How Often Should I Train?

This is a pretty good question, and one that I often ask myself. I go to Karate every night from Tuesday to Friday, and I lift weights/run/cycle on a daily basis. I wonder if I'm working myself too hard?!

HIIT Training

For all you HIIT-lovers out there, the secret to safe training is to do it just twice a week per muscle group (chest, arms, legs, etc.). Why is this? Basically, you're giving your muscles time to rest and recover after the high intensity sessions you're pushing yourself through. Those high intensity exercises are causing micro-tears in your muscles, which take up to 72 hours to repair. If you were to push your body every day or every 2 days, you'd end up with injured muscles.

That doesn't mean that you can't do some HIIT every day. Some people prefer to split their workouts into three days:

• Day 1 - Upper Body
• Day 2 - Lower Body
• Day 3 - Aerobics/Core

If you follow this schedule, you'll give your body enough time to recover. On Day 7 - Sunday - it's time to take a day off for some hardcore stretching. Your muscles will thank you.

Bodybuilding

For bodybuilders, there are two ways to train safely:

3-Day Split

This is ideal for those that want to really shred those muscles and pay special attention to their body.

• Day 1 - Back and Chest
• Day 2 - Shoulders, Triceps, and Biceps
• Day 3 - Quads, Hamstrings, and Traps

In these days, you'll have to add forearm, calf, and core workouts spread throughout.

2-Day Split

This is ideal for those who want to do a more general workout, without ripping up those muscles quite as hard (endurance/stamina training).

• Day 1 - Chest, Back, and Arms
• Day 2 - Shoulders, legs, and traps

Once again, intersperse core, forearm, and calf workouts throughout however you want.   With these schedules, you can avoid pushing your muscles too hard, and still get that sick workout that you know you need!