I've recently started lifting weights every day after school. I was wondering if it would be ok to do all the same lifts 5 days in a row and take weekends off or if I should go with every other day.
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Weight lifting question
- Thread starter Bardolph
- Start date
I just started weight lifting as well. I usually do upper body excersizes two or three times a week, and lower body twice a week, alternating between the two. It helps give the muscles some rest.
Give the muscle group you work on that day a days rest. Do a different group of muscles the next day. Rinse and repeat.
You should only work each muscle group about twice per week. Over-training will actually slow down your progress.
Over training is detrimental to muscle growth.
Doing the same lifts five days in a row is not a good thing. Get yourself into a three of four day cycle as a beginner.
-Mike
Doing the same lifts five days in a row is not a good thing. Get yourself into a three of four day cycle as a beginner.
-Mike
Good advice all around. Always allow at least one full day off of rest for the muscles involved in a lifting session. Your muscles do not get stronger and build while you are lifting, they get stronger and build during the time off period. When you lift you are tearing and breaking down the muscle fibers. During your day off, your body is repairing and rebuilding the fibers bigger and stronger to better deal with the stress next time around. If you work the same muscles every day, you never allow this rebuilding cycle to happen properly and will probably find that by the end of the week you can't lift as much as you could at the beginning of the week and you'll be one sore mofo.
I took weight lifting in high school, and am taking it now (well, not really, as school has been cancled by snow for every time I should have been there lifting), and I was taught that you did a different set of lifts every day. Yeah, the core stuff you did all the time, abs, pecs and such, but the limbs and smaller muscle groups got special attention one day a week, for a good long period of time. I don't know if this is the way that the "experts" will tell you to do it, but it worked for me, and kept fatigue down quite a bit. By the end of the class I had gone from lifting 130 to almost 250 on the bench, squat from 180 to 300+(never found out my top end) and a bunch of other increased as well. All in one semester.
Rock on
Eric
Rock on
Eric
yah, ditto what most everyone said. you have to have that day off period for rebuilding.
btw, i'm getting back into it, too, and am so saddened by how weak i've become. i used to bench press 130 [which wasn't bad, considering i weighed 90 at the time]. now i can barely rattle off 50 pounds. disgusting.
have fun with it, and don't kill yourself. the excitement with weight lifting is in the slow progress, actually.
ironman2ya-
meeks
btw, i'm getting back into it, too, and am so saddened by how weak i've become. i used to bench press 130 [which wasn't bad, considering i weighed 90 at the time]. now i can barely rattle off 50 pounds. disgusting.
have fun with it, and don't kill yourself. the excitement with weight lifting is in the slow progress, actually.
ironman2ya-
meeks
I concur.
And don't be one of those guys that does chest, then chest, a little more chest, some chest, a little arms, then chest, and forget about legs. Chicken legs are dumb, do a rounded program that works all muscle groups. Here's my basic schedule:
Day 1: Chest/Biceps/Forearms/Abs and Obliques
Day 2: Back/Lower Back/Triceps/Forearms/Abs and Obliques
Day 3: Shoulders/Neck/Abs and Obliques
(I don't really do legs, but there's a reason. Genetics and years of martial arts training have blessed me with unbelievable legs. I can still leg press a half ton without regularly working out legs. My quads, hams, and calfs, for some reason, are freakishly huge and remain fit through cardio done 4 days a week, plus I'm a waiter, and am constantly on my legs for 7 - 9 hours of work, 4 times a week).
Now, be sure to include warm-ups, and stretch stretch stretch. When you're done stretching, it's a good idea to stretch a little. Then stretch!
Regular cardio work will help maintain overall health, as will a proper diet.
I highly recommend "The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Okay, as I used to compete in body building, I'll jump in here.
Yeup, get a book on the subject and one from someone who knows, and Arnold does know his stuff! I agree, his book "The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" is the best.
A slight caveat on Arnold's routines, don't jump right into his routines. Those kind of routines are fine if bodybuilding is your job and career like it was for him.
Other than the good points made above, I would like to add the following:
- Some muscle groups are larger than others. ie: your legs are 1/2 your body mass. Therefore, they need more sets and more reps than smaller muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, and delts. So while 6 sets of 12-15 reps for squats or leg presses is fine for your quads, keep the number of sets and reps for those smaller muscle groups down to 3 sets each or you'll overwork them.
- Concentrate on good form. I used to train people, and I got to where I hated taking on men because 99% of them all cheat like crazy when doing their lifts. They never fully extend their arms when doing curls, they bounce the bar off their chest when doing bench presses, etc. Extend your arms all the way down when doing curls, slight pause, then start up and really contract the muscle at the top, don't let it fall into your chest area. For ALL lifts, don't just drop the weight but resist the weight on the way down, as this is half of the movement and can add greatly to your progress. There is NO substitute for lower weight and good form!
- Work you legs. Squats. Period. One workout day should be dedicated to legs alone. Nothing looks sillier than a guy with a decent upper body with 12 year old legs. It is to laugh. Of course, some people (like in the above post) may already have great stems, but be honest with yourself. You will find parts of your body that respond like crazy to very little workout stimulation, while other body parts are stubborn. Balance your workouts so that stubborn parts get a bit more attention and parts that come easy to you a bit less.
- Pay attention to how you feel, and how you have been sleeping and what you have been eating and you will start to see patterns in how your food and sleep habits affect your health, stamina, and energy.
- Avoid advice from "gym rats". They don't know anymore than you do, really. If you have questions ask someone who knows because it is their business to know. Books by pros, consult a professional trainer, etc.
- Lastly, AVOID overtraining. A good workout should leave you feeling refreshed and energized with a slight increase in appetite. If you feel dragged out and tired you're overdoing it and need to cut back on your reps/sets and workout frequency.
Well, I rant on and on, that's enough for now.
:^)~
Yeup, get a book on the subject and one from someone who knows, and Arnold does know his stuff! I agree, his book "The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" is the best.
A slight caveat on Arnold's routines, don't jump right into his routines. Those kind of routines are fine if bodybuilding is your job and career like it was for him.
Other than the good points made above, I would like to add the following:
- Some muscle groups are larger than others. ie: your legs are 1/2 your body mass. Therefore, they need more sets and more reps than smaller muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, and delts. So while 6 sets of 12-15 reps for squats or leg presses is fine for your quads, keep the number of sets and reps for those smaller muscle groups down to 3 sets each or you'll overwork them.
- Concentrate on good form. I used to train people, and I got to where I hated taking on men because 99% of them all cheat like crazy when doing their lifts. They never fully extend their arms when doing curls, they bounce the bar off their chest when doing bench presses, etc. Extend your arms all the way down when doing curls, slight pause, then start up and really contract the muscle at the top, don't let it fall into your chest area. For ALL lifts, don't just drop the weight but resist the weight on the way down, as this is half of the movement and can add greatly to your progress. There is NO substitute for lower weight and good form!
- Work you legs. Squats. Period. One workout day should be dedicated to legs alone. Nothing looks sillier than a guy with a decent upper body with 12 year old legs. It is to laugh. Of course, some people (like in the above post) may already have great stems, but be honest with yourself. You will find parts of your body that respond like crazy to very little workout stimulation, while other body parts are stubborn. Balance your workouts so that stubborn parts get a bit more attention and parts that come easy to you a bit less.
- Pay attention to how you feel, and how you have been sleeping and what you have been eating and you will start to see patterns in how your food and sleep habits affect your health, stamina, and energy.
- Avoid advice from "gym rats". They don't know anymore than you do, really. If you have questions ask someone who knows because it is their business to know. Books by pros, consult a professional trainer, etc.
- Lastly, AVOID overtraining. A good workout should leave you feeling refreshed and energized with a slight increase in appetite. If you feel dragged out and tired you're overdoing it and need to cut back on your reps/sets and workout frequency.
Well, I rant on and on, that's enough for now.
:^)~
Hey, Im 18, been working out for a few years and would like to share some things I did wrong, so you could avoid them. First off, please read Bass Kahuna's post again and again then again. He really nailed alot of mistakes I used to make.
One thing that is hard to do as a beginner is avoid over or undertraining. While undertraining is bad, overtraining is worse and will hurt you alot in the long run. I used to do 5 sets of flat bench, then 4 sets of incline then 3 of decline and finish with the pec dec. I saw some growth, but nothing compared to the strength increase when I started doing fewer sets on the important exercises, no more then 3 really and focusing on good clean reps.
Form- if you don't have good form... stop and find out what your doing wrong. The mirrors on the wall aren't for you to check out how insanely buff your arms look today, they are to help you keep track of your form and inform you of errors in it.
Diet- Increase your protein intake, whatever you are eating now isn't enough. Try to get one gram per lb of body weight. Focus on everything you eat, if your trying to mass up, carbs are your friend as is protein. Good fats include certain oils, nuts and pretty much anything unsaturated.Diet in my oppinion has the biggest effect on weightlifting. You can spend hours in the gym, but muscle is grown in two places... the time spent resting after, and the kitchen.
To sum it up, don't overtrain anything, find a good book to help you out with what exercises to do, start mashing protein into every meal you eat, eat many small meals a day instead of a couple of huge ones (I usually go for about 6, with some meals just being a protein shake or bar) and remember, the gym is fun, keep yourself on your toes, change up exercises and enjoy yourself!
One thing that is hard to do as a beginner is avoid over or undertraining. While undertraining is bad, overtraining is worse and will hurt you alot in the long run. I used to do 5 sets of flat bench, then 4 sets of incline then 3 of decline and finish with the pec dec. I saw some growth, but nothing compared to the strength increase when I started doing fewer sets on the important exercises, no more then 3 really and focusing on good clean reps.
Form- if you don't have good form... stop and find out what your doing wrong. The mirrors on the wall aren't for you to check out how insanely buff your arms look today, they are to help you keep track of your form and inform you of errors in it.
Diet- Increase your protein intake, whatever you are eating now isn't enough. Try to get one gram per lb of body weight. Focus on everything you eat, if your trying to mass up, carbs are your friend as is protein. Good fats include certain oils, nuts and pretty much anything unsaturated.Diet in my oppinion has the biggest effect on weightlifting. You can spend hours in the gym, but muscle is grown in two places... the time spent resting after, and the kitchen.
To sum it up, don't overtrain anything, find a good book to help you out with what exercises to do, start mashing protein into every meal you eat, eat many small meals a day instead of a couple of huge ones (I usually go for about 6, with some meals just being a protein shake or bar) and remember, the gym is fun, keep yourself on your toes, change up exercises and enjoy yourself!
If you want to work out five days in a row, split your routines as has been suggested above--example: don't do chest exercises two days in a row.
There are many effective ways to split your routine. My fave is to do the top one day and the bottom the next. That means chest, back, shoulders, tris and bis one day and hams, quads, calves, abs the next. At my age I need more rest, so I will do a day of top, a day of cardio, a day of bottom and a day of cardio.
Another effective split is push/pull which means doing the muscles that push one day and the muscles that pull the next. Another very effective split was given here by another poster above.
What is important is that you don't need to do, in fact, should NOT do the same program week after week. None other than ninety year old Jack Lalane, the first man to open a fitness club in the U.S. says he changes his routine every thirty days. Experts who follow this approach say that your muscles quickly adapt to a regular, predictable routine, so that changing your routine keeps progress coming.
Muscles actually grow stronger when you keep them constantly "guessing" by shaking up your routine with machines or dumb bells or bar bells or cable exercises or changing your spilts or do low weights /high reps for a few weeks, then do high weights, low reps for a few weeks.
For me, the most effective way to vary my routine means that I must keep careful records, something I see few folks in the gym actually do, espescially men. If you don't keep careful records, you may not realize six months has passed since you changed up your routine to any significant degree.
Lastly another trick seasoned weight trainers do is cycle their training to avoid injury and burnout. For example, they may train very hard one month, medium hard the next month and light the next month. If you train full out month after month you WILL get hurt sooner or later.
yea...
see, lets say you thought of doing benchpress the same every day. that is not good. why? because when you work out, you are actually breaking down your muscles, not making them bigger, contrary to the feeling you get when you lift. what a lot of people overlook is that the most important part after working out is eating right, so your muscles can rebuild. you need time to rebuild your mass, this is called recovery. when you work out, all you're doing is stripping down your muscles. you need to eat good food to recover and rebuild healthier, stronger mass. amino acids, spinach, salads, carbs, protein, et cetera.
see, lets say you thought of doing benchpress the same every day. that is not good. why? because when you work out, you are actually breaking down your muscles, not making them bigger, contrary to the feeling you get when you lift. what a lot of people overlook is that the most important part after working out is eating right, so your muscles can rebuild. you need time to rebuild your mass, this is called recovery. when you work out, all you're doing is stripping down your muscles. you need to eat good food to recover and rebuild healthier, stronger mass. amino acids, spinach, salads, carbs, protein, et cetera.
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