Rest day between weight training?

Cookie_4
Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm sure this has been asked many times before (sorry)... Do you guys and gals take a rest day after a heavy weight lifting session? I am following a weight training program that has about an hour to an hour and a half of heavy lifting FIVE days a week. Honestly, I am wiped out after working out and have cut cardio to only 15 minutes each time and would probably be tired without the cardio, too.

So, do you recommend taking a day off to rest after an intense weight training session or should I just woman up and complete the 5 days a week?

Note: the program does work out different sections of the body so my legs are super sore from yesterday's workout and today's was biceps and back.

Thanks for your help!
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Replies

  • 1911JR
    1911JR Posts: 276
    I rest on Sunday, lift 5 to 6 days a week. I base my rest day on the way my body feels and not the calendar or a set schedule.

    But let me ad this. I train a 3 day rotation of push pull legs with an off day in the middle. So if I`m tired, I slack on legs day and just treadmill it.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    I rest on how I'm feeling... I usually cross train on a day that is not lifting. I'll walk, swim, play sports, etc
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    I rest on Sunday, lift 5 to 6 days a week. I base my rest day on the way my body feels and not the calendar or a set schedule.

    You lift 5-6 days a week? Wow, ok, I will woman up and just work through it.

    ETA: I do remember reading somewhere that I SHOULD have rest days in between to allow proper muscle healing but I guess you guys are right. I should just listen to my own body and not a set schedule
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    What is your goal? If you're just trying to lose weight and get in shape, i'd switch to a full-body workout done every 2-3 days. It should take you no more than 45 minutes per workout. You won't feel as wiped out or sore, and you'll have more time to do cardio.
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    Damn, that's a lot. I lift three days a week, and do yoga once or twice. I'm usually on a three day upper/lower split, but I'll switch over to a 3 day/week 5x5 program occasionally. Any more than that and I feel like I'm just not getting enough recovery time.
  • Chris_Pierce
    Chris_Pierce Posts: 267 Member
    I try to work out 7 days a week and I weight train 6 days a week. I do chest and triceps one day, shoulders and biceps one day and back one day, I also try to do abs every other day. But sometimes I'll mix it up and do tri's and bi's or back and shoulders on the same day. I ride a stationary bike 60-90 minutes everyday so I don't do too much leg work.

    Sometimes I'll take a day off if I'm going on a trip or if I need a rest day I'll just go easy on the bike.

    I've been doing this for a few weeks now so I'm not sure how well I'll do long term. But before I started on the bike I would still work out everyday but with a different split. I'd do upper body, lower body, abs/back with no rest days and no cardio.
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    Thanks for all the input, everyone. :flowerforyou: I think I'm just going to suck it up and continue with the program lifting 5 days a week.

    @Cherimoose - my goal is to maintain the muscle I already have and lose fat. I can't really build muscle since I eat at a small deficit but I absolutely love the overall feeling of heavy weight training. FEELS AWESOME!!
  • JoshD8705
    JoshD8705 Posts: 390 Member
    I rest on Sunday, lift 5 to 6 days a week. I base my rest day on the way my body feels and not the calendar or a set schedule.

    But let me ad this. I train a 3 day rotation of push pull legs with an off day in the middle. So if I`m tired, I slack on legs day and just treadmill it.

    That's awesome I do exactly the same setup.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    90 mins of Lifting 5x is probably not the right routine for you at this time based on your experience and your stated goals
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    90 mins of Lifting 5x is probably not the right routine for you at this time based on your experience and your stated goals

    What would you recommend or what do you think would be better?
  • Chris_Pierce
    Chris_Pierce Posts: 267 Member
    I'm quite sure than I'm building muscle and losing fat at the same time with a >1000 calorie deficit.

    Are you sure you're not gaining muscle?

    EDIT: I just checked out your food diary, if your not gaining muscle it could be because your not hitting your protein goals.
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
    3 x a week is definitely enough for me.

    I aim for 1 x upper body & abs day, 1 x lower body day, and 1 x full body day, combined with some classes to add cardio as I pretty much hate it after 5 minutes :)
  • BigTireFlipper
    BigTireFlipper Posts: 116 Member
    I'm quite sure than I'm building muscle and losing fat at the same time with a >1000 calorie deficit.

    Are you sure you're not gaining muscle?

    EDIT: I just checked out your food diary, if your not gaining muscle it could be because your not hitting your protein goals.

    I just looked at your diary. You've logged around 2 weeks of entries since you've joined and most of them are actually really high cal counts. One or two were even over 3000 cals. I have to wonder what you are doing to get those 1000-1600 calorie burns in. If you're going off an HRM or the default MFP recommendations and those are from weight lifting sessions then yes, you probably are gaining muscle because you many not be eating at the deficit you think you are. HRM's are not geared for measuring non-cardio burns and MFP is overestimating calorie burns more often then not. At a true 1k daily deficit you are not going to be amassing much if any lean muscle gains. Yes, you will get stronger due to your training, but gaining lean mass, well.... not so much.

    Awesome genetics aside, eating at a deficit and lifting doesn't equate to automatic lean gains. It's generally understood that when trying to lose weight, consuming more protein and lifting can help preserve lean mass. That being said, if you truly want to gain lean mass you need to not eat at a deficit. Body builders typically see 1-2 lbs max lean gain per month while following a strict diet and training session. That diet is a calorie deficit one.
  • robabob3
    robabob3 Posts: 79 Member
    I lift 6 days a week for around 60-90 mins a sesh, I take a day off on sundays, Your sore now but the more consistently you go to gym the less sore you will become, when i first started i thought i was going to die the days after working a muscle group. Now i get some slight muscle soreness and tightness in the muscles, but nothing i would even call soreness.

    Side note: I only take 1 full day off but if i am feeling tired/off/soreness i will still go to gym but do a slightly less intense/lighter workout.

    Also if your lifting heavy and you wanna do the cardio thing do it after you lift.
  • SuperC_85
    SuperC_85 Posts: 393
    I do a four day split,
    Mon Upper Body
    Tuesday Lower Body
    Wednesday Rest
    Thursday Upper Body
    Friday Lower Body

    and weekends off :)
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    ...
    Also if your lifting heavy and you wanna do the cardio thing do it after you lift.

    Why is it better to do cardio after? I usually do cardio for 15 minutes before to warm up. Isn't it bad to just start lifting "cold" (muscle injury, etc.) ?
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    ...
    Also if your lifting heavy and you wanna do the cardio thing do it after you lift.

    Why is it better to do cardio after? I usually do cardio for 15 minutes before to warm up. Isn't it bad to just start lifting "cold" (muscle injury, etc.) ?

    15 minutes to warm up isn't a problem. But you should also do a few light sets of whatever move you are doing to warm that specific muscle.

    In regard to the original question, for your goals, I'd keep to a basic 3x week mostly compound movement lifting program. It will save you a lot of time with the same results
  • maryrunslikeafox
    maryrunslikeafox Posts: 136 Member
    I lift heavy at least 4 times a week. But rest when I feel my body needs an extra day. Are you eating enough to fuel your recovery?
  • Chris_Pierce
    Chris_Pierce Posts: 267 Member
    Yep I'm sure that I'm burning 1000+ calories a day :) thanks for asking though. And I'm quite sure that my chest arms shoulders and legs are larger than they were before. I'm losing weight as well. My pants fit better I weigh less.
    If you don't believe me I don't know what to tell you. It is happening.
  • BrentJulius
    BrentJulius Posts: 89 Member
    Hit it! You will be used to it before you know it. I'd keep cardio at 15 minutes anyway. If your lifting with enough intenisty you won't need a lot of cardio. Be sure to drink your body weight in KG's in oz of water and in grams of protein every day. The protein requirements that are set by MFP automatically are way too low..
  • msthang444
    msthang444 Posts: 491 Member
    This is just a suggestion... as my mom says, take what you want and leave the rest. :)

    But, I'm doing Body for life, and what I like about it is you do cardio 3 days and weight 3 days...

    So on a typical week it'll be like this:

    M/W/F cardio
    T/Th/Sa Weights

    But with the weights, you alternate, so T is upper body, TH is lower body, and then Sa is Upper body again, that way it give you time to recover.

    Then the next week will be
    MWF Cardio
    TThSa weight, but it'll be T - lower, Th - upper, Sa - lower.
  • tycho_mx
    tycho_mx Posts: 426 Member
    One thing about lifting heavy - in my case, I could do it 6 days a week. I no longer do weights, but did lots for 7 years.

    But not the same muscles twice in a row. There would be 2-3 days between (say) leg presses. That would be enough so that I could do quality workouts most of the time.

    Mon - off.
    Tue - Chest, back, biceps.
    Wed - legs
    Thu Shoulders, triceps, neck.
    Fri - Chest, back, biceps.
    Sat - Shoulders, triceps, neck.
    Sun - legs.

    There was a variety of core workouts done every day, and an occasional game of soccer, basketball or something else thrown in too.
  • RaeLB
    RaeLB Posts: 1,216 Member
    I lift heavy, compound exercises 3x a week with a rest day in between. That's when broken down muscles regenerate.
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    I lift heavy at least 4 times a week. But rest when I feel my body needs an extra day. Are you eating enough to fuel your recovery?

    I'm not sure. I've been struggling with the calorie limit these past few weeks. My TDEE is somewhere between 2050-2150 (different calculators) and I have my limit set to 1550 and I input 65% of calories burned and eat them back. *shrugs*. What's your caloric limit?
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    Yep I'm sure that I'm burning 1000+ calories a day :) thanks for asking though. And I'm quite sure that my chest arms shoulders and legs are larger than they were before. I'm losing weight as well. My pants fit better I weigh less.
    If you don't believe me I don't know what to tell you. It is happening.

    Chris, awesome that what you're doing is working for you!! I hope to get good results, too. I just don't want to waste my time. Thanks again for your input
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    Hit it! You will be used to it before you know it. I'd keep cardio at 15 minutes anyway. If your lifting with enough intenisty you won't need a lot of cardio. Be sure to drink your body weight in KG's in oz of water and in grams of protein every day. The protein requirements that are set by MFP automatically are way too low..

    Haha, Brent! I am hitting it! Hard!! (insert that's what he said joke!! :laugh: ) I adjusted my macros to 40:30:30 but my diet is accustomed to horrible foods and I'm still trying to eat more nutrient dense foods (with my cookies, chips and ice cream mixed in). I'm trying to increase protein but it's so difficult!!

    Thanks for your input!
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
    Huh? Strength and muscle mass are made during recovery, not in the gym.

    If your goal is to waste an hour felling "the burn" and getting DOMS, then don't rest. That's what is called F*%!arounditis. A terrible disease that afflicts many LA Fitness members.

    If your goal is to build strength and / or muscle mass then follow a proper program like Starting Strength or New Rules of Lifting.

    There are 6 day programs that work, but they include rest. If you're doing a proper split program where you are just hitting one or two body parts a day, then 6 day programs can work fine. If you're asking about rest, I would guess you aren't doing a 6 day split.

    Program in rest days. There are as important as work days.

    Tom
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    There are legit 5 day split programs out there that are fine to do. However, these are usually reserved for the most advanced lifters. If you're a beginner, you're probably better off with a 3 day full body program (usually something like M/W/F).

    Having said that, if it's a good 5 day split then it's fine, just probably not optimal for your situation.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    I do weight workouts two days in a row (one upper one lower) then I take a rest day. You have to especially when you lift heavy.
  • Cookie_4
    Cookie_4 Posts: 152 Member
    I'm doing the 12-week program on bodybuilding.com. If I understand correctly, "proper split" means you don't work out the same muscle group back to back days - this program I'm doing seems to be splitting it up throughout the week:

    Day 1 - legs
    Day 2 - back and biceps
    Day 3 - chest and triceps
    Day 4 - legs
    Day 5 - shoulders and abs
    Day 6, 7 - two days of rest any days you want

    I just finished day 4 and feel great! I just remember reading somewhere that you should take a rest day between heavy lifting. Makes sense if you're working out another body part the next day and resting the muscles you worked the day before.

    Thanks again for your replies!

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