Fitness Rules to Break this Week: You only need to work your muscles every other day

Disclaimer:

I need to preface this post with this disclaimer:  Programming all depends on your training goals.  My posts are generally targeted to general fitness/fat loss clients and not sport specific.  Severely de-conditioned clients may need extra rest days to recover, but the goal is to improve conditioning (faster recovery) so you are able to increase intensity and volume.

Should I exercise every day? 

Let me ask you these questions:  

Do you move every other day?  
Do you squat down to use the toilet every other day?
Do you just pick things up and carry them every other day?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that most people answered No to these questions.  

So why should you only work your body every other day?  I believe most people can benefit from exercising 5-6 days a week and no it doesn't have to all be in a gym. 

What is the purpose of exercising?  Why are you doing it?

Get ready for this next statement:  

I also don't believe you should exercise solely for the purpose of losing body fat.

There I said it.

Your ultimate goal should be to be in excellent physical condition SO THAT you can LIVE LIFE TO ITS FULLEST.  

How many want to be one of those folks who is barely making it and can't go anywhere or do anything fun because they are too tired and too out of shape?  It's depressing to be around folks who don't have the energy to do anything except go to the buffet.

I've said this before, but I think one of my clients has it right:  Exercise so that you can be fit to go on vacation. There's nothing worse than not feeling comfortable enough to do fun things on vacation or be able to carry your own luggage through the airport because you're too out of shape.

Longevity

How about longevity?  I see so many seniors at the gym who are still able to work it.They put some 40 and 50 year olds to shame.  I know a man who is 87 years old and is over there bench pressing 95 pounds and he lifts weights at least 4-5x per week.  We all thought he was at least 20 years younger than he is.  Whenever I talk to these folks, they all tell me exercise is what keeps them going and guess what?  All of them have vibrant lives and they are out traveling, participating in community activities, and LIVING.

What about overtraining and Injury?

I've talked to people who said that they heard that you're only supposed to exercise every other day or else you will be overtraining.  


Overtraining is serious and someone who is going to the gym for an hour  five times per week is more than likely not in danger of overtraining.  

I've seen group fitness instructors get overtrained and also endurance athletes.  The body will start breaking down and getting injured, recovery will be much slower, and some people begin to gain weight due to hormonal imbalances and adrenal fatigue.

If you feel that you need a rest day, then take a rest day!  The gym will be there when you come back.  Take time off as necessary.  LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, but you'll find that as your conditioning improves you will be able to do more.

Risk of Injury

What about increased risk of injury?  

I believe this is where proper maintenance and programming come into play.  You should be doing your detailed maintenance (Foam Rolling), warming up properly (I prefer dynamic warm-ups), performing mobility work (you can do this during strength training or as its own separate day), and I see nothing wrong with some static stretching.   If you pay attention to all parts of fitness (including flexibility and mobility) then you will have decreased risk of injury.

Joint Health and Safety

What about your joints?  Great Question!  I don't believe that people should be doing high impact activity every day and ESPECIALLY if they are not in the weight room strengthening the muscles to support their joints or working on their flexibility and mobility.  

This is why I have a problem with some group fitness classes and some of these boot camps.  It's all high impact exercises and people do this stuff up to 5x per week.

I see heavy people doing these classes with all of this jumping and sudden movements and I know that's all they are probably doing.  It isn't uncommon to hear about knees and everything else hurting because they are not varying their routines nor are they on a strength/flexibility program to support this type of training. 

If you've been training for a while...

I can guarantee you can more than likely handle higher volume workouts.  This may mean working the same muscle groups 2 days in a row and resting the 3rd Day.  If you're after an aesthetic goal then your coach/trainer may have you hitting lagging body parts a couple more times a week to bring them up. 

The goal is to improve your conditioning.  Conditioning is how fast one recovers so if you're still very sore then take a day off and as your conditioning improves you will be less sore and need to take less rest days.  REMEMBER TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

I also believe in changing workouts every quarter (periodizing) so that the body is progressing and we vary our workouts to include different aspects of fitness.  Right now I am working on strengthening abdominals, stretching out low backs, flexibility, and of course higher volume workouts.

High Volume Workouts  

If you've been training for a while, add high volume training to your routine for 3-6 months and see what happens.  High volume training is performing more sets and basically going for broke during the workout.  

With my coach she works my legs to death because shows are won from the back and therefore butts are very important Culturally this is important to me as well.  I'm anti-pancake booty. 

Now the Fitness Rules would say this is wrong and I should only work legs 1-2x per week.  I hit legs 3x per week which one day is focused primarily on glutes.  I have not gotten injured because I am conditioned enough to handle it.  My weights have also gone up during this time so I haven't lost strength. Of course I make it a point to work on mobility and flexibility and Roxie also makes sure that we work legs from different angles.  This is where proper programming comes in.

If you have been training for a while, begin to experiment with your workouts.  What can you handle?  Listen to your body.  If you can do more then go for it.  I believe a big part of the reason people do not see the results that they are looking for is because they aren't challenging themselves enough.

Mix it Up!

So let's say we have a client who is looking to get in better physical conditioning and looking to lose some body fat.  They are fired up and ready to go!  They are taking my advice and working their muscles every day.  

Monday:  Group Fitness Cardio Class (FOAM ROLL BEFORE CLASS)

Tuesday:  Strength Training (Circuit Training) 4x through with 15 minutes of Cardio at the end

Wednesday:  30 mins Cardio/Corrective Strength Training (dynamic flexibility/strength work)

Thursday:  Strength Training:  Supersets/20-30 min Interval Training 

Friday:  Cycle Class (FOAM ROLL BEFORE CLASS)

Saturday:  Run outside/Hike/Lifestyle activity/Twerking at the club

Now this person has worked out every single day and done something different.  We've hit Flexibility, Strength, Cardio, and had some fun.

My advice:  Work out for more than just losing body fat.  Do it because you want to be in top physical condition so that you can live life to its fullest.  Try different forms of exercise so that you don't get stuck in a rut.

Happy Training!