24-48 Hours: Is It The Best Length Of Time To Wait Between Body Building Exercises?
Saturday, September 25th, 2010Some newcomers in the field of body building tend to be perplexed when it comes to exercise frequency. Some show up at the gym too often, while some do it too infrequently. Exercise frequency should, first and foremost, depend on the speed of recovery of the person. Fitness experts suggest that the best length of time to wait between body building exercises is 24 to 48 hours.
For you to appreciate completely why a recovery period is important, you should know about muscular growth. Lifting weights actually tear down the muscles of your body. The fibers which they’re made of are worn out, bringing about their healing and size increase. Basically, it follows the same principle as to why the skin becomes callous in the presence of repetitive pressure or friction.
It’s after you hit the gym that muscular growth happens, not while you’re lifting weights. After doing body building exercises, soreness and tenderness of the muscles soon take place. Such is a sign that they’ve been torn down, and ready to heal themselves. You should allow them to be completely healed before pumping iron once more. Or else no size increase will happen.
Perhaps you’ve already seen someone who shows no progress despite of being at the gym everyday for weeks already. Most especially true if the same kinds of work out routines are performed daily. The reason behind such is the muscles aren’t allowed complete recovery, so no size increase takes place.
Another advantage of allowing 24 to 48 hours to pass by is to reduce your risk of sustaining an injury. This has something to do with the fibers of the muscles not being able to fully heal. Would you rather wait for a couple of days before pumping iron again, or many months if you sustain a serious muscular injury?
Does this mean you can’t show up at the gym as frequently as daily or every other day? Not exactly. This is when splitting your work out routines takes place. For instance, you work out your upper body on Monday. The following day, Tuesday, you work out your lower body. By following such routine, you’re allowing each muscle group some time to completely recover.
The 24 to 48 hours of waiting period still varies from person to person. There are others who tend to recover faster, so they can hit the gym once more after a day. While there are some that may feel some soreness and tenderness of the muscles even past the 48-hour mark. Knowing your body rhythm is essential. Some may progress from exercising thrice a week, while some may benefit from just once a week of pumping iron.
When you know the best length of time to wait between body building exercises, your fitness progress becomes better. Match up your rest period with quality sleep at night. Your body is flooded with hormones that hasten muscle recovery while sleeping. Also, having a well-balanced diet contributes to faster muscular healing and growth.
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