Training Frequency...and pain.

So a couple of days ago I woke up at the late hour of 4:45am, swung my legs off the bed, and started to get up and get going.  Unfortunately, my legs weren't as inspired to get up as the rest of my body.  I just about completely bit it getting out of bed because of sheer sore legs.  Why?  I'm glad you asked.  For about 2 weeks, I had taken a break from strength training and heavy lifting.  Then I went back to start it up again.  Unfortunately, I'm a competitive person.  I can't just do things halfway.  I went all out with back squats, deadlifts, and lunges (5x5 squat and deadlift, 80 overhead lunges) until I beat my chest and felt like a man! It was epic.  Until that next morning.  Matter of fact, my legs are still somewhat sore to the touch.  

Frequency all relates to how our bodies can handle the stress of each workout.  Now two weeks ago, I would've been up out of bed no problem, but my body had forgotten how to recover from such a vicious beating over those two weeks off.  What does it all mean Basil?  I'm glad you asked!  What that means, is before I go attack my poor quads again, they NEED to rest.  And I don't mean just sitting in a chair for a couple hours watching television.  I mean getting in a good night's sleep, stretching, fueling, and hydrating properly.  If we give our bodies the proper amount of rest, we will build healthy and effective muscles that we can rely on to do the job when we need them.  If we don't give them enough rest, we cannot guarantee their performance, or that they'll even stay healthy.  With medical costs the way they are, I'd say it would be smart to shoot for healthy muscles.  So how often should you put stress on the muscles?

Let's first define what it means to stress the muscles.  There are 2 very basic aspect of physical fitness/exercise: Resistance Training (RT) and Cardiovascular Training (Cardio).  RT is training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction.  Most people know this as "strength training", with the use of weights or machines.  This can also be done simply by utilizing bodyweight during exercises.  Cardio is typically sustained exercise involving larger muscle groups (ie legs).  Cardio is performed to strengthen the heart and lungs, and challenge the body to handle cardiovascular stress.

From general health and wellness to body-sculpting, I would suggest the same routine:  one day RT, next day rest/Cardio, etc.  Now of course everyone is different and different peoples' bodies will respond to different types of treatment.  For the general public, however, it's a pretty safe bet to work your muscles hard one day, then rest them the next, for an easy to follow pattern.  What's important to recognize is that cardio can be performed even on rest days, because it is not as specifically strenuous to certain muscle groups.  You may choose to do cardio and RT on the same day, and that's perfectly acceptable.  Just be sure that you rest on the days in between.  Now here's a few more specific setups for different styles of training:

STRENGTH TRAINING (gaining/building strength):

Monday-Lower Body (75% max. ability) 

Tuesday-Cardio

Wednesday-Upper Body (85% max. ability)

Thursday-Cardio

Friday-Lower Body (85% max. ability)

Saturday-Upper Body (75% max. ability)

Sunday-rest/Cardio

TONING/DEFINITION:

Monday-Full Body (75% max. ability)

Tuesday-Cardio

Wednesday-Lower Body (75% max. ability)

Thursday-Cardio

Friday-Full Body (75% max. ability)

Saturday-Upper Body (75% max. ability)

Sunday-rest/Cardio

WEIGHT LOSS:

Monday-Full Body Circuit Training (75% max. ability)

Tuesday-Cardio (minimum 40 minutes)

Wednesday-Full Body Circuit Training (85% max. ability)

Thursday-Cardio (minimum 40 minutes)

Friday-Full Body Circuit Training (85% max. ability)

Saturday-Cardio (minimum 40 minutes)

Sunday-rest/Cardio

GENERAL HEALTH/WELLNESS:

Monday-Full Body (55% max ability)

Tuesday-Cardio

Wednesday-Full Body (75% max. ability)

Thursday-Cardio

Friday-Full Body (75% max. ability)

Saturday-Cardio/rest

Sunday-Cardio/rest

Remember again, not everyone has the same body/ability/schedule etc.  These are just ideas to help point you in the right direction.  If you need 2 days to do RT, then pick the Wednesday Friday setup and put them on whatever days you have available.  I would suggest following one of these patterns if you would like to see the fastest results.  Whatever you do, give it all you've got, and like always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.

Stay Strong,

Chad