How often should we train each muscle group?

euzgai

Hello,

I am new at strength training so I might have some stupid questions.
I am a 23-years-old woman, I'm 5'7" and I weigh 147 lbs. I want to lose around 10 more lbs but I also want to begin muscle building.

I don't have a lot of time and I can't (and don't want to actually ) go to the gym. 30 minutes of workout each morning would be maximum. For now, I'm using the website "Fitness Blender" to find short sequences. For the first week that I began I thought of :

Monday : Lower body (done)
Tuesday : Upper body (done)
Wednesday : Core
Thursday: Lower body
Friday : Upper body (+Core?)
Saturday: rest
Sunday: HIIT, total body

Except for Sunday, every workout is around 10 minutes (+warm-up +cool down). On Sundays, I workout around 45 minutes.

Do you think this is a correct repartition? Can 10 minutes be enough or is it totally useless?

phillippryor

10 min is ok if you are doing a HITT workout. These are very intense and should only be done 3 times a week. You can basically start with doing warm up jogging in place for 5 min or what ever you like. Then start by doing an exercise as hard or fast as you can for 30 seconds then rest 30 seconds then do a different exercise . so like jumping jacks, burpees, squats ,push ups, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, jump squats, dips on a chair or desk, crunches , reverse crunches, jumping jacks again. These are some examples which you can put in any order. I would start with 1 round or if already exerciseing do a couple round up to 20 mins. Then stretch and cool down. If you feel not enough work the go 45 sec work with 15 sec rest.

DopeItUp

Common advice is to train everything 2x a week for maximum performance. Newbies tend to be able to get away with even more (hence, squatting 3x a week in beginner programs). Advanced lifters might only train a lift once a week, but with high intensity/volume. So long story short, it depends on a lot of factors.

Having said that, a 10 minute strength training program isn't gonna do a whole lot. Even the most basic, bare-bones beginner programs will take you 30-60 minutes per session. Get up 30 minutes earlier?

bornforbattles

I don't think it matters if you're doing them for 10 minutes. When you actually work the muscle groups it's advised giving them 24 hours rest before working them again

euzgai

phunter308p wrote: »

10 min is ok if you are doing a HITT workout...

Thank you for your advices. I used to think that HIIT workouts were for total body.

DopeItUp wrote: »

Having said that, a 10 minute strength training program isn't gonna do a whole lot. Even the most basic, bare-bones beginner programs will take you 30-60 minutes per session. Get up 30 minutes earlier?

Why not. But in that case how often should I train? Should I do total body 3 times a week with a rest day between each? Or should I keep my program but with longer sessions ?

bornforbattles wrote: »

I don't think it matters if you're doing them for 10 minutes. When you actually work the muscle groups it's advised giving them 24 hours rest before working them again

But I'm afraid that I don't stress my muscles enough in 10 minutes, so they may not need a rest.

DopeItUp

euzgai wrote: »

Why not. But in that case how often should I train? Should I do total body 3 times a week with a rest day between each? Or should I keep my program but with longer sessions ?

I would recommend full-body workouts 3x a week to most beginners, yes. You'll find that almost all beginner programs follow that format.

cwolfman13

DopeItUp wrote: »

Common advice is to train everything 2x a week for maximum performance. Newbies tend to be able to get away with even more (hence, squatting 3x a week in beginner programs). Advanced lifters might only train a lift once a week, but with high intensity/volume. So long story short, it depends on a lot of factors.

Having said that, a 10 minute strength training program isn't gonna do a whole lot. Even the most basic, bare-bones beginner programs will take you 30-60 minutes per session. Get up 30 minutes earlier?

Also...

DopeItUp wrote: »

I would recommend full-body workouts 3x a week to most beginners, yes. You'll find that almost all beginner programs follow that format.

Agree with this^^^

tomsarno

If I only had 30min a a workout, I would do legs one day, chest and tri's the next, then back and bi's, then shoulders. Just keep doing it in that order as many days a week as you can.

euzgai

Thank you all for your answers. I'll try to get up early and have longer sessions to do whole body training.

Mikey_Irish

Rest is important when training with any kind of intensity. Muscle needs the time in between to recover. Otherwise you will get lesser or no gain at all. My strength training is more of a push /pull routine./ day of legs. So technically I get extra rest for healing. But I do multiple sets of 12 sometimes 15 reps. Get pretty sore after heavy weight days

euzgai

What do you think about this exercice three times a week for example?

I know that doing the same routine would be boring but I'm just asking to have your opinions about this kind of workout. Is the duration sufficient? Do I need to do additionnal exercices to train other parts of my body Do you think those are good exercices?

Thanks!

DeserveVictory

Have you heard of The New Rules of Lifting for Women? I'm fairly new to strength training too, but this book has answered a lot of the questions you're asking. We have a group of MFP that has some great advice and support.

euzgai

No I haven't heard of it but I would like to know more about it.

CSARdiver

Looks to be a good breakup. Just ensure you give the target group 48 hrs to recover between sessions.

Capt_Apollo

beginners benefit most from full body workouts.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/

find an exercise that hits your quads, one for your butt and hamstrings, the push muscles (chest, shoulders, and triceps), the pull muscles (back, biceps, and forearms), and your core.

five exercises for 5-10 reps plus a warm up and stretching afterwards is probably about 30-45 minutes.