Hello,

I have recently joined a gym and i am loving it. I dont have the cash for a personal trainer and i really dont want somebody watching me work out anyway...i dont think it would be too pretty, ha ha.

My question is, i have read that you should work certain body parts on certain days. Like shoulders and abs one day, legs and biceps one day, etc. How important is that? For me, if i focus on just one or two areas per day, those muscles are just completely worn out if i do a regular 30 minute workout. What I prefer is to, pardon my ignorance, but i really prefer just to go down the line of equipment and do a little of everything. I feel like i cover each muscle group pretty well without over doing it, although, i am usually more sore in the upper body than lower. I know some exercise is better than none but when it comes down to it...am i sort of cheating my body out of good results by doing a whole body workout 5 days a week? As opposed to focusing on certain body parts and letting it rest a couple of days, etc.

I do a 5 minute leg/cardio warm up, then 2 minutes of arm/cardio warmup, then 30 minutes of total body weight training, then 30 minutes of ellipitical 5 days a week.

Any input would be great.

hi,

I am certainly no expert here, but I think doing a total body workout 5 days a week would increase the risk of injuries. So I would either do a total body workout 3 days a week, with recovery days in between, or alternate upper and lower body workouts.

If you need some inspiration on how to do that, than eith the body for life books I found very clear for a beginner, OR the www.sumptuous.com (women weightlifting) website is very informative, with sample workouts as well.

Good luck,
Rabbit

Stacy, way to go on the exercise!

Rabbit's right - you need a minimum of 24 hours rest between working muscle groups so back-to-back full body workouts aren't a good idea.

You could do three full body workouts per week and double up on cardio on the off days, as an alternative. Many people start out with full body workouts and then graduate to splits.

Or - if you want to lift five days per week and don't want to do a traditional split - you could alternate upper and lower body days.

But most people who lift five times a week do a split, usually similar to this:

Monday: Back
Tuesday: Chest
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms (bi's and tri's)

with abs thrown in two or three times.

If you train each muscle group intensively, once a week is usually enough.

Like most things in the gym, there isn't any 'right' way to train, so do what works best for you (so long as you're not working the same muscles every day).

I never work the same muscle groups two days in row. Pump strong, practice proper form, and I wish you well as you go towards your goals