Strength Training - Am I understanding things right?

castelluzzo99

Okay, I'm going to state what I understand. I could be wrong, but I'm asking for advice and wisdom, so please be nice.

It seems that once someone is accustomed to a body weight exercise, like squats or lunges, one could do them every day. At least, that's what I've been doing for the past almost two months. I heard somewhere that if you are doing weighted squats, it's okay to do just body weight squats on the off days. Also, there's that 100 pushup challenge going on in the forum, with everyone adding 3 more pushups every day until we get to the end of the month. I've been taking a day off because I started at a higher number of reps than everyone else was starting at.

Anyhow, I guess my question is, at what point does an exercise get to the point that one should not do it every day? If I add two 3-lb dumbbells to my lunges, that's hardly anything (I mean, I've probably lost that much in the last month or two); but if I add 14 lb or 16 lb or whatever, should I just use body weight only the next day? Or is that only a problem if I reach failure at under a certain number of reps?

I have 3 days left of the program I'm doing, so I'm going to finish it. It's a postnatal 10-week program, and I had a baby last summer, so I figured it would be good for me. It started slow and worked up gradually, but now the program is pretty intense, mixing cardio (stepping up on a stool for 4 minutes, 2 min at a moderate pace and 2 min at about double that) with body weight strength exercises, like squats, lunges, jumps, pushups, a couple of ab moves, etc. You do two moves, then 4 min of cardio. Takes about half an hour, and I feel awesome afterwards.

When I'm done, I'm going to focus on strength more. I don't have weights, and going to a gym is out of the question, what with 3 kids and a husband who is gone a long time--not to mention the only gym within twenty minutes is owned by the local chiropractor and is only for his patients, which I am not. I'm going to start the easier version of the Advanced Body Weight routine found on Nerd Fitness next week and do that for a couple of weeks, with walking/jogging or yoga on the off days, then start Insanity, if I can get the DVDs from a friend.

So besides the question above, any observations, comments, suggestions? With only 3 days left, I want to finish the program I'm doing now. The last two programs I started got derailed by morning sickness and a bad cold respectively, and I never finished them. Finishing what I started this time is important to me. But I'm ready to do something other than the same thing 5 days a week! I like variety!

castelluzzo99

One more question, while we're at it. Let me see if I'm understanding this right. If one does only cardio, they will lose weight, but it will be both muscle and fat. If they do strength training, it will at least preserve and at best build muscle. Then if they alternate cardio and strength, they will lose more fat than muscle, because strength training will tell the body that the muscle is important, so please don't burn muscle.

Is this a fairly accurate understanding, or is it all wet? Please remember, I'm serious and I want serious answers. Be nice, please!

vorgas

At the point when you begin to tear apart your muscles, you shouldn't strain those muscles the next day. Depending on your strength, that's going to vary, but a good indication is that you're wobbly and struggling to finish the set. Probably some form failure to get it done. When that happens, don't work those muscles hard the next day.

Having a calorie deficit of any sort will lead to fat and muscle loss. Although in most cases the muscle loss will be pretty insignificant.

There are a large number of factors to contribute to muscle loss, including the buildup of cortisol from overtraining, and having your HR too high in cardio after glycogen depletion. This may all be greek, so the simple answer is don't work out over 90 minutes at a time (you really should keep it down to 60) and give yourself at least 4 hours before going again.

Strength training will help prevent muscle loss, yes.

jessica182517

bump

castelluzzo99

The only possible kind of "workout" I could get that would take 90 minutes would be a very slow walk with the kids--like 2 mph. I don't have time for more than about 30-40 minutes in the morning, so I guess I'll be fine. Thanks for the helpful answers!