Working out consecutive days

jayemes
jayemes Posts: 865 Member
edited 2:26PM in Fitness and Exercise
I know when you do strength training you're supposed to give your muscles worked a rest day, but what about classes at the gym?

I do these functional circuit training classes that are always different - you never know what you're doing till you walk in that day. One class may be burpees and deadlifts and TRX work, one may be lots of rowing and core work, one may be tons of squats and lunges.

Is there any reason not to take a class daily? (I usually go weekdays only so weekends I'm off from the gym). I'm sore after the class but not enough so that I feel like I can't do one the next day. I don't want to skip days if I'm up for going and working out but I'm not sure if I'm doing any harm by working out daily.

Replies

  • racwalleye
    racwalleye Posts: 9 Member
    It's not bad. Two different types of training can be great! It's not ideal but we aren't pro bodybuilders here lol.

    If your nutrition is really good I'd say keep it up!!! Just keep that protein intake high!

    If your overdoing it your body will tell you. You'll either get sick or start feeling really lethargic.

    Keep Killin it!!!

    Rick
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    I currently do bodyweight intervals each day until I find that my form suffers. Then I cut the exercise short and take a break the next day. So far it's been working for me. But I cannot say if it will in the future, and whether it will be too much for my body. Those workouts are not very long though, about 20-45 minutes.
  • chispaza
    chispaza Posts: 153 Member
    I work out 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. I do StrongLifts 5 by 5 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. On Monday and Friday I also do one hour of Power Yoga. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I do a class at the gym that is 10 minutes HIIT followed by 40 minutes of strength interval training followed by another 10 minutes of HIIT.
    If I'm really tired or my body is just feeling worn down, then I take it easy for the day. I rest on the weekends and I figure since I'm not doing the same thing everyday it's fine.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    It depends what you're doing. But if you think about it, in high school most sports meet 5-6 days a week to practice and do meets/games/races/etc. Some sports have morning and afternoon practice sessions. It's the same deal at the college or Olympic level.

    So you can certainly work out consecutive days.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    edited February 2018
    Thinking about it, how does it work for people who are employed at physical labor 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week? It would seem 1) their job is more of a workout than 60 minutes with weights and 2) they only have one rest day a week. Is there something different about building strength/muscle in that manner, versus in a gym? (Sorry if that's a silly question.)
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    Thinking about it, how does it work for people who are employed at physical labor 8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week? It would seem 1) their job is more of a workout than 60 minutes with weights and 2) they only have one rest day a week. Is there something different about building strength/muscle in that manner, versus in a gym? (Sorry if that's a silly question.)

    Not a silly question. It's hard to compare people in physical labor jobs or sports because they tend to be gifted with a structurally solid build whose body adapted to hard work early in life. Their job/sport weeds out those whose body isn't capable of handling the demands. Meanwhile the average person in classes has been sitting at a desk for years and is undermuscled, is prone to tendon issues due to inactivity, and often has poor movement skills (bad form in common in classes). Plus they're often in a calorie deficit, which impacts recovery.

    OP - I would say listen to your body and be honest with yourself about whether your body needs a break - or something easier like the elliptical. Use caution doing the common injury culprits, like pushups, shoulder exercises, and fast movements of any kind. If you're doing the classes to lose weight, shift the focus to calorie intake. :+1:
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Ahhh! Thanks, that makes sense!
  • Inspirationalwaterjug
    Inspirationalwaterjug Posts: 384 Member
    I weight lift 5 days consecutively. Don’t really feel the need for extra rest in between.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    heytimsla wrote: »
    I weight lift 5 days consecutively. Don’t really feel the need for extra rest in between.

    Are you working the same muscle groups each day?

    OP the human body has evolved to do hard physical labour, our ancestors were hunter gatherers and then farmers and then (mostly) doing manual labour as cities developed. I do agree with Cherimoose in that if, like most of us, you've been reasonably sedentary for much of your life to give your body time to make the adaptations necessary. Purely anecdotal but I'm in my 60s and do something pretty much every day (sometimes two workouts in a day) but I split it up between running, cycling, swimming, strength and rowing and vary intensities. If I'm training for a longer running race I'll dial back the other activities so they don't interfere in recovery but I wouldn't have tried to do as much when I first started out a little over a decade ago.
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