Number of leg days per week----Is more better?

kathrynrussell2

Hi,

So I only do 30 minute leg workouts, combining weighted squats, dead lifts and Romanian deadlifts. Can I do this every other day or is that too much. On the other days, I do a 30 minute pretty intense trail bike ride to get my cardio in (I have heart issues so cardio is important for me to do). Thanks for any advise!

DancingMoosie

Sounds like you need to incorporate upper body days...or perhaps add upper body to your lifting routine. 3-4 days lifting should be ok.

Retroguy2000

What about upper body?

Generally, for any body part you should aim for 10 (beginner) to 20 (advanced) working sets per week, with about 3-10 per workout.

You can split that up however you want.

If your legs are fully recovered after two days, yeah you can work them again.

nossmf

The length of the leg workout is less important than how you feel after. A short, high intensity workout can leave your legs wobbly, while a two hour marathon of gentle movement may not feel anything after.

The point behind spreading out lifting days hitting the same muscle group is to allow the muscle to recover before subjecting it to stress again. That's why the usual rule of thumb is at least one day between lifting sessions, which you have already in your program. Trick is your legs are NOT getting fully rested considering the cardio you are doing.

Keep doing the cardio, keep doing legs, but as said by @DancingMoosie maybe replace one leg day per week with an upper body day. Assuming you do 6 workouts per week with one day off, this would give you 3 bike rides, 2 leg days and one upper body day.

tomcustombuilder

The intensity and volume per week factor is a lot more important than days per week. Higher intensity and volume the fewer days per week. As mentioned get some upper body work in also.

kathrynrussell2

Because I'm doing all compound movements, I've found i do not need to do upper body workouts. My upper body looks great---very toned just from doing all the compound movements.