Theories of exercise

armymil
armymil Posts: 163 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've read that everyone should give their muscles a break for 48 hours after working out. It makes perfect sense, but what about those people who workout and have those physically demanding jobs as well? How does this relate to allow them to recover?

So for example, say you have a construction worker who carries heavy items all day long. Then he goes to the gym to workout with weights that day (say he is on a 3 day per week weight lifting schedule) and then the next day, he goes back to carrying heavy items. His body is use to the work load at his job already but he is doing the extra workout to gain muscle.

Is this person hurting himself more than helping?

I'm trying to find a physical activity to do in addition to my weight lifting and cardio. I work out 5-6 times a week with 3 days of weight training and the other days 1 hour of cardio. I have a sit down job all day. What do you all do?

Thanks.

Replies

  • mtread13
    mtread13 Posts: 31 Member
    Great question - bump in hopes to see some feedback...
  • usc2626
    usc2626 Posts: 186
    I don't think he's hurting himself because it's like you said his body is use to his every day job. To change your body you have to do things it's not already adapted to and his case it's the added weight lifting.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    It sounds like you're already working out quite a bit. Are you really challenging yourself during your workouts? In regard to extra activity, walking is always good. Golf w/o golf carts is actually not a bad way to have a lot fun and burn a few extra calories from walking and avoiding be sedentary.
  • cdtoms
    cdtoms Posts: 6
    Your body really only needs about 24 hours after a weight training session to recover. The reason behind this is the nervous is severely affected/weekend when you fatigue or atrophy your muscles completely. If you keep pounding your nervous system, like some people do, with 5 days a week in a row of strength training it never has a chance to recover and your results will not be maximized. This is also why it is not a good idea to lift if your sick or recovering from being sick. You can relapse very easily. Some people who are in really great shape can do two day split and still see optimal results. Some body builders, for instance, lift a m t th f split. But for the average person m w f or t th s is better. As far as people who have strenuous jobs I can't say definitely, but I would think since you aren't fatiguing the muscles in the same way you do when you work out (ie. complete failure) that it wouldn't hinder your growth or muscle recovery, however you may want to take a "break week" in shorter periods. Every 10 -12 weeks I have my clients come in and do a very light week which involves a lot of stretching and and low intensity lifting. For someone who engages in intense type of work maybe you do so more often. Hope this helps!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Genetics aside, "recovery" has more to do with sleep and nutrition than it does "rest days". Fuel your body right and get enough sleep and you'll be surprised what your body can handle.
  • armymil
    armymil Posts: 163 Member
    All great points.

    I've challeged myself harder at the gym and suffered a few tiny injuries that I won't make again. I've worked with a personal trainer and was sore for 3-4 days after a single workout. I'm on a program at the YMCA that uses a Kisok that I've seen improvements. Each time I go in, there is at least 1 exercise that I can mark at too easy, and the next time, I am up 5 lbs on that exercise. Also, I do dumbbells for my arm and shoulder exercises and I've seen much improvement including my weak a## left arm that I didn't know what that weak that's trying to catch up to my right. So I feel I don't have to kill myself yet at the gym since I'm seeing improvement. I was trying to figure out an outside activity since I'm motionless most of my day that I could look forward to doing.

    So if I was to learn rock climbing, or hiking, or something enduring, do I avoid exercising at the gym or still push myself on top of the activities that I do? I know recovery is a variable number and depending on how new you are it just depends. But I wasn't sure how that worked if you had a solid day of hardcore activities like rock climbing and/or hiking then come home to go workout at the gym. Your body will adapt or you'll hurt yourself?
  • mtread13
    mtread13 Posts: 31 Member
    Interesting stuff and I have similar questions. How does one balance transformation, recovery, and performance.

    Person A has a job that involves moving 100 pounds around all day long routinely and the person has mastered that safely, he or she may not get additional change/benefit from doing the job, but haven't they raised the bar on their overall fitness/performance? Person B may still be moving 30 pounds around for strength training every other day per muscle group and seeing transformation, but if one had a sport or activity that inolved moving weight around, would Person A perform better even if they aren't "training". How does one increase their stamina/endurances/routine ability to do things and yet still do other exercise/training that allows them to see transformation? And, then how does recovery work in that scenario?

    Is that what pro athetes do - they do what many of us do for exercise as their "job" and they have strength training or cardio training on top of that?
  • mtread13
    mtread13 Posts: 31 Member
    Sorry - double-posted...
  • bestbassist
    bestbassist Posts: 177 Member
    Genetics aside, "recovery" has more to do with sleep and nutrition than it does "rest days". Fuel your body right and get enough sleep and you'll be surprised what your body can handle.

    Agreed. I'd say to the OP that your body will know when it's just "too much" at which point you might want to chill for a day or so and see how you feel. Hiking or rock climbing in addition to your workout would not harm you IMO. Last time I lost a bunch of weight I was active in and out of the gym as you describe. It only helped my workouts at the gym!
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I've never known anyone who has a physically demanding job to workout. Their job is a workout. But, as some have said, maybe you get used to the routine and a gym workout can break you out of that. I don't know.

    I couldn't imagine doing that though. Most people that go to a gym have desk jobs.

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