Which is best?!?!?!

[ATAC]

I've always been taught that you should lift every other day to allow time for your muscles to rest or whatever they do. What I want to know though, is does this principle apply to excercises like sit-ups and push ups?!?!?!?!

I know people that do these daily and want to know which is more effective. Daily or every other day?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :)

[prana]

yes, muscles need time to recover to a stronger state.

its the super compensation that makes you stronger, not the working out time... in simple terms

[IronFist]

Welcome to KFO, ATAC,

I've always been taught that you should lift every other day to allow time for your muscles to rest or whatever they do.

It depends on the type of workout. Some call for lifting every day. For example, there's a program where you deadlift 5 days a week. There's another program where you squat 4 times a week, two of which are back to back days.

By the same token, many bodybuilding type programs leave you rather sore after a workout and require 1, 2, 3, maybe even more days of rest before you can work that same muscle group again.

The general rule is don't work a muscle until it has healed from the previous workout. There are exceptions to this rule, but they only come in to play a) if you're not new to lifting and b) if you absolutely know what you're doing and why. So, if you bench press on Monday, and your chest is still sore until Thursday, then don't work your chest again until Friday. You can work other muscle groups in the meantime, however.

What I want to know though, is does this principle apply to excercises like sit-ups and push ups?!?!?!?!

For sit-ups and pushups, follow how your body feels. If you do a ton of pushups one day and hurt like hell the next day, don't do any more pushups until the pain is gone.

I know people that do these daily and want to know which is more effective. Daily or every other day?

It depends. If your max is 50 pushups, you could probably do 3 sets of 20 every day. If your max is 50 and you do 3 sets of 45, you will probably be sore the next day.

What are your goals?

IronFist

[ATAC]

Originally posted by IronFist
Welcome to KFO, ATAC,

What are your goals?

IronFist

Thanks, I love the site already. I've only been studying Kung Fu for 6 months now and loving every minute of it.
My goals are basically to increase speed and endurance, I've done weight training before so strength isn't my main concern.

Thanks again for the welcome. :) :cool:

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by ATAC


I've done weight training before so strength isn't my main concern.



Not sure what you mean by that - are you saying you know how to weight train, or that since you've weight trained before, you don't need to now?

[ATAC]

What I meant was that I'm happy with my strength due to weight training but what I want to focus on now is developing speed and endurance.