How often per week do you need to train to get stronger?

Strength training has gained a lot of ground in popularity among men and women. Quotes such as "Strong is the new sexy" stem from this.

More and more fitness enthusiasts are sharing their experiences and workouts via social media. In fitness centers, you also see that strength training has become the norm. Lifting platforms, barbells, and free weights such as dumbbells and kettlebells abound, whereas ten years ago and before that, this could only be found in hardcore gyms. 'Getting stronger' features in many health and performance goals, but getting stronger is also increasingly a desired goal in itself.

Training frequency for beginners and (intermediate) advanced

First and foremost, you get stronger by training consistently, but how frequently per week? As a beginner athlete, the advice is to train at least twice a week. When you are somewhat advanced, after 1 year and > 3 years, a good average is to train three times a week. For experienced strength athletes, 3, 4, or ...x plus per week. There are indications that the upper body responds better to training three or more times a week than the lower body. Possibly because the body is better able to recover between workouts.

Here are some more handy facts:

• Focus on performing your training exercises correctly (posture + training technique) and only then on training with heavy weights. Increasing your weight too quickly can lead to compensatory movements, which will result in poorer results.
• For sustained progress, it is important to keep challenging yourself. If you notice that you could have performed more repetitions at the end of your working set, increase your training weight.
• If you have limited knowledge and experience, consult your expert, for example personal trainer, what the best option is for you. Together, you will make more progress in understanding what works well for you.

Training more often per week practically means doing more volume (sets x reps x load). If you start training more frequently, try to keep the volume the same initially. If you notice that you can recover well from that, step it up a notch. It is primarily an individual matter, involving preference, time, recovery (rest), and power supply play an important role.

Training once a week also shows an increase in strength, provided the right conditions, but if you don't want to risk noticing little to no progress, do more.

Go for it and train them!

Do you need help effectively setting your training frequency?