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Resistance Work on Consecutive Days?

#1

lin43 , 11-10-2011 09:34 PM

While my main form of exercise is walking, I do regularly take a fitness class at the gym once a week. The class is a weight class (bodybar). I'm finding it fun for now, and would like to go to one more class a week, but my schedule will only permit me to go two consecutive days a week. The class given on the second day is a boot-camp type like class, where we do circuits involving weights, compound moves, and cardio. I went today even though I took the bodybar class yesterday. So, in short, I worked some of the same muscle groups two days in a row.

I know that this isn't supposed to be ideal, but I was wondering why. I'm not looking to build big muscle or anything. My main goal is to tone up and burn calories. What are the main consequences of working out consecutively, with both workouts involving weights? I'm just wondering if I should continue the two classes or stick to just one a week.

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#2

HikingChloe , 11-10-2011 10:05 PM

Hopefully someone will comment with some actual grounded knowledge, however, for what it is worth I personal don't sweat it if I do more weight-focused exercise consecutively. For me there are times I just can't because my body is too busy recovering from the day prior.

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#3

nelie , 11-10-2011 11:03 PM

How much are the weights you are doing and are the routines using different muscles?

Most classes I know are what you would consider 'aerobic weight training'. There are a variety of ways to get your heart rate up. You can go faster, change elevation or add weights. Aerobic weight training is the concept of adding weights to increase your heart rate which is good in some aspects as its low impact.

Can you weight train on consecutive days? Yes. You shouldn't be working the same muscle groups to failure when you do so. Failure is a bit different than fatigue but failure really is you can't do another rep and often associated with a lactic acid burn.

What I'd say is try it and see how you feel. You can always back off or use lighter weight on the second day.

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#4

indiblue , 11-10-2011 11:14 PM

I was going to say something similar to nelie- I think she gave sound advice. If you are engaging/working your muscles on consecutive days, that's fine. If you were doing it every day of the week or lifting to failure, that's probably not wise.

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#5

lin43 , 11-11-2011 11:51 AM

Thanks, you guys! I don't lift heavy by any means on either day. On the second day, I'm at each "station" for one minute, circulating among 10 stations (we make three rounds, each time doing different exercises at each station).

I am plenty sore today, but that's probably just because I've been slacking on weight work in general. I'll try this routine for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Thanks, again!

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#6

ValRock , 01-12-2012 12:32 AM

Yep, what everyone has said.

If you were heavy lifting to failure you'd fatigue your muscles that way. Just doing a general fitness class is probably just fine .

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#7

ValRock , 01-12-2012 09:29 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kara
Right .. the reason why you're not supposed to lift on consecutive days is that if you're lifting properly to build strength and muscle, what you're actually doing is putting tiny tears in your muscles. The way the muscle grows is by healing those tears and becoming bigger and stronger.

So when you do back to back to back weight lifting on the same muscle groups, they never have a chance to heal properly or fully. Eventually you stall out on your progress and you can even cause injury.

If you're doing some kind of cardio/weight/toning class, then it's really not nearly so much of a big deal because although you're moving weights, you're moving them for endurance, not muscle building or strength.

Having said that, I'm going to comment on this:

1 - Women cannot "build big muscle" like men can. We don't have enough testosterone in our bodies. When you see women who are muscley and ripped and bulgey, they're taking something. Also they're workign their behinds off for multiple hours in the day lifting nothing but extreme weights.

1a - When you're eating fewer calories than you burn, you can't build big muscle anyway. You can't build something out of nothing. That's why bodybuilders go through "bulk" and "cut" cycles. They eat more to build muscle, then they eat less to cut the fat.

2 - "Toning" is a myth that is pushed by trainers at big box fitness gyms and magazines that cater to women who don't understand that they can't get bulky lifting weights. What most people mean when they say "toned" is that they have visible shape to their bodies; the way to achieve that is to build muscles and lower body fat. Look at pictures of Meg or Mel over in the weight lifting section - I suspect you'd consider them "toned". They got that way by lifting HEAVY weights.

3 - Growing/maintaining muscle mass is a good thing when you're losing fat. Muscle is metabolically active. That means it burns calories even when at rest. You want muscle - it means you can eat more. It also makes you stronger which makes you more able to do things like cardio efficiently and effectively. Strong is good. Strong is sexy.

4 - Muscle is denser than fat. When you gain muscle it's extremely lean weight ... so if you lose a pound of fat and gain a pound of muscle, you're going to be thinner and tighter looking. I know a lot of women who have GAINED weight by the scale and lost 2 clothing sizes when they started lifting heavy weights. Their whole bodies reshaped.

I really strongly advise women to LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS when they're trying to lose fat. Don't quit the cardio, but lift lift lift lift.
YES!!!! It makes all the difference!

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#8

lin43 , 01-12-2012 02:58 PM

Thanks to all! Now, my question is moot, though: They changed the class schedule so that it's Wed./Friday instead .

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