#1: Training Frequency and Intensity

Q: Hello Stéphane,

I, too, am a natural bodybuilder and I would like to know how many days per week you train, and how often per day. As well, how much cardio do you do?

...William Schroeder

A: Being a natural bodybuilder requires allowing your body proper recuperation and rest. Those have been key factors for my success and the main reason why I never train more than once per day. I find that training more than once a day doesn't give my body enough time to rest completely before the next training session and, as a result, I can't reach the same level of intensity required to perform my workout.

That being said, training once per day has been part of my regime for years now, and each workout normally lasts 45 minutes. My training is so intense that when I reach the 45-minute mark, my body tells me I need to quit. Your body can only handle a high volume of intensity for a certain length of time – 45 minutes seems to be the limit my body can take without overtraining. So, to recap, I only train once a day for about 45 minutes, but using proper intensity. 

Now that we have covered the training frequency per day and the time per training session, let’s talk about how many times per week. In the off-season, when my goal is to gain strength and mass, I normally train five times per week. I allow myself a day off in the middle of the week and I always take Sunday off. Doing that split gives my body enough time to recuperate between workouts. But when it's time to speed-up the metabolism and shock the body a bit, I increase my frequency to six times per week, but only for a short period of time. I find that training six times per week can only be done for about a month. Doing more than that would cause overtraining and would actually impair my progress. At certain points, though, I will train only four times per week, and even three times per week sometimes. This allows my body even more rest and more time to recuperate than normal and, as a result, makes me stronger. Training three and four times per week probably sounds like it’s not enough, but there is one thing I have learned with time: Sometimes less is more, and if you follow that thinking you will get incredible results.

As you’ve probably noticed, I haven't talked about cardio yet. The reason is because I don't do any cardio for contest preparation – ever.  Remember when I said that my training was intense? Well, the intensity of the training is the key and is also what allows me to get ready for a contest without doing any type of cardio. I have been competing at the national level for the past three years and never needed to add cardio to my training program to lose body fat. This may surprise some people, but the intensity of my workouts does the trick. 

However, don't get me wrong; I don’t just lift weights. I believe that staying active is important and vital for your health, but you don’t need to use a cardio machine at the gym for that. The secret is to keep you system active – I find that just walking around the block using a medium to fast pace is enough, and it is something I do year-round.

...Stéphane Bussière, Canadian Champion 2005, 2006, 2007

If you would like to ask Stéphane a question, please e-mail: askstephane@seriousaboutmuscle.com.

SeriousAboutMuscle.com contributor Stéphane Bussière is a natural bodybuilder from Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. He has won the Heavyweight class at the CBBF National World Qualifier three times in a row.