STS - Twice a week?

[petramom]

I'm sure someone has already asked this, but I couldn't find the thread. What about doing each STS workout 2 times a week (for a total of 6 days)? Would this increase the benefits, or would it not allow for enough recovery?

I don't do cardio workouts, and I like to do something at least 5 days a week. So I could either do each workout twice a week, or I could break it down by muscle group (i.e., just do the bicep portion one day, the shoulder portion the next day, etc.).

I've been lifting for quite a while, and sometimes I do a muscle group twice in a week, and sometimes just once. I'm assuming STS is not radically different from any other rotation in that respect. All this talk about how much work and thought has gone into it just makes me hesitate to mess with the program as designed.

Thoughts?

 

[kathryn]

I'm sure someone has already asked this, but I couldn't find the thread. What about doing each STS workout 2 times a week (for a total of 6 days)? Would this increase the benefits, or would it not allow for enough recovery?

IMO, it would be counterproductive because it wouldn't allow for enough recovery, but YMMV.

 

[FitnessBunny]

I know someone had posted a question to Cathe asking her if they could extend the workouts to two weeks instead of one. You’ll repeat week one in week two, move on to the next set and do the same thing. Basically, it will take you twice as long to complete STS. I know that’s slightly different than what you are asking. I believe she said something to the extent that it would be beneficial and allow you to become more familiar with the exercises. I hope I made sense.

 

[petramom]

Yes, bunny, you make sense. I do think sometimes you get more out of a routine that you already know because you know exactly what weight to get, exactly where your sticking points are, and your concentration is better because you're not wondering what's going on or what's coming next.

As for recovery time, I don't know what is usually recommended. I know you're supposed to give the muscle at least 48 hours, but I believe I've read that at higher intensities you should go longer. I suppose you just have to see how you feel. I just finished "Burn the Fat," and he (Venuto? I forget his name) said 3X/week is best, although you should do different exercises on the middle workout (for lower body do squats on the first workout, deadlifts on the second, then squats again for your third workout). But he was talking about maximizing fat loss. I don't know if that would apply for maximizing muscle gain or not.

 

[kariev]

I'm sure someone has already asked this, but I couldn't find the thread. What about doing each STS workout 2 times a week (for a total of 6 days)? Would this increase the benefits, or would it not allow for enough recovery?

I don't do cardio workouts, and I like to do something at least 5 days a week. So I could either do each workout twice a week, or I could break it down by muscle group (i.e., just do the bicep portion one day, the shoulder portion the next day, etc.).

I've been lifting for quite a while, and sometimes I do a muscle group twice in a week, and sometimes just once. I'm assuming STS is not radically different from any other rotation in that respect. All this talk about how much work and thought has gone into it just makes me hesitate to mess with the program as designed.

Thoughts?

Petramom,
I don't have an answer for you but i was intriqued with not doing any cardio. may i ask why and what your body type is? as well as are you getting the results you want without chugging along doing cardio?

 

[petramom]

Hi kariev - I stopped doing cardio last March because I had some knee problems and I was told by the doctor and PT to avoid the cardio work. The low impact work that didn't bother my knees also didn't get my heart rate up, so I just focused on weight lifting. I found that my weight loss continued just fine without the cardio (in fact, the only thing that really made a difference in how much weight I lost was how much I ate - not how I worked out).

My knees are better now, although I haven't done any cardio since then so I don't know how they'd react to impact. But I've really come to prefer weight lifting. I know that not doing traditional cardio work is blasphemy to a lot of people, and I know it has a lot of benefits. And one day I may work something back in to my routine. But for now I just lift weights. It's worth mentioning, however, that I wear a heart monitor and can promise you that weight lifting can be a pretty good cardio workout in itself (no, I'm not saying it's as good as doing traditional cardio - just that it can also get your heart rate up in a work zone for a sustained period).

There aren't many of my kind - it's kind of lonely over here in cardio-free land.

 

[kariev]

thanks petramom! i sent you a PM with some more questions