Equal-Volume Strength Training With Different Training Frequencies Induces Similar Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Improvement in Trained Participants

Håvard Hamarsland,Hermann Moen,Ole Johannes Skaar,Preben Wahlstrøm Jorang,Håvard Saeterøy Rødahl,Bent R Rønnestad

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.789403

Håvard Hamarsland, Hermann Moen + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.789403

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Abstract

The main goal of the current study was to compare the effects of volume-equated training frequency on gains in muscle mass and strength. In addition, we aimed to investigate whether the effect of training frequency was affected by the complexity, concerning the degrees of freedom, of an exercise. Participants were randomized to a moderate training frequency group (two weekly sessions) or high training frequency group (four weekly sessions). Twenty-one participants (male: 11, female: 10, age: 25.9 ± 4.0) completed the 9-week whole-body progressive heavy resistance training intervention with moderate (n = 13) or high (n = 8) training frequency. Whole-body and regional changes in lean mass were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, while the vastus lateralis thickness was measured by ultrasound. Changes in muscle strength were measured as one repetition maximum for squat, hack squat, bench press, and chest press. No differences between groups were observed for any of the measures of muscle growth or muscle strength. Muscle strength increased to a greater extent in hack squat and chest press than squat and bench press for both moderate (50 and 21% vs. 19 and 14%, respectively) and high-frequency groups (63 and 31% vs. 19 and 16%, respectively), with no differences between groups. These results suggest that training frequency is less decisive when weekly training volume is equated. Further, familiarity with an exercise seems to be of greater importance for strength adaptations than the complexity of the exercise.

Highlights

Resistance training is an essential tool in the pursuit of athletic performance (McGuigan et al, 2012) and for improving health (El-Kotob et al, 2020)
The latest meta-analyses suggest a limited role for training frequency, given that the weekly training volume is kept identical between groups (Grgic et al, 2018; Ralston et al, 2018; Schoenfeld et al, 2019)
The current study found that in moderately resistance-trained individuals distributing weekly resistance training volume into two or four workouts did not result in different outcomes for 1RM, lean mass, or vastus lateralis thickness

Summary

Introduction

Resistance training is an essential tool in the pursuit of athletic performance (McGuigan et al, 2012) and for improving health (El-Kotob et al, 2020). There are ten published studies on volume equated resistance training frequency in trained individuals published to date (McLester et al, 2000; Schoenfeld et al, 2015; Brigatto et al, 2018; Colquhoun et al, 2018; Gentil et al, 2018; Gomes et al, 2019; Lasevicius et al, 2019; Saric et al, 2019; Zaroni et al, 2019; Johnsen and van den Tillaar, 2021). Apart from this study, there seems to be no difference in muscular adaptations when comparing one and five (Gomes et al, 2019), two and four (Johnsen and van den Tillaar, 2021), or three and six (Colquhoun et al, 2018; Saric et al, 2019) weekly training sessions in young trained men

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