How often should you train per week to build muscle?

Twice a week beats once… initially

In 2016, Schoenfeld, Ogborn, and Krieger published a meta-analysis in Sports Medicine pooling studies that compared different training frequencies. Their conclusion made waves: training a muscle twice per week produced greater muscle mass gains than just once a week.

This result largely popularized programs like Upper/Lower or PPL (Push/Pull/Legs), which expose each muscle to 2 weekly stimulations. And for good reason: at the time, the explanation seemed logical — more frequency, more protein synthesis, more muscle.

The key nuance: volume is what matters

Three years later, Schoenfeld, Grgic, and Krieger refined their analysis with a larger study (25 studies, published in 2019 in the Journal of Sports Sciences). The conclusion this time is more nuanced and more important: at EQUAL VOLUME, training frequency has no significant impact on hypertrophy.

In other words, if you do 12 sets per week for your chest, splitting them into 1, 2, or 3 sessions produces comparable results — as long as each set is performed with sufficient intensity. Frequency is not a growth factor in itself; it is primarily a tool for organizing volume.

Why splitting still helps in practice

If frequency is not biologically superior, it offers important practical advantages. Splitting 16 chest sets across 2 sessions (8 each) rather than one allows you to perform better on each set: less accumulated fatigue during the session, better technique, heavier loads maintained.

It is also about recovery and session duration. A focused 45-minute session is easier to fit into a schedule than a 2-hour marathon. Frequency is therefore a lever for consistency — and consistency is the true engine of long-term progress.

What to take away

Choose the frequency that allows you to hit your weekly volume target and stay consistent. If you can train 6 days a week, a PPL hits each muscle twice — an excellent compromise between volume and recovery. If you only have 3 days, well-built Full Body sessions can deliver equally good results.

The message from science is liberating: there is no magic frequency. What matters is accumulating enough productive sets over the week and doing so sustainably. The rest is a matter of preference and scheduling.

Scientific references

1. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. Lien
2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Krieger JW (2019). How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. Journal of Sports Sciences. Lien