When does it become counterproductive?

M

MarkMyWords

2
Hi all,

I have a quick question. In my lifting travels, I think I have come a long way. I used to get sore as heck, just doing 3 FBWs a week, very simple ones. Now I know that soreness is not the greatest indicator, but it's really all I can go off of.

Lately, I've been lifting 4 FBWs a week, usually doing like Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, or Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat...

I'm always dying to get back into the gym after the day off. And frankly, sometimes I feel like I should just go, even if it means a third straight day. Today would be an example. I went Sunday and yesterday, and today I want to go back and do some other stuff...lunges since I did squats and DLs, pullups since I did rows, facepulls, etc...you get my drift.

I eat well, feel fine, get 7-7.5 hours of sleep, work a desk job. Should I take the rest/recovery time very seriously and give my body a day to rebuild and rest? Or should I just keep at it, without hampering results?

Anybody have any relating thoughts to this or experience?
 
Are you asking if you should add a 5th day of full body workout? Nothing wrong with that as long as you can recover and don't burn out on it.
I must say ,though, that just because you feel ready now to go for 5 days a week (with 3 days in a row), doesn't mean you will feel ready for it when you have done it for 3 weeks :p But the only way to know is to try.

How does your program look now?
 
Karky said:
Are you asking if you should add a 5th day of full body workout? Nothing wrong with that as long as you can recover and don't burn out on it.
I must say ,though, that just because you feel ready now to go for 5 days a week (with 3 days in a row), doesn't mean you will feel ready for it when you have done it for 3 weeks :p But the only way to know is to try.

How does your program look now?
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I guess that's sorta what I'm asking. I'm just asking more in general, is it okay to go multiple days in a row, or will that stunt muscle growth and end up hurting my lifts?

I feel you though, I might feel fine doing 3 in a rows for awhile, then by week 4, might be a wreck. Hmmm, couldn't hurt to try.

I don't have a set program (I know some people cringe when they see those words) but what I do works.

Basically, every time I go in, I do either squats, DLs, or lunges. I pick one, do one of the variations, and hit it hard, in differing set/rep ranges. I follow with a push, pull, push, pull, then sometimes core or iso stuff elsewhere. Sometimes if I'm short on time, I just do like DLs, a push, then a pull.

I have been making great gains, I just draw from all the lifts...the presses for example...incline DB/BB press, decline BB/DB press, flat DB/BB press, OH press, dips, flys, Arnold press, etc...

The one thing I make sure of is to check my numbers from the last time I did a specific lift, and do my damnest to progress. Has worked great so far.
 
MarkMyWords said:
I guess that's sorta what I'm asking. I'm just asking more in general, is it okay to go multiple days in a row, or will that stunt muscle growth and end up hurting my lifts?

I feel you though, I might feel fine doing 3 in a rows for awhile, then by week 4, might be a wreck. Hmmm, couldn't hurt to try.

I don't have a set program (I know some people cringe when they see those words) but what I do works.

Basically, every time I go in, I do either squats, DLs, or lunges. I pick one, do one of the variations, and hit it hard, in differing set/rep ranges. I follow with a push, pull, push, pull, then sometimes core or iso stuff elsewhere. Sometimes if I'm short on time, I just do like DLs, a push, then a pull.

I have been making great gains, I just draw from all the lifts...the presses for example...incline DB/BB press, decline BB/DB press, flat DB/BB press, OH press, dips, flys, Arnold press, etc...

The one thing I make sure of is to check my numbers from the last time I did a specific lift, and do my damnest to progress. Has worked great so far.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great system, I did something similar once, it's cool as long as you have an idea of what you need to do (big compounds, pushing and pulling for upper body, etc) and don't get stuck with doing the same imbalanced workouts, like only working the pecs, etc, like you see in so many beginners.

If you're making great gains with what you are doing now, it's always a tough choise whether to change it or not to. Sometimes you think that changing it will be for the better, but then when you change it, progress stopps, you then try going back, but it doesn't work anymore, which sucks. But then again, it could work and you could get even better gains, you're just gonna have to ask yourself if it is a chanse you are willing to take.
 
Kraken said:
If its not broke don't fix it.
Click to expand...

Words to live by, I can't deny that.

Karky said:
Sounds like a great system, I did something similar once, it's cool as long as you have an idea of what you need to do (big compounds, pushing and pulling for upper body, etc) and don't get stuck with doing the same imbalanced workouts, like only working the pecs, etc, like you see in so many beginners.

If you're making great gains with what you are doing now, it's always a tough choise whether to change it or not to. Sometimes you think that changing it will be for the better, but then when you change it, progress stopps, you then try going back, but it doesn't work anymore, which sucks. But then again, it could work and you could get even better gains, you're just gonna have to ask yourself if it is a chanse you are willing to take.
Click to expand...

Yeah man, it has been a great system. I never do imbalanced workouts, I follow the push/pull system religiously, always doing big compounds.

I really don't want to stop my progress, as it has been wonderful. I would hate to screw up what I have been doing, and go backwards or just stall out. Aghhh, I just don't know. I feel like I could go in today and bust out some good stuff, but my body might hate me for it.
 
You could maybe do some cardio? Something that won't really interfere much with your muscle and neural recovery, so no sprinting or anything like that, but some SS cardio, some GPP work, etc. But then again, you never know what will mess up the system.

IMO, if you're having great gains now, don't screw with it, a generally good rule of thumb is to wait with changing your program until progress slows down or stalls completely
 
I've considered going and just doing some running, but then I always back down cause I feel like it's just a waste to go, or it might just use up too much energy and stall my progress.

Well, I suppose I won't screw with anything, least until I stop having good gains. And even then, I usually add in another 100-200 cals and the gains start right back up.
 
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