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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-15-2014, 11:55 AM
the more frequently you train the bodypart, the less you will be sore.
therefore on popular split routines where you train a bodypart only once a week, you will experience regular soreness. on full body programs or really tight splits where you train each bodypart 2-3 times a week, you will not be sore.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-15-2014, 01:22 PM
bodmon - I agree partially with your statement that the more you train a body part, the less you will be sore. My experience with this now has led me to training the full body (each muscle group) three times per week.
But, the other key point that I was trying to make is that as you get older, your ability to "Blitz" a muscle group decreases. Most split programs indeed have you completely Blitz a muscle group, and often it is a week before revisiting.
Using chest as an example once again, if you do Flat Bench, Incline DBs, and Flies all in one day...you completely destroy this muscle group. When you get older, this becomes much harder to recover from. But, if you take these exact same lifts and spread them over three days, you heal much better and much less likely to have severe cases of DOMS.
But, for those that are still 25...knock yourself out...the Blitz approach with a traditional split indeed works and can make you into a monster if you so choose.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-26-2014, 01:36 AM
I received a request for an example of the Heavy/Light/Medium full body rotation.
First, all the usual caveats apply...you should know when to substitute a lift, adjust intensity, adjust reps, add/subtract sets. I'm also not going to include the warm-up, core, and cardio...those are separate. I often use a set or two for warmup with a compound lift, but this is not included in my recommended number of sets (meaning, if I say 4 sets of bench, this doesn't include your obligatory set of 135 to get warmed up). But, for a general outline here is one example:
Standard "#Sets x #Reps" applies. So, 4x8 means 4 sets of 8 reps. It is critical to know that you should be trying to dial this rep range in. For example, if 8 reps is recommended, it is exactly that, a recommendation or starting point...you may have to dial this up or down according to where you are at.
* denotes a "Heavy" compound lift
Monday (Heavy):
- Chest - Flat Bench*: 4 sets
- Back - DB Row: 3 sets
- Legs - Squats*: 4 sets
- Shoulders - DB flies: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB Curls: 3 sets
- Triceps - Pressdowns: 3 sets
Light (Wednesday):
- Chest - cable crossover: 3 sets
- Legs - lunges: 3 sets
- Back - Deadlift*: 4 sets
- Back - Lat pulls: 3 sets
- Shoulders - Lateral raise: 3 sets
- Biceps - DB hammer curl: 2 sets
- Triceps - extensions: 2 sets
Medium (Friday):
- Chest - DB Incline: 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Legs - Leg Press (or more squats): 3 sets (maybe 4)
- Back - T-bar Rows: 4 sets
- Shoulders - Straight Bar Shoulder Press*: 3 sets
- Biceps: Straight bar curl: 2 sets (maybe 3)
- Triceps: DB Skullcrushers: 2 sets (maybe 3)
Key things to remember:
- Substitute exercises at will, this is how you can increase variety and feeling of randomness while remaining on progression
- Dial up / down your set and rep scheme
- Don't beat yourself up if you end up on a 5 day business trip, hit your calisthenics and cardio and realize that a big reason you are going this route is that it prevents you from constantly having to restart your "normal" split program on day 1 every time you have to hit the road.
- Anyone under 28 will likely call bull on this program, but remember, you are getting all the same lifts as you would on a "traditional split", but in a setup more suited to disruption and for those of us that need a little more recovery time
- Make sure to have some good cardio routine for your "off days". Not a bad idea to have a good calisthenic type of conditioning in your back pocket (I cringe at the idea of saying "metcon" as I don't want to awaken the crossfit evangelists). But something like: 100 jump rope skips, 15 kettle bell swings (say, 53lb), 15 pushups, 10 burpees...repeated for 4 rounds can be a great supplement to the treadmill if you get stuck in a hotel. You can easily pick up the above "Heavy/Light/Medium" routine when you get back because it is FULL BODY.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-26-2014, 07:52 PM
Seaver - generally speaking, yes. (although, with your example I think you are missing some muscle groups, but you are generally correct).
For me, I've had to tweak it a little bit, but it still follows the same pattern of "Heavy/Medium/Light". In particular, I have 4 big compound lifts each weak: Bench, Squat, Deadlift, and Shoulder Press. I can't do all of these in one day anymore (I added this modification in the layout and denoted where I put these lifts with a "*").
On Heavy day, I keep a heavy mindset. If I'm doing DB rows, I push it hard and try to add some weight at the expense of some reps (probably targeting 8s here). On Light day I will try to pick an exercise that is easier on the joints and something where I would normally gravitate towards higher reps (support exercises, like cable flies).
Hope this helps.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-27-2014, 01:55 AM
I add cardio whenever I possibly can. I rarely pull off cardio on heavy day. I absolutely try for cardio on my "off days", but the "Light" day is usually pretty short so I usually have no excuse to get some cardio in on the same session.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-27-2014, 09:28 AM
Yes, higher number of reps on lighter days.
Here is another way of looking at it. If we just use Bench as an example, on a traditional split you would likely do something like: Flat Bench (Heavier weight, lower rep range), Incline DBs (Medium or Medium+, medium rep range), Flies (light weight, higher rep).
You see? Most often you would be doing this anyway, but stacking all on the same day. Take the exact same exercises, and now they are spread over a week on a Heavy/Light/Medium rotation.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-27-2014, 12:38 PM
*2 on the diet. I ran into a ton of issues with lifting that didn't resolve until my diet was squared away.
What are your overall goals? What are you trying to accomplish right now?
Also, consider taking baking soda as a prework out supplement. Take a spoonful and drop it onto your tongue, down with a full glass of water. Be forewarned, it's nasty. Wait about 30-60 minutes for it to sink in. Don't eat this on an empty stomach though or else you'll get the runs.
Doing this will lower your blood PH and make the "burn" go away. The lactic acid build up will be reduced because of the massive amount of the buffering agent in your blood.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-27-2014, 02:24 PM
Looks like others have said it already, it's called DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Typical from either squats or newb gainz..just power through it and eat a shit ton of protein.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-27-2014, 02:39 PM
Yes, diet is key. But, key issue of the OP was dealing with extreme soreness (DOMS).
- Before turning 30, the "power through it and you will be fine" approach seemed to work fine.
- For several years after 30 it was a search for something different. The traditional split routine was became unmanageable for a number of reasons (recovery only being one issue).
- I have since learned that it gets harder to use a traditional split routine that "Blitzes" one muscle group followed by a long rest period.
- I finally listened to someone older that taught me that "blitzing" is harder as you get older, and switched to full body
- If I were still in my 20s and someone told me this I would've (and probably did) call them crazy because I was able to get such extreme results with a split routine and good diet.
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Weight Lifting Recovery Time - the after I'm fine, the next day I'm unable to lift
02-28-2014, 10:24 AM
Eat some more white rice and sweet potatoes post workout while still staying paleo.
Do your aerobic with your heart rate between 135-145 hbm this way you burn all fat and no muscle.