Train.rest.repeat: dramatically increase your strength and muscle mass by training each bodypart twice a day

Muscle & Fitness, August, 2005 by Lara McGlashan

Two big-screen TVs. Two scoops of Ben & Jerry's. Two supermodels.

Some things are just better in twos. But what about two training sessions for the same bodypart in one day? Although it might sound like lunacy at first, research conducted at the Copenhagen Muscle Research Center (Denmark) indicates that, when done correctly, training the same bodypart twice in one day can make that muscle group stronger, leaner, even bigger!

"The results of this study deduced that the muscle glycogen content of a bodypart nearly doubled following twice-a-day training," says Tabatha Elliott, PhD, research scientist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. In other words, after the two workouts, your glycogen stores are so depleted that your body overcompensates by loading your muscles with more glycogen than normal.

"Since glycogen pulls water into your cells, more glycogen means fuller muscles, and fuller muscles means greater cellular stretch," adds M & F Science Editor Jim Stoppani, PhD. That intracellular stretch is believed to encourage muscle growth as well as give you a sick pump.

In addition, training a bodypart twice a day should eventually enable you to do more reps with a given weight and, in turn, make you stronger. It also encourages capillary growth in your muscle tissue and increases the density of fuel-metabolizing mitochondria in your cells, both of which help you burn fat and assimilate nutrients. "You'll also have a boost in resting metabolism following these twice-a-day workouts, further increasing fat loss," explains Stoppani.

Convinced you should give this program a whirl? If not, perhaps the sight of two skinny arms when you look in the mirror might change your mind....

THE RULES

As always, there's a method to our madness, and you must follow certain protocols to maximize your results yet prevent injury and overtraining:

* Perform the same exercises for both workouts. "Different exercises stress different muscle fibers, and in the second workout you want to hit only the fibers that have already been depleted of glycogen from the first workout," says Elliott. To keep things fresh, Stoppani suggests beginning the first routine with compound (multijoint) moves, then going to isolation exercises, and reversing that order in the second session.

* Although you should perform the same exercises in both workouts, change the moves you do from week to week to avoid overtraining and overuse injuries.

* Rest at least 3-8 hours between workouts. "If you don't leave enough time between sessions, you blunt the testosterone response and increase the cortisol response, both of which can decrease results and contribute to overtraining," Stoppani explains. Optimal time between sessions is about four hours--enough to allow hormone levels to optimize yet keep you from going crazy due to carb depletion (see "Nutrition Notes" at right).

* Use high repetitions--12-20 per set for both workouts. "This prevents overstressing the targeted muscle group while better depleting muscle glycogen levels," notes Stoppani. Therefore, use lighter weights than you would normally to avoid premature fatigue.

* Rest no more than 60 seconds between sets to best deplete glycogen stores, increase caloric expenditure and facilitate fat loss.

* Take 3-7 days off before training a particular bodypart again to allow for full recovery and glycogen repletion. Take more time for large muscle groups and less time for smaller ones.

* If you have the time, train each muscle group with this protocol; otherwise, simply choose 1-2 lagging bodyparts and use twice-a-day training to bring them up.

* Follow this program for no more than six weeks. "You'll acquire all the strength and growth you can expect to gain from this training after six weeks, and using it any longer may actually hinder your progress," advises Stoppani. After that length of time, return to your normal routine for a minimum of eight weeks before taking up twice-a-day training again.

NUTRITION NOTES

For the whole shebang to work properly, you must pay close attention to nutrition before, during and after your twice-a-day workouts. "Because you're shooting for complete depletion of your glycogen stores, meal timing as well as meal content is very important," says Stoppani.

Take the time to review these nutritional recommendations to help optimize your results:

* One to two hours before your first session, consume a meal with lean protein and a moderate amount of carbs to prepare your body for the work to come.

* Thirty minutes after the first workout, eat a 40-50-gram whey protein shake with no carbs.

* An hour after that, and for each meal between the two routines, consume lean protein such as chicken, eggs or steak, fibrous carbs such as broccoli, asparagus, spinach or green beans, and healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, flaxseed or omega-3 oils. Do not eat starchy or simple carbs! They're what the body uses to replenish glycogen in the muscles and liver, which will completely reverse what you're going for: absolute glycogen depletion.