3X Week

I

imported_dgm

Guest
Does anyone have problems ( especially 40 -50 year olds) recuperating with only 1 day rest between workouts?
Does anyone use 2 days or more?
I speaking of whole body workouts.
 
I'm 34, but I thought I'd share my experiences anyway.

I tried lifting every other day on the cycle I'm finishing up, but it was to much for me. I found that the seventh day of the week, complete rest, did wonders for me.

Still, in the post 5s, working out 3x per week is tough. You need to manage fatigue well, and skip some work if you need to.

For example, I do bicep curls and skull crushers on "off" days, but I skip them all together if I feel the need to reccover a little more.

As another example, I accidentally skipped bent over rows in my last workout. Not sure how, I just skipped it! But I did pull ups, so my lats were worked. Honestly, I'm glad I did, because I was beat the next day!

Anyway, I think reducing the work(especially here in the post 5s) is a reasonable thing to do, if recovery is an issue.

Frequency is an important principle, though. You are taking advantage of the anabolic state your body is in. I'd hazard a guess that reducing the number of exercises and maintaining frequency is more beneficial than reducing frequency on a higher number of exercises.

Did that make any sense? It makes sense in my head -- not sure if it comes out right in writing.
rock.gif
 
I'll be 40 in two weeks and every other day is fine, have tried 5 x/week and was fine too but I used controlled volume.

That may be the secret to feeling right.
cool.gif
 
I'm 56 and have used 3x/week, 5x, 6x, and even 2x/day splits. All of these work well for me, even with lots of cardio, but like Joe and Fausto say, increasing the number of sessions really calls for decreasing the volume. For example, right now I'm doing 3x/week with 10 exercises (1 set/15s, 2sets/10s, 3 sets/5s). When I do 6x/week, I do 4 exercises.
HTH!
 
I find that one day between w/os is fine as long as I get the weekend too. Sometimes I do stuff at the weekend if I had to cut a session short on the Friday. However, I always feel really fresh and ready for Monday if I get the whole w/e away from the weights.

I would definitely cut the volume back if I added extra days.
 
If the problem is recuperation, one thing you can do is think in terms of the total number of sets (or reps) you do for each exercise the entire week, instead of looking at it from a frequency POV. Reduce the numbers when you get too fatigued, increase the numbers when you think you can still do a lot more.

Regards,
-JV
 
I'm 48 and I've trained twice per day 3 days per week for a couple of cycles with no problem. I think the key is using relatively low volume to go with the frequency and not reaching failure very often. I use a pre and post workout shake for each workout, so I think it actually works out better in terms of nutrient partitioning.
 
Like the other guys, I believe too that controlling your volume is the key to success. The volume you use for each workout depends on your frequency. If you feel you are doing too much, reduce the volume until you are comfortable with it.

Cheers,
Dimitris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top