When you exercise a muscle to fatigue, does it mean exercise it to fatigue every set or at the end of three sets? EX: if I do 3 exercises for biceps, starting w/lower wts/higher reps in the 1st set and pyramiding higher wts./lower reps by the end of the 3rd set, should I be fatiguing at the end of each of these sets or by the end of the 3rd set?

I've been doing UBWO on Mon + Thurs; LBWO on Tues and Fri w/cardio 3x/wk. Is doing a full UB/LBWO M, W, F a poor idea; is this not enough time for the body to rest? Would it be ok to do it for just one week? (My kids are off the wk b/4 Easter and the only thing I'll have time for is the wts. Cardio w/have to be Sat and Sun only that week. Just trying to maximize what I can do w/the time that I have that week). Thanks!

Jo

My PT told me that different muscle groups need different amounts of time to heal:
Large groups need 72 hours (ie chest, back, legs)
Small groups (ie shoulders, tris, bis) abs and calves need 48 hours.

I personally would not use my muscles in a way that could possibly hurt them, even for one week. I've had a couple of slight muscle tears which slowed me down and I won't risk the monkey wrench in my tightly scheduled plans again. Summer's comin'! I don't have time for injuries.

PT pushes me to fatigue at the end of every set. If I'm not at the point of fatigue, she makes me do more reps. Because I'm trying to tone rather than build bulk, she stresses more reps over increased weight. Often I'll decrease weight with subsequent sets just to get the reps I need.

Also, a suggestion for cardio interspersed with the weights: Jump rope for 30-45 seconds between each set. PT made me do that this week. It was rough, but I got my cardio and strength training done within 45 minutes.

When I do full body workouts, I generally don't work to total muscle fatigue. Every 10 weeks or so, I'll do a week of two or three full body workouts just to shock my body. Actually resting would be too much of a shock, lol.

Mel

This is actually a pretty loaded question there are so many things that must be taken into account but I'll focus on the big subjects. When your reffering to muscle fatigue are you talking about when you are no longer able to do anything with that muscle group. I think a big thing to talk about here would be muscle glycogen. Glycogen is pretty much the energy for the muscle to complete an activity. As you work out or perform your exercises your body will use this to form energy in which your body will use to complete its task. When your body doesn't have enough you start to have difficulty performing simple task. Do you remember the gatoraide commerical a while back with the iron man running to the finish line but not being able to complete the race and he's crawling trying to make it. It's pretty similar to that concept. I know this may not seem like an important topic but it goes into recovery time also. Muscle glycogen typically takes up anywhere from 48-72 hours to replenish. Even though you might seem fine a couple hours afterwards you should really hold off until you do anything with that muscle group again. Also pre workout meals should be about an hour before hand and not have a big implication your your blood glucose level so try to avoid simple sugars and carbs, which will cause your insulin levels to rise and bring everything down while your in your workout. Post exercise something in a simple form will help replenish blood glycogen levels.