Simple Steps to Make Sure You Get the Most From Multiple Workouts
Realistically you should exercise 3/4 days each week, but the number one rule is: Train smarter, not longer. If you blast your muscles too hard, too frequently, it’ll be impossible for you to recover. If your body can’t recover, your workouts will suffer.
Training your muscles more frequently can help you speed up fat loss, pack on muscle or attain any fitness goal. It’s the reason why many trainers and strength coaches now recommend doing fewer total sets and reps per workout, think three total body workouts per week, rather than performing marathon training sessions for each body part.
Challenging each muscle group more often requires some planning, otherwise, you can easily run yourself into the ground.
1. AVOID SPINAL COMPRESSION
Your body heals itself according to the areas that are the most important. If your spine is compressed from a tough workout, your body will rush to address that structural “damage” first before it starts repairing the muscles you trained. So workouts that cause spinal compression can extend your recovery.
When squatting, don’t try to set a record in each workout. Avoid using weights that are 90 percent of your max or above. Instead, choose a weight you can perform for six reps or less with perfect form and good speed. You’ll also want to be careful to avoid rounding your back during the exercise.
2. PROTECT YOUR JOINTS
If an exercise causes you to feel more sensation in your joints than in your muscles, don’t do it. Muscles are meant to be worked, and they can recover quickly. Connective tissue does not.
3. LISTEN TO MUSCULAR SORENESS
It is essential that you feel your muscles the day after a good workout. But crippling soreness isn’t necessary or even ideal, especially when you’re training each muscle group more frequently.
To keep soreness away, try limiting your reps to eight or fewer and avoiding very slow eccentric movements. Keep the overall volume of each workout at a manageable level. If for every exercise you’re doing 6 to 10 sets of 10 to 20 reps, you’re probably pushing too hard for the training frequency you have in mind.
4. KEEP YOUR NERVE
You’ll probably expect some added muscle soreness when you exercise more frequently. But what you might not expect is that your central nervous system, the master control for your body that sends signals from your brain to your muscles can also become very tired.
You’ll have trouble focusing and you’ll feel a lack of energy. It’s more than having specific muscles feel a little achy. Instead, your entire body will feel stressed.To keep your nervous system fresh, avoid training to failure on each set. You should try to not fire yourself up before sets, acting all crazy before a big lift will only cause excess stimulation that won’t help you move any weight during the actual exercise. Similarly, also shy away from regularly lifting weights that are near your one-rep max.