Training twice a day - Thoughts and observations
There seems to be a fair bit of chat around these days about the pros and cons of training multiple times a day. One camp saying that multiple times a day training is an excellent method of improving performance, physique and such like, while the other camp say that it will lead to poor results, reduced ability and fatigue. So here are some thoughts, observations, experience and the occasional, fact as I see it.
Consider the goal. What are you trying to achieve? Are you a professional athlete, keen sports person or simply someone that enjoys training for the many benefits it has? Will training multiple times a day help you achieve your goal…or not? Training to change body composition can benefit from training 2+ times per day because this method of training has mostly a ‘metabolic’ cost and as such we ought to recover relatively quickly with good nutrition. Strength and power training have a more ‘neural’ cost which takes us longer to recover from. Of course we can combine both these types of training during the day. Example: train for neural adaptation (heavy / power / speed) in the morning and then for metabolic adaptation (muscle, strip fat etc) in the evening. Program below.
Recovery. Failure to plan your recovery will ultimately lead to poor return for your effort. Therefore if having considered the goal, and deciding that multiple times a day training is for you it must be part of your strategy to recover efficiently. Consider: nutrition around workout (peri-workout), massage, stretching, sleep, supplements, rest periods between workouts, ice baths / contrast showers and so on. I will cover some of these later.
Longevity / periodisation. If you are training for an event or pre-season training for sport then training multiple times a day can be useful so long as there is adequate recovery planned. This can be as simple as allowing the weekend to recover or perhaps including active recovery during the week. People may get too carried away and think that training twice a day every day will help them and so will smash away continually and ultimately lose ground due to fatigue, burnout, injury, boredom and illness. Multiple times training can be fine if done in short planned cycles to allow adaptation, recovery and continued development. However if you simply train as part of your on going lifestyle I suggest that multiple times training is unsustainable and will cause far more problems than rewards.
Volume. Depending on the goal, if you decide to train 2 or more times a day, get the volume in early in the period of time available. For example, if you have 8 weeks to prep for an event, do the vast majority of the 2 a day training early in that 8 week block and cut back on the volume (go to once a day or less) as the event / season approaches. This initial high volume of training is called the general preparation phase (GPP) and should do what it says on the tin. Get the ‘volume’, ‘structural balance’ and ‘none specific’ work done early and as the event draws near switch to a more specific preparation phase (SPP). This should also do what it says on the tin. In boxing terms the GPP could be high volume general strength and conditioning training, correcting imbalances, improving endurance and power, while the SPP can focus more on skills, ring craft, technique as well as continued power endurance work but at a lower volume.
Other lifestyle stresses. A bloke rang me the other day for advice about 2+ times per day training as he had read on a website that it is the mega! I advised him to be careful and not to do it everyday, allow recovery, eat and supplement well and give up his day job! Of course he went ahead and trained twice a day everyday during which time he made initial good results. Unfortunately for him after 2 weeks or so (not sure of the time frame) he rang me up saying he was ill and had no training drive. I advised him to immediately take a week off, he didn’t as he is young and very keen. Anyway he was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and has suffered a huge set back. Too much of a good thing knackered the poor lad! The point being, be sceptical about what you read (including this article) and decide for yourself if it is suitable / applicable.
We have to consider a host of other factors when deciding on multiple times a day training. Such as, work, relationships, family, lifestyle, stresses, sleep, genetics, age, injury, previous training experience, training age…not to mention the main thing i.e. the goal.
Genetics: It seems that some people have stronger, more durable adrenals than others, so this clearly indicates that what works for one person may not work for another. Apparently dark haired and dark eyed people can cope with more stress than the blonde haired, blue eyes types! The adrenal glands get a hammering when we are under stress, 2+ times a day training is obviously a high stress load!
Muscle fibre type. If a person is more of a ‘slow twitch’ / endurance type and his training suddenly changes to incorporate more ‘fast twitch’ strength / power style activity, he will find it harder to take the intensity / load that this type of training places on his nervous system. Similarly if a ‘fast twitch’ power / speedy type person starts incorporating more CV / endurance style training, they will also suffer with the volume that is required.
Muscles / movements trained. Some muscles recover slower than others and therefore training them twice a day can cause over use injury if continually hammered. The lower back, for example is involved in a lot of training and lifting: dead lifts, squats, Olympic lifts, rows, over head press and so on. If we continually do these lifts we will likely get what I call ‘dead lift back’ i.e. buggered through over use and poor recovery. Of course varying the load, incorporating skills session, splitting the routines, varying the exercise angle, changing the tempo, shifting the time under tension and such can help.
Split routines. If training multiple times a day is for you, a method that can help recovery is to split the training: some possibilities are as follows: Note: these are not in sequence, they are not a weekly plan!
AM – Upper body heavy presses, PM – Upper body lighter presses
AM – Heavy lower body lifts, PM – Lighter lower body lifts
AM – Olympic lifts or variations, PM – Full body conditioning
AM – Sprints / sled work, PM – Longer CV style intervals
AM – Heavy lower body weights, PM – Light upper body weights
AM – Heavy upper body weights, PM – Light lower body weights
AM – Heavy full body pulling, PM – Light full body pulling
AM – Heavy full body pressing, PM – Light full body pressing
There are many ways to split your training and recent studies and anecdotal evidence show that training the same body parts 2 + times a day can have considerable results. As shown above, it seems to be best to do the heavy neural work in the AM and the lighter metabolic work later in the day after around 4-6 hours rest.
Nutritional support. If we train 2+ times per day we must get adequate nutrition to support the added volume and stress. This includes a lot of protein rich food and smart fats to support the hormonal flood and the increased protein synthesis (protein uptake to the cells). It stands to reason that if there isn’t enough high quality food in our system and we are increasing the daily stimulus, we will very quickly stagnate. Basically, eat paleo as nature intended.
Get correct feeding in around your workout times. This means getting protein before, during and after each session. Metabolic training will require more nutritional recovery than the heavy neural work. Carbs can be beneficial depending on body composition, volume of work, type of training, the stage of training we are in and so on. Of course carbs are not as necessary as most conventional thinking suggests. We can operate very efficiently if we train our system not to rely on them (except paleo carbs) and use ketone energy provided by fats instead. We bleat on about carbs simply because we eat them in ridiculous and unhealthy quantities and as such we end up relaying on them for energy. (Oops got side tracked there). Become 'fat adapted'.
Correct peri-workout feeding can include protein, branched chained amino acid (BCAAs), essential amino acids (EAAs), glutemine, creatine, greens / alkalising powder, carnatine, glycine, electrolytes, arginine, beta alanine, citriline etc and of course carbs if deemed necessary…a host complex stuff if that takes your fancy!
The basics, as I see them being: BCAAs before training, BCAAs during training and protein / EAAs, glutemin and greens / alkalising powder after training. Carbs can be from powder, juices, food or my favourite… honey!
Measuring progress. Keep a log of all training to monitor progress. When progress falters, which it surely will with continued / constant 2+ training sessions per day, consider cutting back on volume, resting, changing the program, increasing nutritional support, increasing sleep and so on.
In your journal I recommend adding ‘end of work out comments’ which are invaluable in assessing you training drive and enthusiasm. If the entries consistently say ‘felt shit’, ‘weak’, ‘lacked power’, ‘needed more rest’ ‘still injured’ ‘could not be arsed’ etc…take the hint that you are giving yourself and rest! The line between over training and progressive adaptation is a fine one when 2+ per day training. Keep an eye out for signs of fatigue, like: weak grip, lack of drive, poor sleep, lack of progress, lower sex drive, depression, irritability, dull eyes / poor skin, mouth ulcers, constant injury, raised heart rate in the morning etc.
Hormonal manipulation. Be aware of the anabolic (building) hormones, and the catabolic (breakdown) hormones and how they can affect your goal. If we train 2+ times per day we should try to keep as anabolic as possible, this means training to increase testosterone (heavy), training to increase growth hormone (reducing rest and producing lactic acid), spiking insulin to drive glucose in to muscle to restore glycogen (peri-workout nutrition).
If we train for long periods at a time we can expect cortisol to rise and rise and rise! Cortisol is not the enemy and of course it must raise as we get into our session but extended periods of cortisol exposure will result in a catabolic environment. So for example, endurance training in the AM and endurance training in the PM can produce a catabolic environment due to high cortisol release as well as the added oxidative stress of long steady CV type training.
No problems though, see the table above and consider doing heavy strength work in the AM then eat, rest, rehydrate and do your CV type stuff in the PM…eat, rest, rehydrate. It will be a benefit to have a protein / antioxidant / carb mixed shake after the endurance to blunt cortisol, increase insulin and help restore us to a healthier alkaline state.
General health supplements. In order to help keep the 2+ times a day trainer in general health, as well as eating paleo as much as possible it is worth taking advantage of some basic supplement, as follows:
Multivitamin / mineral, to cover all the bases
Fish oil, anti inflammatory
Greens powder, alkalising, blood health and oxygenation
Some other useful ones:
Zinc for androgen enhancer
Magnesium for cellular health
Digestive enzyme (cortisol reduces our ability to digest food)
Probiotic to improve gut health
Vitamin C for heart and adrenal health
Peri-workout nutrition, as shown above
Possible lower body training split (2 per day training)
AM
A1 Power clean 5,5,4,4,3,3
B1 Back squat 5,5,4,4,3
B2 Hamstring curl 5,5,4,4,3
C1 Land mines with bar 8,8,8,8,8
C2 Calf raises 6,6,6,5,5,
PM
A1 Walking Lunges 24, 24,22, 20,20
A2 Glute-ham raise 7,7,6,6,5
B1 Prowler push-pull-push-pull 15 – 20m x 4,4,4,4,4
B2 Hanging leg raises 15,15,15,14,13
C1 Leg press 2 mins max effort 1 set
Summery. Training 2 + per day can be extremely effective if done for a short period of time, with planned rest, with correct nutrition, with a specific goal and with good programming. But for the general trainer who is training because it is part of their lifestyle and simply enjoys ‘phys’, stick to 4-6 sessions per week and be consistent.
