How much is too much?

  • Okay, I need some help from you PTs out there!

    This is what exercise I'm doing every week:

    Monday:
    Full body weights 3x10 of squats, deadlifts, calf raises, weighted crunches, standing shoulder press, bench press, one arm row, shoulder shrugs.

    Tues: Kickboxing class 1 hour

    Wedbnesday:
    See Monday

    Thursday: Extreme kickboxing class (advanced - mostly males!), then Ladies only kickboxing class

    Friday:
    Full body weights as Monday

    I'm using the same weights each session (at least trying to!)

    Question: I'm feeling tired today (kickboxing was quite tough last night) and I'm finding it hard to gee myself up for my weights. Am I doing too much?
  • I Think You Might Be Doing Too Much... Give Your Body A Break Now And Then... I Work Out A Bit But Now And Then Just A Light Cardio Work Out And Nothing Else.... Or Just Take A Day Off From It, To Give Your Body A Chance To Repair And Rest......india
  • I'm not a PT, but have been at this a long time. Listen to your body. Take a day off if you need one. I notice you're taking weekends off....is there a chance you can break up your workouts by taking days off in the middle? Tues/Sat or Wed/Sun for example?
    I try to use the day after my heaviest workouts as my 2 rest days. Just a thought.
  • Hey 2 F ... If you're tired, take a rest a day of R&R will not harm your workout at all, your body is asking for it ... There could be other things bothering you too, the heat, PMS, TOM, not sleeping well... I find when these things happen I get tired of working out and it's just not fun to go to the gym anymore... For example, I didn't sleep well 2 nights ago, I was just too pooped to workout yesterday, so I didn't go to the gym, I went shopping instead ... Today I worked out exceptionally well and I feel all the better for taking that break...
  • Quote: ... I was just too pooped to workout yesterday, so I didn't go to the gym, I went shopping instead ... ...
    Ilene -- Good Girl!

    I'm not sure if it's my age (48) or the menopausal thing, but I find I will usually have a day of being really tired after about 4 days in a row of working out. That's when I take a day off, and I am more energized when I go back to the gym. Listen to your body!

    Luanne
  • Quote: Ilene -- Good Girl!

    I'm not sure if it's my age (48) or the menopausal thing, but I find I will usually have a day of being really tired after about 4 days in a row of working out. That's when I take a day off, and I am more energized when I go back to the gym. Listen to your body!

    Luanne
    I'm the exact same way Luanne, when I workout hard for 4-5 days, it's usually a given to take a day off... I am 48 too! Isn't perimenopausal fun?? NOT !!
  • OK gals, I hear ya!

    I took Friday off... And Saturday (well apart from walking all round Lille) and today, well it's 5pm and I've only been awake for a coupla hours!

    Back to it on Monday though. I think I just had an excessively hard class on Thursday! I don't think I usually sweat that much!
  • A day off is a good idea, but I have another suggestion. How long have you been doing a full body workout? If you are lifting as heavy as you can, you aren't getting enough rest between your lifting sessions before you hit the same muscle groups again. IMO, you are overtraining, but not necessarily working out too much If you've been at this for more than about 10-12 weeks, I'd suggest a week off from the weights, then change your routine from a full body workout to some sort of split. Either Lower/upper which you can rototate so that week 1 you do two lower and one upper, then week 2 you do two upper and one lower; or a three day split so that you cover all muscle groups over the course of a week. For example:

    Mon: Chest , biceps and triceps
    Wed: Legs and Abs
    Friday: Back and shoulders

    There are lots of alternatives! I think you are just not giving yourself enough recovery time between working the same parts.

    I lift daily on a 5 day split and do cardio or a class 4 times a week, but have 7 full days between isolating specific body parts. except my poor legs...everyday seems like leg day!

    Mel
  • AH I see what you mean! I've just been lifting properly for *ahem* 2 weeks! The routine's supposed to be split into lower body and upper body, and I think that the site said, do lower body one day, leave a rest day, then do upper body, leave a rest day, etc! I just thought that was a bit wussy!

    I'm going to try this week like last week, then if I'm still pooped by the end I'm going to look at doing upper and lower alternate days like the website suggested. Last week I had a couple of late nights that might not have helped things too much! I'm also thinking about doing just 2 sets of things this week! Oh so much to try! Just going to see what happens tonight!