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2007/12/20, 08:41 AM
My workout routine:
Day 1-lower body
Day 2-upper body
Day 3-core
Day 4-lower body
Day 5-upper body
Day 6-core
Day 7-lower body
etc... plus cardio mixed in, of course
Is it okay that I do that without 'off days'? I figure that 48 hrs of rest inbetween each muscle group should be good enough, right?
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2007/12/20, 09:16 AM
NO, you will burn out. At most 4 days is enough to workout all the body.
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As a quarter squatter was dominating the rack, I heard a conversation between an old powerlifter (easily in his 60\\'s) and what I would guess was his grandson (15-yrs old):
Kid: \\"So, why does he stop so short on his squats? That looks weird to me.\\"
Old PL\\'er: \\"He\\'s afraid if he squats deep, his vagina might touch the ground.\\"
7707mutt@freetrainers.com
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2007/12/20, 09:19 AM
As long as you get enough good food/protein, as well as enough rest each night, you should be fine.
You may want to do different exercises on the extra day for each muscle group.
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DEFENSE! - Bas Rutten
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2007/12/20, 09:41 AM
Not enough rest. You really only need 2 upper days and 2 lower days. you can do 1 ab exercise on each of those days for "core work". You can do cardio on your days off if you want. You have to remember that body heals and transforms when you rest not while you are training.
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2007/12/20, 09:50 AM
Would the same hold true for an 18 year old woman and the routines she'd be doing?
I doubt she's powerlifting/etc, based on her profile information, and moderate activity on that schedule would be fine given her age, etc... It seems logical to me, but I'm not trying to one-up you guys or anything, and if I'm off base feel free to correct me.
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DEFENSE! - Bas Rutten
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2007/12/20, 09:56 AM
This has nothing to do with powerlifting. I promise that she will burn out if tries do what she posted up there.
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2007/12/20, 09:57 AM
I think that someone could work up to that kind of volume, but it would take sometime(years).
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2007/12/20, 10:36 AM
I'm definitely not powerlifting, not even close. I'm using machines also, not dumbells or other weights like that. (I don't know if that makes a difference.) I thought that muscles only needed 24 hours to rest, and I'm giving mine 48. I've also been doing this for about a month now, and I'm not feeling burnt out yet.. not saying that I won't eventually though. I just thought that since I wasn't trying to make huge gains in building muscle that this routine would be fine.
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2007/12/20, 10:47 AM
Ok, there are number of factors at play here.
One, I think that if you have been doing this for a month and you feel fine that you are not really giving it your all in the gym.
Two, you have back to back lower days. That is not enough rest. I am not sure how you have been doing 3 lower days and still have the ability to walk never mind doing cardio on top of that. This tells me that you don't put forth much effort at all on these day.
Three, you are a woman. Woman don't make huge gains in building muscle. If anything you will look more "tone" for lack of a better word.
I really think you will see better results with less days and more effort in the gym.
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2007/12/20, 10:59 AM
I didn't mean that I feel fine as in not sore. I am definitely sore. Not rediculously so, where I could cause myself an injury, but sore enough to know I worked hard. And I don't always have 3 lower body days, just on some weeks, depending how it works out. I am putting forth all my effort, sometimes I have to rest half way through a set because I have gone to near failure.
I understand that I won't make huge gains building muscle, I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that I'm not going for bodybuilding status. Some of the women on this site are very muscular, and while it looks great on them, I don't want that. However, I have been making huge strength gains. For example, there is a leg press machine, and I started out pushing 150 lbs, and I am now on 190. That's my biggest gain, but I have been increasing weight on every machine week by week, if possible.
I really don't mean to argue back to be rude, and I most certaintly don't think I know everything about strength training, so please don't take it that way. I guess I just like to play devil's advocate. I have been feeling great doing this routine, I've been making gains, and I hate rest days, so I don't see the problem in doing it. Obviously, I'm not stupid, and if I start to feel like it's too much I'll cut back on it, I don't want to permanently injure myself, but it doesn't feel like too much to me.
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2007/12/20, 11:16 AM
I think you shoud listen to Pemdas. If you do not think it was to much then why did you ask?
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Quoting from yessicarathsak:
but it doesn't feel like too much to me.
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2007/12/20, 11:21 AM
I didn't ask if it was too much, or if I'd get burnt out. I asked if the 48 hours of rest time I was giving my muscles inbetween working them was enough, and if not, then why. I was only answering back to the people who told me that I would eventually burn out.
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2007/12/20, 11:28 AM
We all hate not going to gym. I hate my days off. I wish that I could go everyday, but rest days are important. Rest days are when all the effort you put into the gym comes to fruition.
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2007/12/20, 11:38 AM
You'll be fine, you're not working otu the same way they/we are, and your goals are different.
Though I'd suggest cardio kickboxing classes, yoga, pilates, and things like that for you, rather than resistance machines as your primary activities, based on what you've said.
If you want to lift and make gains in size/strength it requires a different sort of mentality and game plan to handle it properly, which is to what Pemdas and Mutt were referring.
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DEFENSE! - Bas Rutten
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2007/12/20, 04:14 PM
Pemdas and Mutt are not refering to just size and strength. The same principles apply.
If you look at the recovery process in depth, you realize that while one muscle can recover while another is being stressed, that this recovery will be to a much limited degree. Any form of protein synthesis, whether it be building muscle or recovering from leg day, are all energy dependent processes. I don't care if it is deadlift day or kickboxing day, if you are training, you are DEPLETING your energy reserves. Furthermore, any kind of training stress has an effect on the nervous system and on stress hormones. Increased cortisol levels will have a negative effect on any goals you have, unless that goal is to get fat and weak.
To ignore the effects of training stress because they are different forms of stress will only get you so far.
To answer your original question then, normally 48 hours would be enough. However, by training everyday, you are taxing your recovery capabilities, and therefor reducing your ability to recovery fully to the point where 48 hours will not be enough. Even if you are juggling different forms of energy systems work, you will need at least 1 day every 5 days completely off.
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SQUAT MORE ~Jesse Marunde
Blood Guts Sweat Chalk
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2007/12/21, 06:03 PM
Ok.. thanks for your help everyone. I'll maybe start taking one rest day a week and see what happens. I don't want to over do it, causing an injury later on down the road because my body's not recovering as much as it should. I don't understand the whole cortisol level thing though, what is that?
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2007/12/21, 08:58 PM
Cortisol is your body's stress hormone. It basically causes you to store fat, burn muscle, and hinder recovery as a whole. Its production is increased due to stressful workouts, and if it isn't managed it will hinder your gains.
It is a necessary hormone, but training too often doesn't let it drop back to baseline levels.
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SQUAT MORE ~Jesse Marunde
Blood Guts Sweat Chalk
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