How often to work out

[no_oops]

Is it better to work out every day, or twice as hard every other day?

[DV]

If by working out you mean lifting weights, then it's definitely not good to do so every day. There are many ways to lift and different people respond differently, but rest is important to everyone. If you are lifting hard (I assume you mean with high intensity) then your muscles will need 48 hours or more to recover. Muscle growth happens at rest.

 

Some people work each body part 2x, even 3x, per week. I personally work each part once every 6-7 days.

[no_oops]

Yeah. Sorry for the unclear message. Right now I'm doing every part of my body every day. I have a "Weider" machine that I've been using which has a leg press and leg extension, a chest-press, and a lateral pull down. I also have a bench that has a preacher curl "station". Right now I'm doing a little of everything every day. I'm doing low reps, high weight on the things that I can. One problem is that for the leg extension I can do 75 in a row on the maximum weight, so I think I might have to find a new exercise that's harder for me. I'm also maxed out on the lateral pull down but I can only do 10, so that's not really a problem.

 

This is my typical minimum each day:

50 preacher curls with 12 lb. dumbbells

20 bicep curls with 25 lb. dumbbells

150 sit-ups

75 leg-press on max weight, which I believe is around 150 lbs.

10 leg-extension -- max weight

20 lat-pull down max weight

 

 

I typically work-out for 20-30 minutes every day. I assume this is not the right thing to do by what you said and by what I've read and been told. Any suggestions? I'd like to get fit as fast as possible, but I don't want to put to much strain on my body.

[DV]

Is this the only gym access you have? If so, you'll need to get creative with your exercises. I assume that by getting fit you want to add some muscle and lose some fat, or just add muscle. You are definitely overtraining by doing an entire body routine every day - your muscles cannot recover enough to grow. Also, if you are able to do this routine every day then the intensity is too low to see real growth.

 

As an 18 year old male you have really good potential (testosterone!) but you need to give your muscles a reason to grow. Compound lifts (deads, squats, bench press, dips, chin-ups) are one of the best ways to force growth, along with eating right and resting correctly. Look at the training journals of members like VeganEssentials and SydneyVegan for some ideas - they're both great sources of information.

 

As for your leg extensions, you could up the intensity by doing single leg extensions (you should be able to do more than 50% of your double leg extension weight).

 

Good luck!

[DV]

Is this the only gym access you have? If so, you'll need to get creative with your exercises. I assume that by getting fit you want to add some muscle and lose some fat, or just add muscle. You are definitely overtraining by doing an entire body routine every day - your muscles cannot recover enough to grow. Also, if you are able to do this routine every day then the intensity is too low to see real growth.

 

As an 18 year old male you have really good potential (testosterone!) but you need to give your muscles a reason to grow. Compound lifts (deads, squats, bench press, dips, chin-ups) are one of the best ways to force growth, along with eating right and resting correctly. Look at the training journals of members like VeganEssentials and SydneyVegan for some ideas - they're both great sources of information.

 

As for your leg extensions, you could up the intensity by doing single leg extensions (you should be able to do more than 50% of your double leg extension weight).

 

Good luck!

[no_oops]

I really just want to add on muscle. I've unintentionally lost 18 pounds in 3 months, which is how long I've been working out. I'm 5' 10" and 149 lbs., so I'm trying to get my weight up in muscle.