Some trainers think you should NOT train when you are sore.
Here's an example...
Back in the 70's Arthur Jones, inventor of Nautilus machines, believed in doing one set to failure.
Then he would give plenty of time for that muscle to heal, before training it again.
Full breakdown and full recovery.
This is known as HIT (High Intensity Training).
In 80's muscle magazines I remember reading about Mike Mentzer.
He was the first competitive body builder to use this one set to failure technique.
I read the his original book, "Heavy Duty", but didn't test out his workout.
In 1996, he released Heavy Duty II.
Current Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates was using this one set method at that time.
ALL Mr. Olympia competitors use steroids.
I do think they get way too big.
But...
He made pretty big improvements doing using this HIT (one set to failure) method.
HIT was a radical approach to training.
The stronger you got in a lift and the more intense you were able to train, the more rest you would take in between workouts.
It eventually got to the point where I was doing ONLY 1 workout every 9 days!
My workouts were making me sore for 7-8 days at a time.
This workout did help me add muscle and get stronger, but I also got slightly chubby (training every 9 days isn't ideal for staying lean).
It really did take 9 days to sense no signs of being sore.
I'm convinced that you can train your body to recover faster or slower... depending on how much time you give it to repair.
You have probably heard of Parkinson’s Law:
"Work expands to fill the time available for its completion."
So the more time you have to complete a task, the longer it will take to complete it.
I don't think muscle recovery is exactly like this, but I fully believe you coax your body into adapting and recovering at a faster rate.
How quickly can you recover from a workout?
I would say with most programs, you can typically train your body to recover quickly enough to train each muscle group 2 times per week.
A simple workout plan to do this would be.
- Mon: Upper Body
- Tues: Lower Body
- Wed: Cardio and Abs
- Thu: Upper Body
- Fri: Lower Body
I'm not saying this is an ideal split.
Just wanted to show an example.
You can also teach your body to recover faster than this example.
If you dial down the intensity a bit and reduce the volume of your workouts...
Something interesting happens.
You are able to train each muscle group daily.
This is the opposite of Arthur Jones HIT method I discussed earlier.
This course is for Intermediate to Advanced lifters only.
By increasing the frequency of your workouts, your body becomes firm and defined all over.
The workouts are short but since you are training often, getting lean becomes easier as well.
It works with just about any gym setup and traditional free weight or machine exercises.
This is a fun routine and probably different than any other program you have tried.
P.S.
When you first begin training a muscle daily, it is possible that muscle feels a little stiff or sore.
It is fine to train that muscle again (as long as it isn't blitzed).
Your body is designed to adapt to a stimulus.
By training a little before you feel 100% recovered, the body eventually adapts by simply recovering at a faster rate.
It is pretty cool if you have never experienced this.
