Is it better to lift weights everyday, or every other day?

Answer 1

You should work out the major muscle groups twice per week for optimal results, but never two days in a row on the same muscles.

Your muscles grow and improve during the rest period.

Answer 2

If you are doing strenuous lifting, you should probably do it every other day. Lifting puts a lot of strain on your muscles, which prompts them to grow in response. If you don't give them enough rest, you could easily pull a muscle or otherwise injure yourself.

It is good to do light exercise every day, however. Particularly cardiovascular exercise, such as jogging, can be done daily. The more often you do it, the more quickly you will biuld up lung power and endurance. Just becuase you aren't lifting on a particular day doesn't mean you should sit around. ;o) You should also stretch every day, so that your developing muslces don't become stiff and inflexible.

Always remember to keep yourself hydrated, and be taking in enough protein, carbs, and vitamins for your body to build up the muslce you want and keep you in good health. Never ever cut out a food group (such as carbs), particularly if you are getting a lot of exercise, as this will damage your health. You will lose weight, certainly, but not at all in a healthy way (you can die if you cut out a food group for too long). Your body needs a good balance of everything, topped off with plenty of water, to do its job right.

Good luck!

Answer 3

From my research, everything says that it is best to do it every other day. Your muscles need a chance to recover, plus you are more likely to hurt yourself by lifting daily. If you really want to get cut or lose weight, try alternating some aerobics and/or cardio on the days that you don't lift.

Answer 4

It depends on how you lift. Generally the rule of thumb is that you want to give your muscles at least a full day's rest, or 24 hours, between weight or strength training sessions, but since you have multiple muscle groups in your body there are *ways* to manage this.

If you are hitting *every* muscle group you want to train at every workout, then yes, every other day is best. Meaning you work out all your muscle groups one day, rest the next doing nothing more than light stretching or cardio, then go again the next. Your muscles need the downtime to recover from the stress and grow stronger...and frankly, you need the downtime to recover from the pain, stretch properly and *not* maim yourself.

However, if you look carefully at some of the gym-rats around you, the ones who seem to be there every day some....you might notice that they are only working *one* muscle group a day. If you do that, or if you only go half and half, you can work out more often.

Meaning....say you work out your upper body *only* on Mondays (from your ribcage up, just chest, arms, shoulders and neck). You should then be able to work your *lower body ONLY* (from the ribcage down, that is abs, mid-to-lower back, and legs) to your heart's content on Tuesday. But the Rule of Rest still applies, no hitting that upper body again until Wednesday, nor that lower body until Thursday. And likewise, others divide their muscle groups up further into push-groups, pull-groups, trust me, weight-lifting can be one of the most *over-thought* hobbies a person can pursue....*lol*. ;)

And the people who only work out one or two muscles a day, five to seven days a week? Forget them. For starters, they are simply hooked on the burn, the pain and the tedium of working *A* muscle to failure every day....and for enders, they are only hitting any given muscle or muscle group once a week, which is "ok" for hyper-trophy but not much else (that building of bulk, which depends a lot on a) working a muscle until it utterly *fails* and then b) giving it as *long* a rest period as possible to gain mass).

Hope this helps, and remember, if in doubt, stretch more, rest more and lift less. Really. Lifting, when done correctly, is as much an art of laziness (of proper resting) as it is of working out.

Answer 5

Everyday, but different groups between days. Upper body Mon, Wed, Fri. Lower body Tue, Wed. Cardio/fatburn at least 20 minutes each day after the weight training. Rest on the Weekend.

Answer 6

Every other day, your not suppose to lift weights everyday because when your lifting weights your tearing tissues and the day in between is supposed to let it heel and help your muscle grow without that day in between to let those tissue heel its only going to cause pain and no growth in your muscles

Answer 7

Every other day so that your muscles have time to heal.

After you work out and your muscles are sore it is actually because you have torn your muscles which is very good. Resting and eating protein allows the muscle to heal itself and grow bigger as it heals.

Make sure you rotate and concentrate on specific muscle groups throughout the week. Good luck and happy lifting!

Answer 8

Its best to lift 6days a week in case you miss a day you can make up for it! But don't do any full body workouts, instead do chest and biceps one day and back and triceps the next day etc Try to put cardio days between lifting days! But really it depends on what your trying to achieve ie bulk up or slim down

Answer 9

Depends on the muscle group. A profesional tests each muscle group to see that he's back up to strength fast enough. Work the groups out as often as you can without significant sacrificed strength. A book like "Power" (Dr. Hatfield) will help you see what I'm saying. Yes, I know its an old book.

Answer 10

LIft weights every other day. When you strength train your tissue around your muscles tear. Give it 48 hours, and they will be fine.