How far apart should your workouts be?

jasmineheaven
jasmineheaven Posts: 189
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I tried working out twice a day the "whole" week and found myself so sore that I couldn't workout for at least 2 to 3 days. I did this three times. Now Im wondering how far apart should you workout? Should I be working out maybe one day then take a day off or should I just workout 5 days of the week and take 2 days from working out?

Replies

  • unmitigatedbadassery
    unmitigatedbadassery Posts: 653 Member
    For cardio you can do it once a day - still give yourself time to recover. For strength training I wouldn't work a muscle group more than every other day. The majority of the 'work' is done during the recovery process and you won't be able to properly perform the exercises if you are still sore.
  • debswebby
    debswebby Posts: 326
    personally speaking the most I workout is 3 days in a row and then have a rest day. So this week, for example it'll be: gym sat and sun, rest today, gym tuesday, aqua aerobics weds and gym thursday, rest day Friday. This is because my knees and back are shot through years of being too heavy. Someone young and fit would be able to do more. Twice a day, however, does sound extreme (although I do envy your energy)
    Apparently rest days are just as important as work out days.
  • nettleboo
    nettleboo Posts: 177 Member
    hello i do cardio stuff everyday no probs but musle type work outs you should probs do no more than 4 a week with three rest days.
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    I spend about 11-14 hours a week at the gym (1.5 -2.5 hours per day) and I don't have too many issues with soreness. But, I have slowly increased this over time. If you have a lot of soreness, try cycling your workouts. If you spend a lot of time near your max heart rate, you produce a lot of lactic acid which causes soreness. Try cycling cardio this way: 1 day of HIIT (where you are getting close to your anaerobic threshold for short periods of time, recovering (slow your pace - don't stop), and then doing it again). The next day, do an endurance workout where you workout at a sustainable level for the full workout without much rest.

    Don't do the same exercise every day, switch it up. And don't forget to stretch at the end of your work out. My double workouts are usually a spin class followed by yoga, or stair climbing and running followed by pilates. The combo of cardio and strength + stretching is great and I rarely have anything but a little bit of soreness. If I get very sore, I take a rest day. I am still active but I'll just go to the gym and walk on the treadmlll or cycle slowly with low resistance.

    Even without soreness I am seeing amazing results. Yoga is giving me wonder woman triceps. My arms will look awesome once I've done enough cardio to get rid of all my fat!
  • EmmaJean7
    EmmaJean7 Posts: 163 Member
    This is what my personsal trainer reccomended me: to work out 5 days a week, 3 days doing some form of weight/resistence training (I do circuits) and 2 days of long cardio. Once a day and if you want to go long like an hour and a half (my workouts are about an hour) thats fine. Its SO important that your muscles get rest though to recover and build new muscle. So what Ive been doing is like maybe working out 2 days in a row then I will be super sore and need to take a day of rest the next day and just stretch and stuff. Stretching is so important to help your muscles not be so sore! Just listen to your body that's probably the most important thing if you are super sore than you need to rest but if your just a little sore you could probably work out then and be fine :)
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