How often should you strength train?

trekkiebeth

I've always heard that you should have a day of rest in between strength training, but I have the impression that you're supposed to do Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred every day, and that has a lot of strength training. Do you have to take a day off when you work with weights, or can you do it every day if you want to?

KeriD

Yes, you need to give your muscles a day of rest......basically they need to repair. You can alternate your workouts....example: do legs one day and the next day do arms.

Vallandingham

48 hours for the same muscle group.

laur89

I've been wondering that too, because I also have that workout tape. And I've always been told when you strength train to take a day off in between or else you can tear or injure your muscles if you workout the exact same ones too much. And the 1st time I did that video I went a lil over board and had a hard time standing up or sitting down because my thighs hurt so badly the next day. So I usually take a day off in between that video and just go do cardio the days in between.

biddlah

Hi trekkiebeth.

First I'll state that I know nothing about Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred so hopefully someone more knowledgable can weigh in on this.

What I can tell you, though, is that for strength training, your body typically needs a day to recover those specific muscles you worked on - they need time to heal. That's not to say that you won't still burn calories doing it but you won't be doing your muscles any favours.

If the strength training focuses on different parts of the body, you could be strength training daily. For example, if on one day you are strength training your arms, the next day you could be working on your legs while your arm muscles are recuperating.

Oh, and for all those working their abs every day, they're no different than any other muscle - they need time to heal just as any of the rest. Three days a week are plenty.

lvfunandfit

A day is 24 hours ... it's 24 hr rest for muscle group. You can work out every day.

For ex. I work out every day at 3:00. I do a different muscle group when lifting weights each day and then I do cardio. On Sat and Sun mornings I run. Then I have one off day of no running or gym every week. But I take my kids and dog to the park or for a walk that day.

hill242

I do crossfit workouts which will work same muscle grps day after day. We do 3 days of workouts then 1 day of rest. So far I have not had any fatigue issues with this schedule, but I worked up to it by starting with just 3 days a week for a couple months first.

mzmoonlight

Never weight train two days in a row, your muscles need to rest and repair. A friend of mine, who is a personal trainer, told me that you should only train the same muscles 1-2 per week. So if you want to train 3-4 times, alternate muscle groups. (I tend to do all the muscle groups monday wed and fridays though)

hiddensecant

The 30 Day Shred is considered circuit training and not really strength training. If you're really sore and/or are using heavier weights, you can try alternating between a lighter pair or even have no-weight days every other day.