Strength Requirements

The frequency recommended for strength training is a minimum of 2 times per week, although recent studies have demonstrated significant changes in strength with only 1 day per week (I will discuss different strength training options later). A frequency of more than 3 times per week is unnecessary and may set you up for injuries. Some of you have already had replacement surgeries or injuries that required rehabilitation. If so, a therapist may have instructed you to do your exercises 3 times per day. Such a strength program is only possible because you are not subjecting your muscles to a large resistance; these rehabilitation programs are designed to retrain the neural control of movement and build muscular endurance, not to increase strength. The gentleman who could not lift his leg off the bed after knee replacement surgery was told to do single leg lifts (among other exercises), increasing to 30 repetitions, 3 times per day. After the surgical site healed and he was back to normal activities, I put him on a resistance-training program, with a frequency of 2 times per week.