[Tenchiro]

Right now I am lifting 3x a week, Monday, Wedensday & Friday for about 30 minutes in the morning. I have had pretty good results so far, I am seeing a good bit of definition, and have dropped about 14lbs. My pants are fitting a bit looser, and my gut is slowly going away.

I am at the level now where I look forward to going to the gym, and want to increase my frequency a little but don't want to burn out.

What is the ideal rest period between workouts?

 

[SilentJ]

Good work on the newfound fitness

I think everyones ideal rest period is different...dependent on a lot of things.

For me:
I can work out every single day for months + biking + hiking and not burn out (not the same muscle group). For each muscle group I leave anywhere from 48 to 72 hours depending on how hard I went...72 if I went real hard, 48 if I went medium. I find that its real important to mix up exercises...I probably have 20 exercises for chest, 20 for shoulders, etc...that keep the muscles guessing. I know that when I recover too fast I've hit a plateau and have to mix it up a little more.

It depends on how fast you recover...and then it depends on how well you're helping yourself recover (i.e. eating right, hydrating properly, etc.) Once you've spent enough time in and out of the gym, you'll figure out what works for you and what your body can handle. Advice from others IMHO should only be taken as guidlines as everyone is different.

I find that setting goals in the gym helps me a huge amount in looking forward to going back. A couple months ago I benched 350 for the first time and just two weeks ago I shoulder pressed (behind the neck) 225 - 8 times then my "cool down" set was 155 for as many as I could...I powered out when I hit 17! Yeah..im bragging..if you dont like it :nuts:

 

[Lexx D]

Originally posted by Tenchiro
Right now I am lifting 3x a week, Monday, Wedensday & Friday for about 30 minutes in the morning. I have had pretty good results so far, I am seeing a good bit of definition, and have dropped about 14lbs. My pants are fitting a bit looser, and my gut is slowly going away.

I am at the level now where I look forward to going to the gym, and want to increase my frequency a little but don't want to burn out.

What is the ideal rest period between workouts?

If you don't want to burn do each muscle once a week.
Example:
Monday: chest, tris
tue: shoulders
Wed: back, bicepts
Fri: legs.
That way you can work each group hard and have plenty of rest. Also how's your diet?

 

[bbmj]

if your only at the gym for 30 minutes 3 times a week, adding in an extra day shouldnt hurt. I would reccomened against 5+ times a week. you could also increase your workout times to 45-50 minutes if you wanted. Just alternate the muslce groups you use on consecutive workouts. Usually 72 hours of rest between big muscles (legs, back, chest) and as little as 12 hours for smaller muscles (tris, forearms,) Dont go to wild and you should be fine

 

[jimmydean]

I do push and pull routines on alternating days and abs every day (you can do that). I work about the same muscle groups, but I do different excersices in different order nearly every visit. It mixes it up and makes it more interesting as well.

 

[ET_SoCal]

All of the above sounds good, sounds correct.

But one thing that hasn't been mentioned:

Age.

Things take longer and are slower the older you are.

 

[crashedupderby]

3 x's a week is a good routine, provided that your are not working the same muscle groups more than one time per week. burn out is what it is, when you feel like your getting burned out, take a week off. rearrange your routine as well. about every two months or so, switch it up a bit. your muscles get used to a certain routine and you can plateau and become static in your growth, changing things up will shock your muscles into growth and may keep you from getting burned out and bored.

when i was strength training(i gained 40#s of muscle in a year drug free) i would change my routine alot, i worked out every other day, on an 8 day split and would hit each muscle group just one time in that 8 days, always getting a day of rest in between workouts.
learn to listen to your body and pay attention to its signals. each person is different, so what works for me may or may not work for you.

supplements such as glutamine and protein drinks will help you tremendously as well...

 

[Slider]

Here it the truth the whole truth and nothin but....Unless you are on the juice you should do a full body work out 3 days a week iether 1 on 1 off and a 2 day break or 1on 2 off and a 1 day break. you work out should take no longer than 47 mintues after that your natural levels drop sharply and you are wasting your time do one set of 8 to 10 or 10 to 15 depending on weather you want mass or deffintion. and go till muscle failure so that means always have a spotter if you get 8 reps on monday then on wensday make sure you get a minimum of 8.5 to 9 reps so you are getting postive gains when you can do all the reps go up 5 pounds in wieght. It sounds like it wouldn't work but it does when you do a millon sets of a millon reps you are subcostisly holding back till the end so that is waste of time right there secondly. If you are in shape that means you are not sore 2 to 3 days later so that leaves 5 days of musclar slacking till next week. on wieght loss you need to hold you heart rate at 35% percent of your max for 45 minutes before you body even uses you fat stores so a good rule of thumb is after your work out go run or jump on your bike for an hour and all those callories will be dead wieght. ask the trianors there they can get you full body in 45 min and most importantly if it hurts STOP!!!

 

[crashedupderby]

Here it the truth the whole truth and nothin but....Unless you are on the juice you should do a full body work out 3 days a week iether 1 on 1 off and a 2 day break or 1on 2 off and a 1 day break. you work out should take no longer than 47 mintues after that your natural levels drop sharply and you are wasting your time do one set of 8 to 10 or 10 to 15 depending on weather you want mass or deffintion. and go till muscle failure so that means always have a spotter if you get 8 reps on monday then on wensday make sure you get a minimum of 8.5 to 9 reps so you are getting postive gains when you can do all the reps go up 5 pounds in wieght. It sounds like it wouldn't work but it does when you do a millon sets of a millon reps you are subcostisly holding back till the end so that is waste of time right there secondly. If you are in shape that means you are not sore 2 to 3 days later so that leaves 5 days of musclar slacking till next week. on wieght loss you need to hold you heart rate at 35% percent of your max for 45 minutes before you body even uses you fat stores so a good rule of thumb is after your work out go run or jump on your bike for an hour and all those callories will be dead wieght. ask the trianors there they can get you full body in 45 min and most importantly if it hurts STOP!!!

you really have no idea what you are talking about...

 

[Tenchiro]

Thanks for all the info.

 

[Slider]

actualy yeah I do I have put on 20 pounds of mucle in 3 months with only protien supliments and a healthy diet. I am not injured and still gettin positive gains every time I go to the gym. So has my wife (more tone than mass) and my 4 other buddies I work out with. Oh yeah we don't have to live in there 6 days a week waste hours and hours goin through the motion. As far as strength we have surpassed 80% of the people who are still there from when we started.

 

[MtnBikerChk]

Here it the truth the whole truth and nothin but....Unless you are on the juice you should do a full body work out 3 days a week iether 1 on 1 off and a 2 day break or 1on 2 off and a 1 day break. you work out should take no longer than 47 mintues after that your natural levels drop sharply and you are wasting your time do one set of 8 to 10 or 10 to 15 depending on weather you want mass or deffintion. and go till muscle failure so that means always have a spotter if you get 8 reps on monday then on wensday make sure you get a minimum of 8.5 to 9 reps so you are getting postive gains when you can do all the reps go up 5 pounds in wieght. It sounds like it wouldn't work but it does when you do a millon sets of a millon reps you are subcostisly holding back till the end so that is waste of time right there secondly. If you are in shape that means you are not sore 2 to 3 days later so that leaves 5 days of musclar slacking till next week. on wieght loss you need to hold you heart rate at 35% percent of your max for 45 minutes before you body even uses you fat stores so a good rule of thumb is after your work out go run or jump on your bike for an hour and all those callories will be dead wieght. ask the trianors there they can get you full body in 45 min and most importantly if it hurts STOP!!!

OK MR Know-it-all.......

Everyone is different. If that works for you, great. But don't tell him that's what he should do.

Personally, I would only recommend full body workouts for newbies.

 

[bbmj]

First thing i got to say is who cares which way you train, if it works for you it works for you, lets not argue over something so unimportant. second, i suggest you try out the different styles everyone has suggested for a minimum of 12 weeks, that will give you a good idea if it works for you or not. if you like it keep it, if its not working than try something new. There are more than enough styles of training out there to keep you busy for quite some time. You can probaly get a lot more good info at some others sites too so i suggest you do that.

 

[Slider]

First thing i got to say is who cares which way you train, if it works for you it works for you, lets not argue over something so unimportant. second, i suggest you try out the different styles everyone has suggested for a minimum of 12 weeks, that will give you a good idea if it works for you or not. if you like it keep it, if its not working than try something new. There are more than enough styles of training out there to keep you busy for quite some time. You can probaly get a lot more good info at some others sites too so i suggest you do that.

True Dat just beware of trendy workouts there are alot of flavor of the month things goin around all the time. Just talk to the trainners at your Gym that is what they get paid for