Overworking and recovery time

[Broncosfan]

Hey guy, I'm new so sorry if this is the wrong forum.

people are always telliing me about overworking and the importance of recovery time but never get into specifics.

for example, what is the minimum and maximum recovery time required for a workout consisting of:

8 sets bench press
3 sets of squats
3 sets of shoulder press
3 sets of curls

I wanna workout as much as possible but I notice when i don't for 2 or 3 days i feel it working good.

thanks

[smitty4]

Just curious...why 8 sets of bench and 3 sets of squats? I would tend to reverse that. You are doing 3 sets for your lower body and 14 sets for your upper body.

I think everyone's recovery time varies. As I get older, my body needs a little more time to recover. That or I have had success with reducing the volume. If you have found a sweet spot where you are still making gains and seem to feel strong, go with it!

[Broncosfan]

Hey dude,

Thanks for the reply, I guess I could had sets to the squats, but in terms of bench I feel im doing the max i can.

When you say recovery time varies, do you have an example eg minimum 2 days maximum 4 days.

thanks bro

[smitty4]

For one thing, it varies from person to person. Some folks just recover faster than others. For example, older lifters tend to need more time to recover. I know I used to recover faster when I was younger.

The other factor is the volume of your workouts. Assuming that you are not doing a high reps on each set, you are not doing a ton of volume. To me, that would mean you could work out more frequently than someone who does marathon workouts with tons of sets and reps. I would think you could use a 2 day recovery time.

On a side note, I would tend to do fewer benches and more legs to balance things out. After all, your legs are half of your body...yet you are only devoting 18% of your sets to working them.

[Broncosfan]

I guess I can add a few sets to my squats.

As for the bench... well i am doing maximum reps for each set on the bench so i guess that could be a factor. I am 19 though so maybe i recover quicker than someone in their 40's.

once again thanks for the advice bro

[Matt76]

I only workout 2times a week now that I started my new position. I work 10hrs a day walking around with a laptop all night in steel toe boots. It gets pretty damn tiring, and I don't even feel like working out

[smitty4]

Man, that would suck dude! I would really miss my workouts. I tore a bicep tendon a while back...well partially tore it...there are still a few threads left...so I was out of commission for my workouts for about 6 months or so. I get cranky and irritable when I don't work out so my family and friends were happy when I got back in the weight room. Hang in there though. Things usually have a way of working out in the long run.

[chrismortimer66]

I don't know why you are training [goals etc], so I will play it like your a dude who wants to put some mass on and get strong with it.

You can train same workout every time you go the gym, this will mean good gains at first but your will plateau pretty early, or train more conventionaly and have a leg and chest day, shoulders and tricep day, and a back an bicep day. Which ever way you wish to train you will come to sticking point, just higher the reps and lower the weight you use, or vice versa lower the reps and higher the weight.

You should rest 2 days before each workout, as this allows muscle glyogen stores to be fully restored and as well as have them heal. 2 days also allows your CNS[central nervous system] to recuperate.

Sets should be 3 [2heavy, 1 light] not including warmups if needed.
reps should be 6-9 for heavy, 15-20 for light.
Once you have achieved 9 reps with a weight its time to add some more, same with light once you can do 20 easy reps, add a little more to bring you back down to 15.

Try and workout 3 times a week i.e. monday, wednesday and friday.
No more then 75 minutes per workout.
You should be good to go, if start to get concerned with cardio at all, train 30 minutes on non weightlifting days days.