# Rest between workouts



## GFR (Oct 3, 2005)

How much to rest before you hit the muscle group again.....

Some rest a full week, others rest 3 or 4 days and there even some who rest only 48 hours.....so lets hear some ideas on this topic.....Take into consideration: Reps,intensity and volume.


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## themamasan (Oct 4, 2005)

Lately I have been waiting 6 days for large muscle groups.  I will hit small muscles after a 3 day rest.  This is Low rep, high weights for large muscle groups.  For small usually 3 sets of 8-10 reps.


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## GymJamo (Oct 4, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> How much to rest before you hit the muscle group again.....
> 
> Some rest a full week, others rest 3 or 4 days and there even some who rest only 48 hours.....so lets hear some ideas on this topic.....Take into consideration: Reps,intensity and volume.



I am really glad you brought this up foreman   , I have been studying this topic recently.

Tests were done on groups of individuals where they performed 6 sets to positive failure on chest, protein synthesis was elevated for around 48 hours only and dropped back to normal after this period.


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## LAM (Oct 4, 2005)

when I do my typical 4 day split I end up hitting everything 2x in 8 days


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## jasone (Oct 4, 2005)

Mike Mentzer believed that one should rest 3-4 days between workouts.  Pull muscles followed by 3-4 days rest. Push muscles followed by 3-4 days.  And finally legs followed by 3-4 days.  You would have to experience the intensity to failure required to understand . It is a lot of trauma that requires a lot of rest on the nervous system.
It works, but you feel sick for two days after legs.  I worked out legs 2 times a month and got strong a hell.  I would cycle this type of work with conventional workouts for sanity reasons.  
I liked this workout because I had very little time to spend in the gym.


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## GymJamo (Oct 4, 2005)

jasone said:
			
		

> Mike Mentzer believed that one should rest 3-4 days between workouts.  Pull muscles followed by 3-4 days rest. Push muscles followed by 3-4 days.  And finally legs followed by 3-4 days.  You would have to experience the intensity to failure required to understand . It is a lot of trauma that requires a lot of rest on the nervous system.
> It works, but you feel sick for two days after legs.  I worked out legs 2 times a month and got strong a hell.  I would cycle this type of work with conventional workouts for sanity reasons.
> I liked this workout because I had very little time to spend in the gym.



Mentzer believed that you need 10-12 days to rest between each bodypart   thats because of his misconception between muscular damage and strain on the CNS, his workouts fucked you up big time and made you feel ill for days, its not the muscles that are destroyed its your CNS! Personally I go in the gym to place maximum strain on my muscles and minimum strain on my CNS as a bodybuilder.

Real studies have been done that show protein synthesis is elevated around 48 hours after your workout and then goes back to normal, and that was while doing 6 sets to positive failure on chest, Is  Mentzer correct about the 12 days rest on his drop sets negative forced rep training  for CNS recovery then maybe but not muscular recovery.

72 hours seems "safe" to me, but one body part a week training seems far from  optimal as after  super-compensation takes place when protein synthesis stops (48 hours or so) then your leaving 4 days for your muscle to atrophy which I know wont be a huge amount but still as you see not optimal.


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## gopro (Oct 4, 2005)

For most OTC trainees, most of the time, I recommend low volume/high intensity training for each body part once per week. However, if you need to prioritize a body part, it can be trained twice per week for short periods.


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## Squaggleboggin (Oct 4, 2005)

I work my back three times a week. There's really nothing I do that doesn't work my back and/or my legs somehow. I do have very low volume though.


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## jasone (Oct 4, 2005)

The Mentzer idea did get me out of a rut but I had to change to keep growing.  The body quickly adapts to routines and sometimes you have to shock it into submission.


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## swordfish (Oct 4, 2005)

i do a 2 on 1 off. very high intensity with a low to moderate volume, reps are in the 8-15 range, rest pause style. 

day 1- shoulders
day 2-back/bis
day 3- off
day 4- thighs/calves
day 5- chest/tris
day 6- off
day 7- repeat

so I hit the same muscle group twice in 7 days.


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## CowPimp (Oct 4, 2005)

I prefer to hit each muscle 2-3 times per week.  I really like full body routines, but upper-lower splits are great too.  It will be a while before I go back to a split routine.  

Honestly, I have made strength gains on any program I do so long as I adjust the volume and intensity properly along with the frequency.  However, I would say that my strength gains were best with a higher frequency.  Mass gains seem to come no matter what as long as I eat enough.


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## GFR (Oct 5, 2005)

I have trained each muscle 1,2 and 3 times a week.....as a kid 13-20 you can do almost anything and grow. But I have found that I respond better to once a week...or once every 5-6 days.  I do high intensity medium # of sets ( about 9 sets for large muscles 4-5 for small) It is not possible for me to do this more than every 5 or 6 days.....and more importantly I grow so much better training this way.


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## CowPimp (Oct 5, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> I have trained each muscle 1,2 and 3 times a week.....as a kid 13-20 you can do almost anything and grow. But I have found that I respond better to once a week...or once every 5-6 days.  I do high intensity medium # of sets ( about 9 sets for large muscles 4-5 for small) It is not possible for me to do this more than every 5 or 6 days.....and more importantly I grow so much better training this way.



Well, I split the volume up when I increase the frequency.  When I hit a body part twice per week, I do about half the volume each workout.  When I hit a body part thrice per week, I do about a third of the volume each workout.  I keep the total number of sets per week about the same.


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## GFR (Oct 5, 2005)

CowPimp said:
			
		

> Well, I split the volume up when I increase the frequency.  When I hit a body part twice per week, I do about half the volume each workout.  When I hit a body part thrice per week, I do about a third of the volume each workout.  I keep the total number of sets per week about the same.


Thats how I did it also when I did 3 or 2 times a week.....I just grow so much better on 1 time a week......actually the best for me is to change it every other week .....so week 1 each muscle 1x a week....week 2 each muscle 2x a week....


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## CowPimp (Oct 5, 2005)

ForemanRules said:
			
		

> Thats how I did it also when I did 3 or 2 times a week.....I just grow so much better on 1 time a week......actually the best for me is to change it every other week .....so week 1 each muscle 1x a week....week 2 each muscle 2x a week....



Yeah, whatever works for ya.


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## CancerNV (Oct 5, 2005)

Arms, Abs, and Calves I train once every 2 days.  Everything else I wait 3 - 4 days with.


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## 99hawkins (Oct 6, 2005)

I try to get my chest done twice a week, because it is my weakness muscle. Everything else, a regular week. I find it hard to fit everything in one week anyway.


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## Incognegro (Oct 6, 2005)

Did full body routine up to a month or so ago. (Would have to check my journal).Switched to 1 bodypart per day, and am currently considering doing legs 2x a month or just squats everyweek due to my legs providing my transportation lol. I cant afford to have them totally wasted for 2 days after a heavy/hard workout. Found out the hard way lol. 

Current:

Monday- Chest
Tuesday-Back
Wednesday-Shoulders
Thursday, Fri, or Saturday, rest two days out of those and do arms/squats one day or arms one day legs the other and rest one. for total of 2 or 3 days rest.

Realistically I have been doing arms/legs saturday morning becuase I need a break inbetween.

My next split (when i change the first of the year) going to try the classic push pull legs. depending on how much i need my legs lol. you guys would be amazed at how much they have grown/taken shape since june with only true leg workouts till the end of july. after that it was just squats/standing calf raises and a ALOT of walking/single speed dirt jump bike over long distances grr lol. my heels are paying the price thou.


J


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## ihateschoolmt (Oct 6, 2005)

I was doing legs twice a week and everything else once. Now I'm switching to westside. Sort of hitting everything twice a week, but speed days arn't to taxing.


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## PreMier (Oct 6, 2005)

Typically its 72hrs.  Calves, abs, and forearms can be hit a lot more often.


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## GFR (Oct 6, 2005)

PreMier said:
			
		

> Typically its 72hrs.  Calves, abs, and forearms can be hit a lot more often.


Is this an opinion or the hard cold facts


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## PreMier (Oct 6, 2005)

The calves are type IIa so they can be trained more frequently, and I think forearms are, but im not sure.  Abs are several types, but they are resilient(at least for me) so hitting them more often isnt a problem.

As for the 72 or 48 hour aspect, it depends.. It depends on volume and intensity.  Plus there are a lot of other factors.  For me its 72, I would just say do what works best for you.. everyone is different.


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