Rest day between weight training?

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  • msthang444
    msthang444 Posts: 491 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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: 4,065 Member
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    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
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    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!
  • GymTennis
    GymTennis Posts: 133 Member
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    I used to do "bro splits" for a while and they are definitely not bad at all, but ever since i switched a couple of months ago to a program which enables me to hit my muscle groups twice a week (namely upper/lower) I've had some great improvements in both strength and muscle mass...

    I have 4 days of lifting, 3 days of rest...It also feels good to do your favorite exercises twice a week, rather then waiting for a whole week to do them again.. Also less DOMS, soreness etc. Overall, a program like that or push/pull and some other programs i find better for myself than traditional splits.. But it's just me
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    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!

    Sounds like a typical brotine for sure. Nothing wrong with it really, I assume it's some bodybuilding/mass building routine? If that's your goal then I guess there's nothing wrong with it.

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