Yeah I was just wondering whether one day is really enough rest time between the sculpt videos. I mean if you're really working your muscles as much as you can, wouldn't they need more time to rest and rebuild?

Just wondering

Generally, yes, it's plenty of time. When you first start our programs, you might be feeling pretty sore. If this is the case, you'll get used to shortly, but just take it easy on your next sculpt.

Are you writing just to ask, or are you feeling particularly beat?

Extra soreness may also come from diet. Are you getting enough protein? (Protein is the building block that helps repair your muscles.)

I was just wondering about it because I read an article on a different website that said to be sure to get enough rest time between workouts otherwise you could be wasting your time, and not getting the results you could be getting, or something, I dunno.

Yes, that's absolutely correct. Lifting weights actually tears up your muscles. When you rest, they build back tougher (with help from protein), so you do need that time.

Generally speaking, a day is plenty. I mean, your muscles might not be fully restored, but enough so you'll benefit. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but you should be ok. Please let us know if you don't think that's the case.

I'm always interesting in reading different takes on it. Can you give me a pointer to the article you read?

That you aren't working to the extremes some of these other web sites refer to as well. You are working relatively light weights and not doing the muscle "tearing" Denis referred to on these workouts. Almost anything you read out there has to be read in context and MOST of the articles don't accurately explain the context.

If you were lifting heavy, training for a body building competition, training for an athletic competition where lifting was important, it might make a difference.

I kind of think of the P90 program as a cardio intense strength program. A hybrid. You are working 3-4 circuits with no rest between exercise. Your heart rate is up and you are burning all the energy you can during your workout. All good things to improve your general fitness, muscle toning, and fat burning.

Brice

Great point, Brice.

But AerieC, please still post that article!

I guess it wasn't really a question of if a one day recovery is enough, the article I read said that most people work out too often and that they comprimise their results because of it.

This is an article I read a while back that made me think of this topic. I guess I had it mixed up, its not am I getting enough rest inbetween its if I'm working out too much in the first place. Anyway this is the article Article

I hear a lot of talk about "plateauing" on these boards, what the author of that article says in the second question about the 3 day a week crowd not seeing results after about a month is interesting.

Now, I've seen some pretty amazing results from the power 90 system, and the other beach body systems. However, articles like this make me wonder whether working out as frequently as power 90 would have, and in the same way, is really the best way to maximize results. For example, there was another article on that site (by the same author too I think) in which an experiment was done on several golfers. These golfers only did static hold type lifts, holding the weight 5-10 seconds for each muscle group. After 6 weeks or something they measured the results and they were pretty good, something like an 85% increase in total muscle, or muscle strength or something.

Eh, I just have a lot of questions about everything you know, gotta keep myself informed

That's a very healthy question to have. Rest time has a direct relation to intensity, and by that I mean units of high-threshold motor units recruited during a workout. In slightly more understandable terms it comes down the the amount of white-cell (fast-twitch) muscle fibers you have damaged, which happens only under extreme duress. Fast-twitch mulscle rebuilds much slower than slow-twitch. P90 workouts, because they are circuited, compromise intensity per set for efficiency. Let's say that you did one set to full out failure on an exercise and then waited for 3-5 minutes until fully recovered, then did it again, and again. You could lift much more weight, gain more strength, and cause far more breakdown that might take a week to heal. Instead we keep you moving, which burns more cals. So you don't gain maximum strength, but you get more body shaping results quicker because you require less rest and can workout more often. Does this make sense?

In a nutshell, a power-lifter only cares about absolute strength so they will workout like above. An endurance athlete will, conversely, do a very high number of movements recruiting very low-threshold motor units. P90 works in between for a bit of both: some strength with some endurance being gained. It's compromised because we aren't athletes and are more interested in getting the most overall gains in the least amount of time.

After reading the article, it raised another question.

However, this really doesn't apply to a Beach Body routine. Say for example I do a 4 day split weight traing routine. For example, I would work my biceps and triceps on Monday, legs on Tuesday etc. etc. So, I would only be working each major muscle group (primarily) one day a week and have six days rest for each. The idea of course is to give each muscle group adequate time to recover completely.

Now, based on the article, the implication is that if I worked my biceps and triceps hard on Monday and I worked my legs really hard on Tuesday, that the recovery from my arm exercise on Monday would be compromised by my intense leg workout on Tuesday. If that is true, one would need to come up with a fairly complex split routine that would also include cycling intensity WITHIN the week. In other words, Week 1 do arms hard, legs light and Week 2 do arms easy and legs hard. Then, you would also have to consider the other two days of the week. Is this thought process flawed? Will my intense leg workout on Tuesday compromise the recovery of my arm workout the day before?

Jim

Jim -

You're right. It doesn't make any sense to me. I've known people and been part of the "3 day a week crowd" since I was 14. I've never known one to plateau after a month just because of their weight lifting regime.

I wonder who he's talking about?

Actually. I was asking a question not making a statement. Most of us seem to focus on recovery of certain muscles, but I am wondering if there is some merit to the idea that if you work only one body part one day really hard, and work another muscle group really hard the next if the recovery from the first day would be at all compromised by the hard workout on the next even though it was a different muscle group. It sort of makes sense that it might.

Jim

Jim, certainly what you propose holds merit, but you're really starting to get into the realm of extreme athletic training. This is not a bad thing, but complex as each individual starts looking for their training thresholds.

Your plan is a bit like 90X, and even in 90X we have some variance because not one program works perfectly for eveyone.

First, I'll try and address your proposal. In order to make this effective, you would really need to hammer the hard days to require the time off. These days would be either very heavy weights with low reps or even plymetric or eccentric training--the kind that really tears up fast-twitch fiber. Then to allow it to heal you would go easier on some parts and even easier on others. Then swap it during the next week. A common way to do this is to break your workouts into A, B, and C workouts of varying intensity. Then use a split routine and do, say, two A's, three B's, and two C's per week--or something like that.

Then you have individual body types to consider. A more fast-twitch athletic will want to really use ultra high intensity on the A days and have more C days. The slow-twitch body types won't be able to push as hard on the A's, but their body might allow 3 A workouts per week. Does this make sense? So you need to gain experience in order to find your thresholds, which is sort of why all athletes get injured from time to time. The only way to perform at your peak is to train right up to it, and when this happens you will go over sometimes, which will end in injury.

So I hope this all makes sense and didn't just muddy the waters.