High Frequency Training for Strength Gains: Practical Applications
High frequency training has been gaining popularity lately, and there’s a solid rationale for this based on the current body of research. This article discusses programming strategies for setting up a high frequency training program for strength gains.
Key Points:
Depending on the overall training program, there is some evidence and rationale to suggest that training a movement/muscle group with a high frequency (four or more times per week) may offer a benefit for strength and hypertrophy gains.
Setting up a training week with high frequencies can be tricky as the movement/muscle group has to be trained on back to back days.
This article draws upon the existing research and discusses four methods for setting up back to back training.
Training frequency, or how often a movement/muscle group is trained, was an overlooked training variable until recently. Even today, frequency is often underemphasized compared to volume and intensity. This is justified to some degree. Volume and intensity are analogous to the “course dial” for program design whereas frequency may be viewed as the “fine dial.” Stated differently, changes in frequency within a reasonable range probably won’t make or break progress in the gym. However, some research indicates high frequencies may provide a small benefit for both strength and hypertrophy. Further, in our experience, adding an extra exposure of a lift to a strength athlete’s training week can go a long way in improving skill and confidence with their technique. After briefly examining the research on training frequency, we will discuss strategies for designing a high frequency training program.
To start, it’s probably a good idea to define our terms. As mentioned, frequency is how many times within a week a movement/muscle group is trained. If squats are performed on Monday and Thursday and leg press is performed on Friday, we would consider this a frequency of three based on our definition. High frequency can be defined as a frequency of four or greater. Thus, high frequencies require the same movement/muscle group be trained on back to back days. This will frame the high frequency programming discussion later in this article.
The focus of this article will be frequency for strength gains. However, we will first examine the role of frequency on hypertrophy since this is of course a consideration for the strength athlete as well.
Frequency and Hypertrophy
For hypertrophy training, the research is clear that a frequency of two times per week is better than one. This largely stems from a 2016 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues. This meta-analysis could not make conclusions about frequencies beyond two times per week due to insufficient evidence. However, Greg Nuckols’s in-house meta-analysis found a weak indication that frequencies above two may be advantageous for hypertrophy.
Importantly, the above findings are based on studies that equate total training volume between groups. This is of course necessary to examine whether there is an independent relationship between frequency and hypertrophy. However, from a practical perspective, a higher training volume may be advantageous in allowing for greater weekly training volumes and/or higher quality sets. This explains why frequencies as high as 5-7 are getting some attention for hypertrophy training.
Overall, for muscle growth, frequencies above two probably are not inherently superior, but increasing training frequency above two may have some practical advantages.
Frequency and Strength
Shifting our focus from hypertrophy to strength, Greg Nuckols has another in-house meta-analysis examining the evidence of training frequency for strength. He found the relationship between frequency and strength gains to be stronger than for hypertrophy. Again, only volume equated studies were analyzed.
High frequencies may be more advantageous for strength outcomes than hypertrophy outcomes because of set quality. Let’s say an individual is performing 12 sets of squats in a week. Three sessions of four sets may lead to greater strength gains compared to two sessions of six sets due to set quality. Strength is a skill that must be practiced, and a lower per session volume may lead to higher set quality throughout the 12 sets. It’s also likely that your ability to produce force will diminish in the higher per session volume scenario. This reduction in bar speed at the given load will likely reduce the strength stimulus.
Applying the Frequency Research
Now that we’ve covered the broad strokes of the frequency research, let’s take a step back and think about how we can conceptualize these findings and integrate them into practice. We should not examine the research with the goal of determining whether X frequency or Y frequency is better, but instead to conceptualize the overall role of training frequency. It’s also important to consider differences between research and practice. Research is designed to isolate a difference in one variable and elucidate whether this difference leads to a meaningful divergence in the desired outcome.
To illustrate this, let’s use a basic example. If we’re examining the influence of frequency on squat strength, all variables will be held constant except for frequency. To keep training volume constant at 16 sets per week, one group may perform eight sets of squats twice per week whereas the other performs four sets of squats four times per week. This is of course the appropriate design to answer the research question. However, we have a bit more flexibility in practice. If using a frequency of four, maybe two of the squat sessions are prioritized and are performed with six sets per session with relatively heavy loads. Then, a third lighter squat session is strategically placed to provide an additional practice exposure and potentially even facilitate recovery. Finally, the fourth session is performed on a leg press to hypertrophy the prime movers of the squat in a way that is perhaps more sustainable for the individual. The purpose of this example is to show that in practice, we can combine concepts from various research findings into our overall program design. Strategies similar to this example will be outlined next.
High Frequency Programming Strategies
Now that we’ve discussed the rationale for why high frequencies might be useful for strength, let’s dive into how we can best set up a high frequency training week.
When using a frequency of four times per week or more, training the same movement/muscle group on back to back days is unavoidable. Also, many lifters find themselves having to do the same even with a frequency of three due to schedule constraints. A lot of lifters freak out when they have to perform the same or a similar lift on back to back days. Admittedly, it does feel a bit awkward at first. The rest of this article will examine methods for setting up back to back training days.
Method 1 - Strength Day Followed by Hypertrophy Day
Example:
Day 1 - Low bar squat: 1 set of 1 rep at 8 RPE, 4 sets of 3 reps with 80% 1RM
Day 2 - High bar squat: 4 sets of 8 reps at 6-8 RPE
As we go through these methods, you will notice a trend: strength days are prioritized and isolated. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is specificity. On meet day or when testing in the gym, you will have tapered your training stress and thus carrying minimal fatigue. Since the strength day is the most specific to a one rep max, it’s likely a good idea to perform that session on the day you are best able to produce maximal neuromuscular output. To be clear, I am not suggesting that you will carry zero fatigue going into your strength day, but it makes sense to minimize it. Secondly, where you place an exercise seems to matter much less for hypertrophy. Specifically, hypertrophy outcomes are similar when you place the exercise at the beginning or the end of the session. Similarly, hypertrophy outcomes are similar whether you spread the sessions throughout the week or perform them on consecutive days. Based on this research, it’s not a huge deal if you can’t use quite as much load on the day two high bar squats due to fatigue from the previous day.
Method 2: Strength Day Followed by Power/Technique Day
Example:
Day 1 - Low bar squat: 1 set of 1 rep at 8 RPE, 4 sets of 5 reps with 75% 1RM
Day 2 - Low bar squat: 5 sets of 2 reps with 72.5% 1RM
With this method, we are accumulating a good amount of practice with the competition lift. Most lifters can perform ~10 reps if they take a set with 72.5% to failure, so day two can easily be completed even if fatigue is high from the previous day. Also, there may be some recovery benefits to performing a power day after a fatiguing session. While this concept has not been demonstrated specifically with a power day similar to what we have listed here, we do see recovery benefits from very low load (10% of 1RM) training.
Method 3: Power/Technique Day Followed by Strength Day
Example:
Day 1 - Low bar squat: 5 sets of 2 reps with 72.5% 1RM
Day 2 - Low bar squat: 1 set of 1 rep at 8 RPE, 4 sets of 5 reps with 75% 1RM
This method is simply a reversal of the previous method. At first glance, this method appears to not prioritize the strength day. However, the power/technique day may actually potentiate performance for the following day. Admittedly, most of my reasoning for this potentiation of performance is from anecdotal experience: I and many of the lifters I coach feel great the day after a power/technique day. That said, there is some evidence suggesting potentiation of explosive performance in the days following power training, but this research is not specific to strength sport. Also, a 2016 study by Zourdos and colleagues suggests that placing a power day a couple days before a strength day may result in slightly better strength gains compared to placing a hypertrophy day a couple days before the strength day.
Method 4: Vary the Exercise While Training the Same Muscle Groups
Example:
Day 1 - Low bar squat: 1 set of 1 rep at 8 RPE, 4 sets of 5 reps with 75% 1RM
Day 2 - Bulgarian split squat: 3 sets of 10-15 reps at 6-8 RPE
Although the bulgarian split squat also trains simultaneous hip and knee extension, it likely has a slightly different recruitment pattern to a squat and thus may train different fibers than the day before. Also, similar to method one, fatigue from day one likely will not reduce the hypertrophy stimulus of the bulgarian split squats in day two. Further, lifters tend to bring a lot less intensity to accessories like a bulgarian split squat. While usually seen as a bad thing, this can be leveraged to increase frequency of squat-type motor patterns while minimizing psychological fatigue.
Example High Frequency Training Week
A frequency of four for squats is a bit out of the ordinary, but the goal of this example week is to show how the discussed concepts can be applied. This is a tough week of squat training - all four sessions add up to 20 sets. However, five of these sets are power sets, and these may even facilitate recovery as mentioned earlier. Notice how the previously discussed goal of prioritizing and isolating the strength day is accomplished. By having two rest days before the strength day, the lifter should be most fresh going into Monday. Again, this addresses the principle of specificity as it allows for maximal neuromuscular output on the heaviest day.
Integrating the Deadlift into a High Frequency Squat Setup
When designing high frequency lower body training, overlapping fatigue between squat and deadlift training will have to be considered. The main thing to note here is that the hypertrophy focused lifts will likely be the most fatiguing. Also, as mentioned, hypertrophy outcomes are less influenced by placement in the session/week than strength outcomes. These two concepts combine to the suggestion that hypertrophy focused lifts be placed shortly after the strength days so that recovery time for the strength days in the following week is maximized.
As with all aspects of program design, individual differences should be considered. For example, if a lifter uses a frog stance sumo deadlift that relies heavily on the quadriceps, this may increase the fatigue overlap between squat and deadlift. Also, subjective input and performance in subsequent sessions can provide insight into how fatiguing certain protocols are for an individual. This will of course inform the training week setup.
As a final point, the four described methods are not the only way to set up back to back training. For example, in our experience, it is often necessary for an advanced powerlifter to perform strength days (or at least heavy top sets) back to back on the bench press. The possibilities are endless, so hopefully this article gives some insight into applying these concepts to you or your clients’ training.