Random weight lifting

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Lol I know this might seem odd but I want some input on my situation. Ok so I do cardio 4 days a week and I just recently bought weights for my house I randomly lift them. Like I might get outta bed and say to myself “hmmm let me get a couple sets in”. Will I get the same results or will I get results quicker by doing things this way?

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  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    What sort of results are you wanting?

    You'll build some strength, but to see any real gains in terms of muscle growth you need to be engaging in a progressive resistance programme. Something structured, not just winging it. Though, you are unlikely to build muscle whilst you are losing weight (beyond some initial gains if you're new to lifting).

    If you're just looking to preserve existing muscle whilst losing weight, every little bit helps, but again, you would be better off using a proper programme.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    So the body only feels the need to get stronger and possibly build more if you tap out the existing muscle and overload it and damage it.

    It's been found there are useful and non-useful amounts of Time Under Tension (TUT) based on frequency per week and duration.

    So if starting - you need sessions and sets and reps each week to really accomplish much after initially just training your muscles for form (firing your Central Nervous System (CNS) to make the muscle move) improvements - which will taper off eventually.

    So you will get something out of random for a bit depending on how strong you are already - but it will stop and that sort of workout won't be useful anymore.

    Help you keep what you got though.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Structure > Random > Nothing.

    I do random assisted pull ups throughout the day. When I started, I could only do sets of 2. Today I just did set of 5 after about 2-3 weeks of random. If I had been diligent, I probably would have hit 5 last week. It's better than nothing, but structure would be more efficient/effective.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    If you have been doing nothing, then doing almost any thing will result in improvement. However, after the initial adaptation, chances are random exercise will no longer provide enough stimulus and you will no longer see improvement.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    It's better than doing absolutley nothing but won't give you any meaningful results.