Steve200+

I'd really like to hear input on this...

From what I've been told, you train a muscle group and rest it for an equal period, day on, day off, perhaps two if you're struggling. BUT.

The ballet lot (yes, I've been to have a look ) teach a totally different idea. Now this bloke *has* to be in his 50's, and has a grace of movement that's frankly incredible.

He reckons you should exercise muscles every day, even if they hurt like fook. This, to a certain extent, is reinforced with the kickboxing/muay thai training I do.

Bearing in mind I should know more about this, given the length of time I've been involved with it, but don't, who's correct, if anyone?

DaveMCMkIII

Depends upon training status (i.e how often you train ush) type of exercise and the intensityof it. For example weight training you cannot do everyday in my opinion as your muscles require time to recover so they can repair the microdamage caused. In relation to endurance based training, you still should have one day off atleast, which shouldnt be a prob if you train twice a day as thats enough even for an elite athlete. If you dont have adequate rest you'll delve into the realms of over training, or as its more correctly called 'unexplained underperformance syndrome'. Then you can begin to have upper respiratory tract infections, additional illness due to effects on the immune system and a much greater risk of injury.

You cannot simply apply this in genenral terms, its purely dependant upon what I stated at the start, and any increasess in training load, intensity or frrequency, should be done so steadily and periodically. In my opinion one of the main reasons UK athletes get injuried so much is due to overtraining, dean macey even said he overtrains when he was at the commonweatlh games so god knows who his strength and conditioning coach is

Rs1

iTrader: (1)

As DaveMCMKIII says the microfibre tears need time to heal so stressing them out to max each and every day can only result in injury. Maybe a day after a hard session you could try and easy one?? More so just to loosen you up and get the blood flowing to the area which has been stressed the previous day.

Steve200+

This explains a *hell* of a lot, thanks guys

I took a massive dive downhill last year when I was training hard, for no reason, suddenly struggled to do even twenty press-ups for about 2 months, like someone had flicked a switch off, naturally lost willpower for a bit, and came back up again. Could that be your 'unexplained underperformance syndrome' Dave?

I'll try and do that Rs, hard day, easy day, sounds like a plan

I'm gonna have to get some more books I think

DaveMCMkIII

Yes Steve, the reason for this term being used now is that people who experience tiredness or decreases in strength say 'oh thats due to overtraining'. But actually, a number of psychological factors can cause this effect, along with infections and poor nutrition. Therefore, the term over training cant be used as it is not broad enough to include the additional variables above. I have a journal arctivle explaining all this in great detail, you may find it veryheavy going as it discusses the possible underlying mechanisms (e.g. IL-6) but you may find it of interest. If you want it pm me your email address. Ive got a bleeding exam on all of this in 3 weeks

Steve200+

Heavygoing is my middle name Dave

Seriously though, I'd love to have a look, like learning new things