Sorry to bump this, but I got a question: How many days should you rest before going back to the gym? Can you go back to the gym the next day but avoid using the muscle group you used the previous day? Or should you rest a day?
That all depends on your own recovery rate. Top level body builders and fighters are going to be in the gym every day, with maybe one rest day a week. But people starting out are going to need a day or even two (depending on how out of shape they are) of rest between gym visits.
I’m working out four nights in a row right now, but my kung fu workouts are more aerobic than my gym visits, which are mixed aerobic and weight training.
the more you work out, the more you push yourself, and the better you eat, the faster your recovery will be between workouts.
It depends on your split and your goals. Everyone’s program is different, some guys lift three days a week, some guys lift 5 days a week, some lift 6 days a week. On the Madcow’s 5x5 program I recommend to most beginners, you lift Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and every other day can be used for rest, or cardio if you so choose. There is no clear cut option for recovery, but you have to keep in mind no amount of time resting substitutes eating properly. You are what you eat. Would you rather be made of twinkies, or steak?
Typically you are going to want a day of rest in between every lifting day for the proper amount of recovery. When you start getting into more advanced stuff, it starts to depend on your goals and what your personal needs are.
Not necessarily. “Top level bodybuilders” are anatomically the same as everyone else as far as evolutionary purposes go, they need rest too. A lot of guys do work on 5 day splits and work out multiple days in a row, but very rarely will you ever see someone going more than 2 to 3 days without a rest and recovery period. Deloading and taking a week or two off from lifting and training entirely can actually help improve your strength, mostly when you reach a plateau. I’ve deloaded and come back and added 10+ pounds to all of my lifts after two weeks of doing nothing but eating.
Eat. Not working? Eat more. Still not working? Yep, you guessed it, keep eating. Your body uses one source of fuel for the production of muscle tissue and overall growth, and that is food. You need to keep in mind that you need to be eating sufficient calories across 5-6 meals a day, not three big meals. Your body can only handle so much nutrition at one time before it becomes waste. Think of your body as an empty 8oz. glass. Now, take a 16oz. glass full of water. That’s a lot of water, you could use all that, you’re thirsty, but you can’t drink from that glass. So, you pour all of the water from the 16oz. into the 8oz. Half of that spills over the top and is completely wasted. That’s what eating three overly large meals does to you. You need to be getting at the very least, your bodyweight in protein every day, in grams (meaning at least 111g of protein, more is preferred). You also need sufficient carbs, preferably mostly of the complex variety ( https://www.weightlossforall.com/complex-carbs.htm ), and sufficient healthy fats ( https://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_fats.htm ).
As for training, look back in this thread, I’m sure I’ve posted the Madcow’s 5x5 routine in here before with plenty of details about it.
Holy shit double post!
You are credit to team, coolm4n.
And thanks, Kaze.
I heard something the other day and I just want to check its validity.
Is it true you’re meant to have a days rest between muscle training?
Shift your gaze up a few posts, I just got an answer for that two days ago.
EDIT: Anyway, I went to the gym today and was surprised by my strength somewhat. Looks like I got muscle under that fat. =P
Do any of you guys watch the biggest loser on tv and if so what do you think about their training? The reason I ask is that one week they visited the olympic athletes and were to train with them, and it wound up being the athletes were impressed with the dedication these folks had to the work out.
What about protein shakes and muscle milk? I’ve always thought just plain old eating correctly would be better for you, but maybe I’m wrong.
Nutritionally speaking adding more protein to your diet will give your body more material to build muscle with, but this will only work if you exercise proportionally.
Protein is protein, regardless of the source. Shakes and supplements like whey and casein are just more convenient ways of getting it all in, as protein isn’t terribly easy to find in today’s world of processed frozen foods and the average person isn’t going to stick to a diet composed of primarily cooking raw meat. Now different types of protein have different effective uses, such as whey makes a good post-workout shake because it’s quickly digested, but casein is a good pre-bed shake because it’s slow digesting.
Can you show us any pictures taken of you before you started bodybuilding?
Okay what the fuck
I don’t have many pictures floating around that old, but here’s the best I can do:
An extremely small me:
And an extremely drunkenly small me:
wow
Holy shit you look different.
A haircut and 50 pounds does that to a guy.
I suppose it would, wouldn’t it?
Just never pictured you with long hair. Or without the muscles of a man who could break another person like a toothpick.
It’s like you were a completely different person.