Lifting more than 3 days/week

daniellerusbult2

Would lifting more than 3 days/week be harmful rather than helpful? I just started the StrongLifts program, and although I know it will get very difficult soon, I'm not feeling good about the little amount that I'm doing now.

Sincerely,
Iwanttobesore!

HappyStack

You need your rest days, even as a beginner. If you want to accompany it with HIIT on the same day before it gets more taxing, go ahead. Or you can do more of a workout with accessory exercises to begin with. Or you can just simply do more reps to work on your form.

Next workout you should be putting more weight on the bar, so now is the perfect opportunity.

rahlpn

Why don't you do some cardio on your off days? I like to do a 30 minute JM DVD (cardio 1 or 2 from Body Revolution) tuesdays and thursdays, or 20 minute HIIT from Fitness Blender on YouTube. Then I'm just either active on the weekends 9hiking, biking, walking, skating) or rest, whatever my body says it needs. I've done the program for about 8 weeks now and am seeing great changes.

daniellerusbult2

Why don't you do some cardio on your off days? I like to do a 30 minute JM DVD (cardio 1 or 2 from Body Revolution) tuesdays and thursdays, or 20 minute HIIT from Fitness Blender on YouTube. Then I'm just either active on the weekends 9hiking, biking, walking, skating) or rest, whatever my body says it needs. I've done the program for about 8 weeks now and am seeing great changes.

I forgot to mention that! I am actually doing cardio on 2-3 days off. I'm giving myself at least 1 rest day/week. I guess I'm also asking if I can be doing more lifting on my StrongLifts days?

rahlpn

I would sugest if you want to do HIIT on the same day as SL to do it after and maybe only 5-10 minutes of it. I do a 6 minute Fitness Blender video on my SL days, after my workout. That's about all I can handle.

rahlpn

I don't do any other lifting besides the program, but that's just me. It gets progressively tougher pretty quickly. I do some accessory exercises sometimes like assisted pull ups and dips and walking lunges and kettlebell swings, but only if I feel like I can do more on those days or if I have time.

daniellerusbult2

Okay, I like those ideas! My gym just opened and they don't have a lot of the little equipment yet (kettle bells, foam roller, battle ropes, etc), so I will have to work with resistance bands or something.

rahlpn

You could also do body weight exercises like planks, push ups, etc.

Roadie2000

Would lifting more than 3 days/week be harmful rather than helpful? I just started the StrongLifts program, and although I know it will get very difficult soon, I'm not feeling good about the little amount that I'm doing now.

What are your goals here? In my opinion rest is more important than your actual workout if you are trying to build muscle or get stronger, because your muscles recover and grow on your off days.

If you're just trying to burn more calories I'd suggest a different program where you can lift every day and alternate muscle groups and do some HIIT.

Lil_Lanie

I do cardio or yoga on my days off...in summer, I'll most likely play tennis or swim on nonlifting days.

daniellerusbult2

Would lifting more than 3 days/week be harmful rather than helpful? I just started the StrongLifts program, and although I know it will get very difficult soon, I'm not feeling good about the little amount that I'm doing now.

What are your goals here? In my opinion rest is more important than your actual workout if you are trying to build muscle or get stronger, because your muscles recover and grow on your off days.

If you're just trying to burn more calories I'd suggest a different program where you can lift every day and alternate muscle groups and do some HIIT.

It's not necessarily to burn more calories. I have a 12-week goal (because it ends around my birthday) to lose 5" off my waist (I have around 8" to lose, I think). I know I need to have heavy lifting in my routine. Plus, it makes me feel like I am actually getting a good workout in.

Like I said, I know it'll get much tougher, but I would just like to do more than what I'm doing. And before anyone asks or mentions it, my diet is right on track, or getting right on track, for my goal

rybo

Just follow the program. Or find one that is a 4 day split, but just dont add a day to a 3 day program.

Roadie2000

Would lifting more than 3 days/week be harmful rather than helpful? I just started the StrongLifts program, and although I know it will get very difficult soon, I'm not feeling good about the little amount that I'm doing now.

What are your goals here? In my opinion rest is more important than your actual workout if you are trying to build muscle or get stronger, because your muscles recover and grow on your off days.

If you're just trying to burn more calories I'd suggest a different program where you can lift every day and alternate muscle groups and do some HIIT.

It's not necessarily to burn more calories. I have a 12-week goal (because it ends around my birthday) to lose 5" off my waist (I have around 8" to lose, I think). I know I need to have heavy lifting in my routine. Plus, it makes me feel like I am actually getting a good workout in.

Like I said, I know it'll get much tougher, but I would just like to do more than what I'm doing. And before anyone asks or mentions it, my diet is right on track, or getting right on track, for my goal

If you start off too fast you'll probably get sore and it will just slow you down. And lifting the same muscles heavy too often will do you no good except to burn calories. Like everyone else said you can use your off days to work on your flexibility or do some cardio.

JoRocka

I normally lift 4-6 days a week + the dancing stuff.

But I switched to a program that's 3 x a week- it's hard- I definitely feel like I'm not doing enough- and today is only day 3 (so 1 day of lift- one day of rest- and today's a lift day) and I already feel wrong that I didn't go yesterday. I'm used to going whenever I could because I never knew when the next time I could go was.

Plus a 3 day lift program is hard to do with my schedule and my BF. But we are going to have to make it work.

But that's the program I opted for- so I'm going for it- I still get dance in and then rest and other things- but no lifting- it's fine- 3 days a week is fine- especially if it's a progressively heavier lifting program.

LRunda

I was just asking my weight lifting instructor about this. She said for someone who is maintaining to lift at least 2 days a week. Building muscle 3 days a week. Competing should do 4 days a week and 3 days a week rotating weeks. If that makes sense. I've been lifting 2-3 days a week and have seen serious improvement in my muscle tone and strength. I don't think I could ever do 4/3 days a week consistently. I'd probably get really burnt out and I'm not trying to be a body builder.

daniellerusbult2

I was just asking my weight lifting instructor about this. She said for someone who is maintaining to lift at least 2 days a week. Building muscle 3 days a week. Competing should do 4 days a week and 3 days a week rotating weeks. If that makes sense. I've been lifting 2-3 days a week and have seen serious improvement in my muscle tone and strength. I don't think I could ever do 4/3 days a week consistently. I'd probably get really burnt out and I'm not trying to be a body builder.

Good information! How about adding more lifts on my lifting days? More than just the strong lifts?

BlueBombers

I lift usually 5 times per week but I focus on different areas each day.

LRunda

I was just asking my weight lifting instructor about this. She said for someone who is maintaining to lift at least 2 days a week. Building muscle 3 days a week. Competing should do 4 days a week and 3 days a week rotating weeks. If that makes sense. I've been lifting 2-3 days a week and have seen serious improvement in my muscle tone and strength. I don't think I could ever do 4/3 days a week consistently. I'd probably get really burnt out and I'm not trying to be a body builder.

Good information! How about adding more lifts on my lifting days? More than just the strong lifts?

I don't know exactly what your weight lighting work-outs look like, but I'll explain to you what I do so you get an idea. I go to the YMCA and they have a weight lifting class called RIP, I'm pretty sure its nationwide, but basically it's a circuit free-weight lifting class. We do and hour long class hitting the major muscles groups. Each group of muscles to a song in this order: legs (squats), chest, triceps, biceps, lunges, shoulders, core. I would say that about every 3-4 weeks I add more weight. In this type of class you tend to use less weight than you would if you were just doing 3 sets of 12 or something like that. Because you are doing a lot of reps you would get tired a lot faster. I'm not saying you have to do this particular workout. I've lifted free weights and used machines in the set/rep style before. I've just found that I prefer the weight lifting classes because we have an instructor telling us what to do and when to do it which keeps me motivated and working hard.

The_Angry_Fish_Guy

Dont forget to eat pie. Pie is good yesh.

SaintGiff

I lift 5 or 6 days per week, but only hit each body part twice. If you're working your entire body in each workout than 3 is plenty. If you're breaking things up then it doesn't matter as much. I find I'm fine with a 3 on 1 off schedule for about 3 weeks. The fourth weeks I start to wear down a bit so I then take a day off, do a long run the following day, and take the next day off before starting back up again. Works well for me and I'm an old.

hnsaunde

Just follow the program. Or find one that is a 4 day split, but just dont add a day to a 3 day program.

Seconding this! Keep in mind that Stronglifts is a "technically" a beginner program, so if you've lifted heavy weights at low reps in the past (i.e. you're not a beginner), it might be better to do a different program instead.

I did Stronglifts for around a year before progressing to an intermediate program that has some assistance work in it, and in my experience, the weights seemed really light and I felt like I wasn't doing much in the first few weeks. However, if you follow the program correctly, you're adding weight each session, and it's going to get heavy really fast, especially your upper body lifts.

For soreness, everyone seems to be different, but I was only sore for maybe the first week, but my weights still increased every session, so I knew I was progressing even without the DOMS.

Also, you should join this group, there are awesome ladies in there

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

daniellerusbult2

Just follow the program. Or find one that is a 4 day split, but just dont add a day to a 3 day program.

Seconding this! Keep in mind that Stronglifts is a "technically" a beginner program, so if you've lifted heavy weights at low reps in the past (i.e. you're not a beginner), it might be better to do a different program instead.

I did Stronglifts for around a year before progressing to an intermediate program that has some assistance work in it, and in my experience, the weights seemed really light and I felt like I wasn't doing much in the first few weeks. However, if you follow the program correctly, you're adding weight each session, and it's going to get heavy really fast, especially your upper body lifts.

For soreness, everyone seems to be different, but I was only sore for maybe the first week, but my weights still increased every session, so I knew I was progressing even without the DOMS.

Also, you should join this group, there are awesome ladies in there

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

How did you like it that first year? Were you expecting fat loss or was it purely strength training?

hnsaunde

How did you like it that first year? Were you expecting fat loss or was it purely strength training?

I loved it! I made some pretty fantastic progress in the first year. I weighed around 150 pounds then, and my squats went from 45 pounds to 185 pounds, and my deadlifts went from 45 pounds to 195 pounds. It was such a great feeling when I was able to squat and deadlift my body weight! My upper body lifts didn't progress nearly as fast, but I still made some weight increases there as well.

For the fat loss/strength, my goal was mainly purely strength training, because I was also playing rugby at the time, so I was mainly focused on getting stronger because it would make me a better player.

If you head into the group and take a look at the success and progress stories in there, there are a lot of ladies who used it successfully for fat loss as well, it just wasn't my goal when I was on it.

ETA: I was on maintenance calories when I was on the program, which is the main reason I didn't see any fat loss. However, if you combine the program with a moderate calorie deficit, you will see fat loss if that's your goal.

AlongCame_Molly

Nope. I lift 5 days a week. Just make sure you are allowing enough time between muscle groups so you're not overworking anything.