work each muscle two days a week or one day a week?
I have been following a muscle and fitness routine on this website where I am working each of my body parts two days a week with about 72 hours rest before working the same muscle again. It seems though that whenever I read an article in a fitness magazine and I see a sample workout of a fitness person they only work their bodypart one day a week. Should I be working out each bodypart one day a week or two days a week. I am 39 years old.
Q: I have been following a muscle and fitness routine on this website where I am working each of my body parts two days a week with about 72 hours rest before working the same muscle again. It seems though that whenever I read an article in a fitness magazine and I see a sample workout of a fitness person they only work their bodypart one day a week. Should I be working out each bodypart one day a week or two days a week. I am 39 years old.
A: The number of days needed to recover from intense weight-training can vary from 2-days (48-hours) with an upper limit of one week (168-hours) as you see in the magazines. To better understand where you should be, my suggestion is to put a pen and paper to the number of sets and reps you do (known as training “volume”) and refer to the following.
Note: Look at each working set (not warmups) with 8-reps as an average.
At least 48-hours, when each body part gets 40-total repetitions or less per workout (8-reps per set/40 total reps equals about 5 sets).
At least 72-hours, when each body part gets up to 60-total repetitions per workout (8-reps per set/60 total reps equals 7-8 sets).
At least 96-hours, when each body part gets 90-total repetitions or less per workout (8-reps per set/90 total reps equals about 11 sets).
If you are doing over 100-total repetitions per workout (8-reps per set/100 total reps equals about 12 sets), you should consider training each bodypart just once weekly.
As for your age, if you are healthy, the guide above should work well. However, if you try and train a bodypart again when it is still tender to the touch, you should consider adding another rest day to your program.
Train as hard as possible when you do train, and then stay the hell out of the gym so you can reap the benefits. If you are training hard enough with weights, the metabolic benefits last way more than a few days, so you don’t need to worry about gaining bodyfat, unless your diet is really off base.
For more info visit my blog at; http://vandrich.com/
Regards,
Vince Andrich
Disclaimer Information provided on this blog is solely for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Do not use this information for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing of any medications or supplements. Please consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement, diet or exercise program, before taking any medications or receiving treatment, particularly if you are currently under medical care. Make sure you carefully read all product labeling and packaging prior to use. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, do not take any supplements without first consulting and obtaining the approval of your healthcare provider. © 2011 Vince Andrich Real BodyBuilding, Vince Andrich Uncensored, & www.vandrich.com All Rights Reserved.
