train chest? Some people tell me that one is enough, but others say I need to do it at least twice.
The amount of training you do on any given body part depends on a few things. First, you must determine what your particular goals, in terms of training, are. A person who is looking for shape and muscular endurance might be on a circuit-training program. He might feasibly train chest two or even three times a week, as it is incorporated into the "upper body" portion of his circuit. This is allowed because, since the workout hits all major muscle groups in the upper body, no one group is fatigued to the point that it needs more than a day or two of rest to recover.
On the other hand, if you are trying to gain size and mass, quite often less training is more effective. In order to achieve this fitness end, you must train the individual muscle group thoroughly and intensely. However, since the workout is so taxing to your chest, it needs a few days to recover. If you throw in the other days in which you do a shoulder and/or triceps workout, you are easily looking at four to five days of rest (at least).
Also, it must be kept in mind that a muscle's growth does not take place in the gym; it takes place after, while the muscle is repairing itself in preparation for your next workout. When you workout, you actually create micro-sized tears in your muscle fiber. It's when your body repairs these tiny tears that you actually get stronger and the fibers grow. To that end, rest is often considered as important as the training itself. So, if you are debating between adding another chest workout to your week and taking the day off, it will quite often serve you better to just take the extra day of rest. But make sure you get some sort of exercise everyday, regardless (not necessarily weight-training).
My exercise routine incorporates a split of body parts each week. I do arms on Monday, shoulders on Tuesday, chest on Wednesday, back on Thursday, and legs on Fridays. My workouts haven't been very intense lately-I have been really tired. Any suggestions?
Based on the description of your workout, it seems to me that the order in which you train each body part is self-defeating. You train arms the day before shoulders; you train shoulders the day before chest. If you want to have a good chest workout, you need the secondary muscles involved (shoulders, triceps) to be well rested and fresh. How can you expect to push the limits of your bench press when your deltoids are still fried from an intense workout the day before? The answer, quite simply, is you can't - actually, you could quite possibly injure yourself. Especially in the case of shoulders, many compound movements require smaller stabilizing muscles in order to keep form good. If your shoulders are tired, they will be unstable when it comes time to hoist that bar off the rack. This could lead to serious injury.Since most of us plan our time according to a five-day workweek, we plan our workout to fit into this small time frame, as well. But, in order to have an effective workout, one must allow sufficient time for muscle recovery between workouts. Here is an example of a good weekly workout:
Monday-chest and triceps (your tri-s will be tired from the chest workout, so you will have to spend less time on them to fully fatigue them - this is a good thing)
Tuesday-Back and biceps (same concept applies - your bi-s will already be tired-this is in the interest of saving time)
Wednesday-Take this day to do smaller muscle groups, such as lower back, abs, calves, etc. Also, try to do some cardio
Thursday-Shoulders (your shoulders should be relatively recovered from your chest and back workouts)
Friday-Legs
If you implement this training schedule, each secondary muscle group should be fresh to commence each major workout. Follow this, and your training intensity should definitely pick up.
