When I work out should I do it constantly?!
Question: Im only in 7th grade and i want to stay in shape, my dad says I should take a day off after working out. Is that true? Or should I push myself?
Answers: Im only in 7th grade and i want to stay in shape, my dad says I should take a day off after working out. Is that true? Or should I push myself?
It's complicated.
You have to learn to listen to your body and your Dad is partially right.
Cardio you can do pretty much daily but make sure to take a break when your body gets tired. I tend to do cardio daily with every Sunday off. When I get that tired blah feeling I take an extra day off so I can stay dedicated and focused.
When it comes to weight training, you need to take a day off to rest and rebuild/repair muscle in between, particularly since you are so young. You should also try and so a different body area when you work out. See a below example...as you get older and do better with your workouts (and get better at listening whenyourbody is tired) then you can find what works for you.
Good luck and keep it up. Always remember to drink tons of water and stretch before and after each workout.
Monday: legs and butt
Tuesday: Cardio (long slow day: walking, bike or something not to stressful on the legs. Enough to loosen themup but not stress them out.)
Wednesday: Upper body biceps/triceps, maybe shoulders if your up to it, if not do them Friday
Thursday: Cardio (high intensity: jump rope, run, do intervals)
Friday: Abs, back, shoulders (if you didn't do them Wed)
Sat: Cardio, since your young, try and make it something with your friends...swimming, skating, skiing, hiking or challenge each other to sprint races or a game of football, volleyball, tag or basketball. If it's nasty weather you can try indoor challenges for each other or go to the library and grab a workout tape to try...the old Jane Fonda ta[pes can be a lot of fun. The music, hair an outfits are hysterical!
Sunday: Rest or do light cardio again.
You have to find waht works for you and work up to something more intense so you don't get injuries. Muscle soreness is normal...ongoing pain while exercising is not. As lame as it sounds, if you keep a training log, it will benefit you in thelong run. You can record weight, exercises and repititions and track what weights you use so you can see progress. I actually recorded how I felt on certain days and it really helped me (after about 3 months) figure out that I can push myself working out 6 days a week for 3 weeks and then I need almost a week off to recouperate. It will help you stay in tune but ultimately you have to find your own way because what works for me maynot work for you...
...sounds like your Dad is supportive and that is fantastic...
Yeah you are supposed to have resting days for your muscle to grow. Make sure to get in water, and protein after you workout to replinish and help build muscle.
At ur age working out every other day is right.
You gain muscle when you work out because microscopic tears form in your muscle. Then your body repairs them, making your muscles bigger. A day rest, at ur age, would provide this time for ur muscles to repair
yes, most definately. Your body needs time to recover, especially at that age. When you "work out" depending on exactly what you do, you are actually "breaking" the muscle down...the off time or recovery time is when your body builds itself back up..so in essense, you will see a "swell" while you are working out, but this is only temporary..you won't see the real results until after you body repairs itself.
Cardio can be done all the time, but hard work outs and weight lifting should be done a max of 3 times a week for your age and should incompass a basic total body routine (strength training)...as you get older and more exerienced with weight lifting (in a year or two), then you can start to work out more frequently and doing a rotation method (i.e. Monday is bicep and back day, all "pulling" muscles, tuesday is chest and tricep day, all "pushing" muscles, and wendsday is leg day...etc...).. as you get more experienced with weight lifting also you can start doing muscle building exercises, things that target specific areas of your body that you feel are underdeveloped.
BUT FOR NOW... keep it simple, give your body plenty of time to recover, eat a healthy well balanced diet, drink lots of clear liquids, and get plenty of sleep and you will be just fine.
both above answers are good too!