Is it ok to workout everyday?

Question

At first I felt GREAT... I had tons of energy and now this week I am so worn out. I can't seem to get up in the mornings, and Only a few sore muscles. I have only been working out everyday for 4 weeks now. Am I doing my body any good? I do take saturday and Sunday off sometimes!

Answer 1

Are you drinking enough water? Maybe you're dehydrating yourself. With all that exercise, you should be drinking lots of water. Exercising every day is fine as long as YOU feel OK! :)

Answer 2

It depends. Yes, you can overtrain and wear yourself out.

It also depends on what kind of exercise. If you are lifting weights, it is important to let your muscles rest a day before working them again (48 hrs between workouts). That is because you tear down tissues and your body needs the time to rebuild them so you get stronger.

You can still lift weights and do it every day, just split it up so you aren't doing the same muscle groups every day. One example - lower body one day, upper the next.

Cardio you can do everyday but if it is high impact, you are stressing your joints a lot. Things like swimming won't do that.

Still you may be doing too much or not eating enough of the right foods, or as someone else suggested, you may be dehydrated.

Keep a food diary to be sure you are getting the right nutrition and staying in an appropriate calorie range (you can do this online for free at fitday.com) for your activity level.

Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day; as active as you are, you may need more. You can drink tea or other liquids as part of that. Alcohol and coffee can be dehydrating so add more water if you consume these.

If none of this works, see a doctor. You may have something else going on.

Answer 3

Working the same muscle group day after day is actually very bad for you. Muscles need to be give a 24 hour recovery period between workouts so they can heal, or you're just breaking down your muscles. However, if you alternate muscle groups between days, working out every day should be no problem. To answer your question, are your stomach pains a result of your butt workouts or belly dancing? It's never good to exercise if it pains you. Sore muscles don't apply unless they are really sore, which they shouldn't be or you are doing something wrong. Of course it's okay to take a day off once in a while :) Good luck!

Answer 4

It's OK to work out everyday. You need to change up your routine and work different muscles on different days so your muscles have a chance to recover between workouts, or you might be damaging them. You also didn't indicate what you are doing and how long you are doing it. It is possible to work out TOO much that you are wearing your body down. You need a balanced diet along with a serious workout regime. And it's OK to take a day off here and there! Your body does need a break and one day off isn't going to set you back.

Answer 5

Wow, keep up the good training! However, atleast one day of rest is key! 4 to 5 days a week is great for just about any goal. On the 6th day a light workout and good stretching will be just as effective in my experience. But definitely take one day a week off, and really focus on those other work outs. I did 2 years of college training, and that was one thing I learned. Our bodies are efficient systems, but they need maintanence as well as training.

Hope that helps!
Bobby

Answer 6

It's ok to do it everyday but sometimes your body needs a break. I usually take a week off after going 4-5weeks straight. Also get's your mind back into it too. Also don't forget to change your routine every 4-5 weeks because your body adapts quickly and you won't get the same kind of results if you keep doing the same thing.

Answer 7

Yes it is ok to work out everyday, but...your body needs rest in order to rebuild the muscles you broke down while working out. When it rests it then, rebuilds, strengthens, and thus gives you more energy. Sometimes rest, is THE best thing you can do for being physically fit. Keep it up. Sounds like you have the best mindset.

Answer 8

Its perfectly ok to work out everyday....you do want to give yourself a brake every once in a while, but you have to make sure that you do one week on a routine and then the next week you need to up your routine.....like do more crunches and more push-ups....maybe run more than the week before.....so that your constantly working your muscles more.....because if you do the same routine every week your muscles are going to get use to it and they will need more of a work out to get that same soreness.....hope this helps :o)

Answer 9

OK, you need to eat 6 small meals a day. I work out using the following plan and do really intense sessions sometimes over 3 hours a day. Remember to refuell it's like driving in your car all day long without filling it up with petrol.

If you want to do this it is for life so you need to totally change your way of eating and exercising. This is not a diet rather than a healthy eating plan for life. So no more talking diet cause it means time limit. Stop making some major mistakes wake up earlier and get active earlier your metabolism is sluggish and needs to be woken up this is half your problem.

Here are the golden rules:
Initially cut down to 1200 calories.
Exercise 6 times per week for 1 hours a day. Do three weight sessions and three cardio sessions. No gym involved.
Don't eat carbs after 4pm, never eat carbs within 2 hours of exercise or within 1 hour of exercise.
Drink 3 litres of water per day. You can have a green tea at the end of the day.
Limit your fruit in take to 2 pieces per day.
Never eat dinner after 6pm.
Adopt of low GI eating plan this is sustainable for life!
Make low fat dairy choices

Follow this menu plan as a suggestion:
Breakfast 7am - 1 cup hot water w lemon
20 minutes later have a bowel of oats w water (no honey) OR
fruit salad w low GI soy yogurt
Snack 10am - pear or apple (both low GI)
Lunch 12.30pm - multigrain sandwich w 50g tuna & salad (no butter)
Snack 3pm - low GI yogurt OR skim berry smoothie (no honey or banana) plenty of ice, 1/2 cup skim milk & 1/4 cup yogurt
Dinner 5.30pm - 120g grilled lean meat/fish/prawns/tofu patties (not fried) w spinach salad & mixed vegies (no whites, carbs) OR 3 egg white/soy omlette with ham, cheese and tomato
Snack - 1 scoop of low cal low fat ice cream (if hungry)

Exercise is must be intense. Refer to www.bodybuilding.com for your weights routine. Never do weights two consecutive days have a cardio day in between.

Cardio needs to include running, go hard up stair wells and cycling. You get the most benefits from exercise when your body is totally fatigued and this is when you see changes.

To maintain you can increase calories to 1500 and reduce exercise sessions to 3-4 times per week. If weight creeps up again due to holiday period etc.. go back to 1200 cal and 6 sessions again.

Good luck it worked for me it can work for anyone.

Answer 10

Absolutely it is ok to work out every day...BUT...its even better to have one day off a week. I do triathlons, including Ironman length tris, and a SURE SIGN that I am over trained is a combo of lack of motivation, sluggishness, irritability, elevated heartrate when first waking up, etc.

I do what Joe Friel calls PERIODIZATION...3 weeks of increasing volume and intensity followed by one week of reduced volume/reduced intensity. My body responds extremely well to that pattern too. By the end of the third week, I am absolutely ready for a "down week". And, by the end of the "down" week, I am ready to ramp it up again.

Check his website:

http://www.ultrafit.com/

for good training hints on workouts and periodization. It has helped me take serious times off my races and increased my fitness/speed/endurance/flexibility/etc.

Good luck and keep it up!!