Does working out more often make you stronger?
Effects of training frequency on muscular strength for trained men under volume matched conditions
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher training frequency reduced perceived exertion despite equal total volume.
Most assume fatigue comes from total work, but this shows how *session structure*—not just volume—impacts how hard a workout feels.
Practical Takeaways
If you find heavy squat sessions draining, split your volume across more frequent, shorter workouts.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher training frequency reduced perceived exertion despite equal total volume.
Most assume fatigue comes from total work, but this shows how *session structure*—not just volume—impacts how hard a workout feels.
Practical Takeaways
If you find heavy squat sessions draining, split your volume across more frequent, shorter workouts.
Publication
Journal
PeerJ
Year
2021
Authors
E. Johnsen, R. van den Tillaar
Related Content
Claims (5)
If you spread your workouts over more days each week but keep the total work the same, you'll get stronger—but your muscles won't necessarily grow bigger.
If you're a guy who's been lifting weights for a while, doing squats more often during the week—like four times instead of two—might feel easier and less tiring, especially after a few weeks.
If experienced guys do more sets of squats in one workout—like 5 or 6 instead of 2 or 3—they’ll feel more tired during that session, even if their total weekly workout volume stays the same.
If you're a guy who's been lifting weights for a while, working out each muscle four times a week doesn’t make you stronger than doing it twice a week—as long as you're doing the same total amount of work.
If you're a guy who's been lifting weights for a while, doing either 2 or 4 workouts per week for each muscle can boost your strength by about 8–11% in just 8 weeks—as long as you do the same total amount of work overall.