training twice a week for just half an hour each time?

hey guys, i was talking to a friend of mine (ex-competitor) and he was telling me that he only trains 2 - 3 times a week for just half an hour, not going as heavy as he can, having very small breaks between sets, and basically just doing 2 sets of 2 excercises per body part EG incline chest press on the smiths machine then dumbell flys. He was saying that he lightens the weight, and goes for a good set of 12 reps, extremely slow and concentrated. Is this as effective as doing 4 - 5 different excercises doing a more average lifting speed and heavier weight?

Thanks for your help

Sounds about right to me, not sure on his choicee of exercises but regardless, the objective of anyone seeing hypertrophy should be to do as little as possible to inflict micro damage to the muscles. If that means working out 2-3 times weekly and only doing 1-2 sets per muscle group, it certainly is possible and probably more effective than spending 1.5 hours in the gym trying to destroy each muscle..
 

ORIGINAL: Millenwagon

hey guys, i was talking to a friend of mine (ex-competitor) and he was telling me that he only trains 2 - 3 times a week for just half an hour, not going as heavy as he can, having very small breaks between sets, and basically just doing 2 sets of 2 excercises per body part EG incline chest press on the smiths machine then dumbell flys. He was saying that he lightens the weight, and goes for a good set of 12 reps, extremely slow and concentrated. Is this as effective as doing 4 - 5 different excercises doing a more average lifting speed and heavier weight?

Thanks for your help

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing

 

ORIGINAL: Millenwagon

hey guys, i was talking to a friend of mine (ex-competitor) and he was telling me that he only trains 2 - 3 times a week for just half an hour, not going as heavy as he can, having very small breaks between sets, and basically just doing 2 sets of 2 excercises per body part EG incline chest press on the smiths machine then dumbell flys. He was saying that he lightens the weight, and goes for a good set of 12 reps, extremely slow and concentrated. Is this as effective as doing 4 - 5 different excercises doing a more average lifting speed and heavier weight?

Thanks for your help

How does he split his training?

5'8.1"
Age = 19
started in February 16th 2007: 58kg (127.6lbs)
current : around 79-80kg (173.8lb-176lb)

Hey thanks for the replies! he said something about he does a push and pull training style, cant remember exactly what exercises he said he does on the same days, but something like chest and shoulders Monday, biceps triceps and legs Wednesday, then back Friday, I'm not 100% sure if this is the exact order he trains in but i think it was that.

he does a few warms up sets too, he said this was important, i tried his way of training, i did 3 very slow sets on the smiths machine to do my chest on flat bench, with 40kg first, 60 kg second, then 70 kg for the final step, this REALLY burned and was extrememly intense, then i went on to do some incline flies 3 sets using just 20KG dumbells, that also burned incredibly, then i finished with 2 sets of really low leant forward dips, all extremely slow, i guess it really did the trick because i am hurting for it now!

one quick thing, if i was to say, train lighter than usual however my muscles were aching just as much as they were if i was going heacy, would i still grow the same? or does it take more heavy weight lifting to gain more weight?


thanks for your help guys

ORIGINAL: Millenwagon

Hey thanks for the replies! he said something about he does a push and pull training style, cant remember exactly what exercises he said he does on the same days, but something like chest and shoulders Monday, biceps triceps and legs Wednesday, then back Friday, I'm not 100% sure if this is the exact order he trains in but i think it was that.

he does a few warms up sets too, he said this was important, i tried his way of training, i did 3 very slow sets on the smiths machine to do my chest on flat bench, with 40kg first, 60 kg second, then 70 kg for the final step, this REALLY burned and was extrememly intense, then i went on to do some incline flies 3 sets using just 20KG dumbells, that also burned incredibly, then i finished with 2 sets of really low leant forward dips, all extremely slow, i guess it really did the trick because i am hurting for it now!

one quick thing, if i was to say, train lighter than usual however my muscles were aching just as much as they were if i was going heacy, would i still grow the same? or does it take more heavy weight lifting to gain more weight?


thanks for your help guys

First of all, as they have been saying it here, soreness is not an indication of muscle growth.
 
However, your workout seems quite good. Going slow can always be an option as variation is the key to growth. So, if you have been lifting with moderate speed, lifting slowly can give you new shock to the muscle.
 
About the light weights thing, the key here is intensity. If you can bring the same level of intensity using lighter weights, I do not see any problem. Like from your post, you said you do lighter weights with slower motion, etc.
 
Good luck with training.

5'8.1"
Age = 19
started in February 16th 2007: 58kg (127.6lbs)
current : around 79-80kg (173.8lb-176lb)

ahh thanks for the tip there, thats always something I've wondered but never bothered to ask before (whether soreness is an indication to growth)

i think i will mix my work outs up a little then, i thin i will go heavy for one week in my usual training routine, then do this for the other week and see if it will help, cos like you say it can give a new shock to your muscles so this may really help

thanks for the help everybody