How to Train Twice per Day

Training twice a day can lead to great changes in the human body. Proper muscle stimulation leads to muscle growth, additional fat can be burned due to higher energy requirements, athletic performance is increased due to repeated and perfected movement patterns. Also, overtraining is a risk that must be taken seriously.

If you decide to workout twice a day, you can expect new muscle growth, but you must be careful regarding your workout plan, nutrition, supplementation, and last but not least your - rest.

Published: May 19, 2021.

Challenges of the Frequent Workouts

One of the problems with frequent workouts is that there is a very fine line between proper training and overtraining. Cleverly planned split training can result in surprising muscle and strength growth, but on the other hand, it can lead to overtraining. That is the reason why the trainee has to balance between workout volume and intensity, followed by proper nutrition and enough rest.

One of the most frequent mistakes is keeping workout volume high as usual, in both daily workouts. Many trainees just add new workout and do one in the morning and second in the afternoon or evening, believing that nutrition rich in protein, good fats, and calories is enough to help the body go through such training regime.

If you are going to work out twice a day, shorten your workouts - each one should last no more than 30-40 minutes. Morning session can last a little bit longer, but be careful and listen to the signals of your body.

When working out twice a day in the gym, it is best to work out different muscle groups in the morning and afternoon sessions. If the same muscle groups are worked out in both workouts, they should be stressed in different ways - different sets/reps/weights.

For example, the trainee can base the morning session on heavy compounds exercises in low reps per set range. With this type of workout, one targets Type IIb (according to some classifications even Type IIx) muscle fibers. Also, these kinds of workouts promote myofibrillar hypertrophy.

The second workout session can be based on isolation exercises with much higher volume and with lesser intensity. Such workout session targets the Type I and IIa muscle fibers and promote sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

This way, the trainee will in two daily workout sessions stimulate all the muscle fiber types and give them a good reason to grow stronger, bigger, and even more numerous. And by not training those muscle groups until they are fully recovered and regenerated, one will give them a chance to actually grow.

If you are preparing for some event that requires athletic performance like a football game, you can split your daily workouts:

- morning session in the gym: combine heavy complex exercises like bench press, squats, deadlifts, good mornings, pull-ups, and similar, and train them periodically - one session the trainee should do low volume high-intensity reps and sets, second session one increases the volume and decrease intensity, the third time the trainee do explosive movements, etc. It is very important for the coach/trainer to communicate with the trainee and to work out on individual weaknesses.

- afternoon session on the track/field: specific workouts in regard to the type of sports activity (football, basketball, running, etc.)
At least one day a week, preferably two days a week, the trainee should avoid any kind of workouts.

The trainee should sleep at least 8 hours a day and if possible have a little nap (30-45 minutes) during the day, between workouts.

Nutrition should be based on 6-7 daily meals with enough protein, healthy fats, and a combination of simple and complex carbs to provide the trainee with enough energy and building blocks to recover and regenerate from this workout pace. Cooking should be no problem with plenty easy to follow quick and healthy recipes being published online on a daily basis with Mediterranean Diet Recipes being highly recommended.

Training twice a day requires sports supplements - whey protein, glutamine, creatine, vitamins, minerals, omega-3, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to choose proper supplements for every occasion, but generally, a good whey protein, especially grass-fed whey protein can be of great help.

But, regardless of how supplements can be great and how they can simplify daily nutrition, real food is real food!

Training twice a day is highly recommended for individuals preparing for an important event and for all those trainees peeking their performance or simply wanting to become and stay fit.

When training twice per day, the importance of communication between a trainee, trainer/coach, and nutritionist cannot be stressed enough - two exercises per day can be quite demanding both physically and mentally, even for people accustomed to regular workouts.

But, it can also lead to fantastic results ...