Muscle rest and body weighted movements.

ashleylucas21wechanged
ashleylucas21wechanged Posts: 42
in Fitness and Exercise
I was just wondering what other's opinions were on training and giving the muscle rest? Working each muscle 1-2-3x a week?
Personally, I'm aiming for 2x a week.

That taken into consideration, I was also curious what people's thoughts were on programs such as 30DS or insanity, etc. where people are encouraged to push themselves in the 30, 60, or 90 days (or whatever). I'm assuming it's okay because most are simply body weighted movements..

The 4x a week I try to workout I sometimes find myself restless, and was wondering if using body weighted movements inbetween would be okay? or should these programs be done separately, to lifting weights?

Did this yesterday while back home for thanksgiving http://get-thinspiration.tumblr.com/post/24398996768 for example, but I have 30DS at home and was considering doing it on my off days.

Replies

  • ashleylucas21wechanged
    ashleylucas21wechanged Posts: 42
    again, someone?
  • ixap
    ixap Posts: 675 Member
    I think it depends somewhat on how (1) hard you are taxing your muscles on your lifting days and (2) how new you are to this type of exercise / how challenging the body weight moves are for you.
    For someone who is very strong, doing some air squats and pushups is going to be more like cardio; for others, it's more like strength training.

    If you are lifting pretty heavy on the 4 days you train, and you are not so strong that doing long sets of body weight calisthenics feels like cardio, I'd do actual cardio instead on your off days. Or if you find that the 30DS-type workouts are taxing mostly on your arms but the rest feels like cardio, save them for the day after your leg day lifting.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    it all depends on what your body is used to.

    i *personally* dont consider stuff like 30DS to be anything less than cardio since body weight stuff for everything except pullups (shakes fist at pullups) isnt giving my muscles much of a challenge. insanity is more like sprint HIIT to me which i would never do on my rest days after a heavy lifting session.


    i will sometimes do a complex like one of these on my non lifting days
    http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/screw_cardio_four_complexes_for_a_shredded_physique

    my favorite is the tumminello :devil: since the weights are so light (i use a 25# weight plate) it's basically just cardio.
  • Smilepua
    Smilepua Posts: 2 Member
    When I first set out to lose weight I did Insanity and while it is a great program is it way more than you actually need. Yeah I lost a lot of weight but I prefer following programs that are more sustainable. If you goal is to just lose weight then 80% of that is going to be achieved through diet. I would suggest looking into bodyweight programs by Turbulence Training. They have a ton of programs that you can purchase. Also you can check out the Anywhere Workouts at http://thebettyrocker.com/ Good luck and if you have any other questions send me a message there are a lot of great workout resources out there specifically for women.
  • Inforthelonghaul
    Inforthelonghaul Posts: 33
    Muscles don't grow in the gym, they are damaged in the gym, they repair and subsequently grow when resting.

    As for time spans, it is really down to each individual. Generally, do not exercise a muscle group again if it is still sore from a previous session. Personally I only exercise each group once a week and am doing ok on that, any more than would probably be counterproductive.

    If anybody says that they exercise any particular group 2/3/4 times a week they are either lying, doing themselves no favours or are using a little assistance from you know what.

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