Dual Factor training is a opposite view of many traditional bodybuilding workouts, which believes in the idea of Supercompensation (also known as Single Factor Theory).

What is Dual Factor Training?

Bodybuilding today focuses on the principles of supercompensation, while most strength and sports training, believes in principles behind dual factor training. Single factor theory, believes in infrequent workouts per muscle bodypart to avoid overtraining. Dual Factor training in contrast, believes it’s advantageous to actually work out a muscle part multiple times in a week, before it’s even fully recovered.

In single factor training, you hit the muscle intensely for one workout day and then (usually) rest it for 6 days. Dual factor training says it’s OK to hit it more frequently and actually can give better results. They believe that the long rest periods of recovery in single factor training, negates the results from the workout earlier in the week. There is two major phases in dual factor training, loading and unloading. The unloading phase is less volume, to allow the body to recuperate from a few weeks of the higher volume loading phase.

Dual Factor Training Workout routine:

Loading phases will be between 2 and 3 weeks followed by an unloading phase of 1 to 2 weeks. If you start to overtrain earlier than this during the loading phase, then you need to lower your workout volume.

Many find a good 2 week loading phase, followed by a 1 week unloading phase, works best long term. You should be hitting each muscle body part two times a week with heavy weights. You can arrange the split however you want, but one example would be 2 upper body workout days and 2 lower body workout days during the week. During the unloading phase, you keep the structure and frequency the same, but drop your set volume significantly.

When to know I am overtraining?

You may wonder how you can tell you are starting to overtrain in your loading phase. Insomnia, significant drop in weights, eye twitches, mental foggieness, are some of the signs of overtraining.