How important is a off day if...

[putz168]

Hi Cathe!
How important are off days in a rotation if working out with you is really the only exercise I get all day? I'm currently doing the December '06 rotation and after I work out in the morning, I sit at a computer all day, cook dinner for my husband, watch a little TV or study a little, and then sleep. Do you really need a rest from that? Is it more of a mental break? I feel ready to go, but if the body truly needs a full day off when weight workouts are involved, I'll stick to the schedule. The next rotation I have in mind is almost all weights with the Slow and Heavy series...

Thank you Cathe!!!!

Beth

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Beth! At least one day off a week is what I recommend so that the body does not go into overtraining mode and your mind doesn't burn out. Also, if your body is particularly sore from the day before's previous workout, especially a weight workout, you don't want to jump right back in and train those specific muscles again, because it is during the rest period that the muscles recover, rebuild, and become stronger. Outside of those issues, the amount of rest days depends on what your goals are. For instance, if you want to build a lot of extra lean muscles mass, doing high volumes of cardio on top of your weight workouts will keep the body from building optimal desired muscle gains. Or, if your goals are stress release and overall cardio and strength conditioning, you may find 5 to 6 days of cardio along with a yoga and couple of total body weight workouts to fit the bill.

Hope this helps!

 

[putz168]

Really? If I want to build a lot of extra lean muscles mass (which is exactly my goal), doing high volumes of cardio on top of my weight workouts will keep the body from building optimal desired muscle gains? I always thought the cardio was necessary to burn the fat so you can see the muscles...This might explain why I'm not seeing the results I want... I do all the heavy weight workouts, but I always feel like I have to get cardio in almost every day. But you're saying that's counter productive correct?