Lifting 2x Day?

Is it ok to lift 2x a day? I’m going to do the “Singles Club” early morning, but I was considering throwing in some Overhead squats or just a snatch session or something in the evening… something around the protocal of Dan Johns, “one workout a day” training.

I think at my age (almost 19) that 1, I could handle it and 2, maybe it’ll have some sort of anabolic response inside my body ( large hormone surge, like what is induced by 20rep squats).

I think my logic is flawed somewhere. I’m a relative newbie compared to most of you…so I’m just asking for some help.

Is 2x a day ok?

(I have an insane work capacity so I don’t think that is an issue… I just want to know if it’s even worth it)

Read CW’s recommendations about twice a day training here: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=492600

if you have the time, try it. monitor your progress and weight. this will really give you an opportunity to try different things. laters pk

Nate Dogg… thanks I’m not looking to isolate anything… OH Squats hit pretty much everything

But I get the point.

and thanks PK That’s the plan.

This is day one so I’ll keep everyone posted.

Xen,

      Why Overhead Squats?

Thanks.

[quote]Ross Hunt wrote:
Xen,

      Why Overhead Squats?

Thanks.[/quote]

Cause they rock?

Xen,

Training twice per day can be very productive if done correctly.

I tried it a few years ago during a winter break from college (I spent the month back at home and had nothing better to do).

The important thing is to limit duration of both workouts. With two workouts a day, 30 minutes is as long as you should be in the gym…probably time for 10 working sets per session.

I used a two-on/one-off protocol, hitting every major muscle group over the two days in a bodybuilder-type fasion.

With only 10 work sets, my motivation and energy levels were always high, so that may have contributed to the great gains I made that month…that plus I was always hungry and ate like a madman…

In your case, limit the duration of the evening session, eat enough, etc. and see where the protocol takes you. It never hurts to expose the body to a new form of stimulation.

Good luck, stay HUGE.

I am convinced that one can grow more if they can afford the luxury of
training twice a day. However most of us have career and family
committments that prevent us to have such an extensive training schedule.
Working out twice a day can be very effective providing that you pay respect
the 5 following principles:

a) you keep the workouts short. Excluding warm-up time, your workouts should
be no more than 40 minutes in length. Training longer than that would be
counter-productive.

b) sequence the training properly. In my opinion, the same bodypart should
be trained twice the same day. There is a variety of options at that.

Option A Morning-Heavy Evening-Light
From experience I have found that working heavy in the morning and higher
reps at night works quite well. For example doing sets of 4-6 reps in the
morning, and sets of 12-15 at night.

Option B Morning Low Reps-Fast Tempo; Evening Low Reps-Slow Tempo
You could do also the same reps bracket during both workouts but use a
different tempo. For example doing 4-6 reps on 30X tempo in the morning, and
5-7 reps on 505 tempo at night.

Option C Morning Heavy; Evening Eccentric Only Training
Another one I like is training heavy in the morning and doing eccentric only
training at night. For example, heavy front squats 6 x 2-3 on a 501 tempo
in the morning; eccentric back squats of 7 x 1 on a 10:0:1 tempo at night. I
use the eccentric hooks known as Power Recruits in that case. Contact Bob
Kowalski at (814) 378-7108

Regarding exercise selection for both workout, you may want to do the same
ones if strength is your main concern, or change them if hypertrophy is your
main concern. For example, weightlifters will do back squats twice a day,
while a bodybuilder may do bench presses in the morning and incline dumbbell
presses in the afternoon.

c) you pay attention to post-workout nutrition: In that case, liquid
nutrition is best. For a 200 lbs bodybuilders that would be a shake
containing 60 grams of protein and up to 200 grams of carbs after every
workout. When training twice a day, I suggest you take a very broad based
anti-oxydant formula. If you can afford it, taking a phosphatidyl serine
supplement (800mg) after the second workout of the day is also a good idea
to help you have a greater testosterone/cortisol ratio.

d) You must leave 4-6 hours between workouts. This time spread is critical.
If you use a shorter one, you will be too fatigued, and a longer one you
will use the nervous system activation effect of the morning workout.

e) for every two weeks of twice a day, take a week of once a day. this will
insure that you will not overtrain. It has been shown that training twice a
day for short periods may depress temporarily testosterone. However, the
testosterone will shoot right back up if you cut back to once a day training
for a week.

I did the Growth Surge Project a few years back which involved 2 weeks of 10 times lifting a week… I was on some supplements from T-Nation and also ate like an elephant. I put on a solid 8 lbs of mass in the span of 6 weeks (I weighed in ~160 when I started it).

Point is, yes, twice a day is fine as long as you are eating and resting enough to compensate. Do a search on the Growth Surge Project and take a look at the last stage (I think) to get an idea of how it was structured. You said it yourself, you are young, BUT, you are still prone to overtraining. Also, you have to ask yourself if you NEED to lift twice a day to get the same benefit from just one workout a day. (Although that’s kind of a dumb question because that’s like saying, would 3x6s do similar thing as 4x5s… but at least it makes you think a bit harder.)

Bottom line, yes, you can do it, but proceed with caution. Listen to your body and monitor very carefully your diet, sleep, energy level, stress, etc. Give it a go for a couple of weeks, and then go easy for a week to let your body recover.

Good luck and let us know how you fare.

Two a days are great…for a while. Just make sure you eat plenty of clean food and make allowances for recovery.