Optimal Workout Schedule

by Jason Diggs

At the outset, many body builders commit the mistake of overloading and overtraining their muscles through daily workout sessions. They are under the impression that the harder they workout every day, the faster and better their body building results would be.

But is this a safe and correct way to build your muscles? You must realize that you need to punctuate your workout sessions with brief periods of rest. Otherwise, your rigorous workouts could have counter effects and force your body not only to burn out the body fat, but also to drain away the lean muscle mass present in your body.

This could be the reason why inspite of doing countless sets of bench presses you are not able to grow your muscles even by an inch. This is the way your body is trying to tell you that it needs highly nutritious diet to replenish the muscle tissues and adequate rest to allow the damaged muscles to repair and recover.

Therefore, instead of going to the gym on all the 7 days of a week, you must workout just 3 times per week and take 2 days of complete rest in between subsequent workouts. Focus on just one part of your body on one day of the week and allow it to rest for the rest of the week, while you shift your focus to workout other parts of your body. Listen to your body and do not exert a muscle too much if it is sore.

It is very vital to stick to optimum timings for your work outs. You can workout early in the morning or in the late afternoon, depending on the temperature and humidity levels. Consider your age and your requirements to define your body building goals and establish a suitable workout schedule to match your fitness goals.

Cultivate the habit of warming up with 5 to 10 minutes of low intensity exercises such as walking or jogging everyday to increase your heartbeat rate and prepare your body for the workout session. You may also consider other forms of low intensity exercises that encourage movement of body parts. This should be followed by exercises for developing muscular strength (weight lifting for 20 minutes, twice per week) and endurance (exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups for 30 minutes, thrice per week).

This should be followed by exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, or skipping to improve your cardio-respiratory endurance. Three sessions of cardio exercises per week, each of 20 minute duration, for improving the cardio-respiratory endurance should be sufficient.

You must follow your cardio exercises with about 10 minutes of static stretching exercises for improved flexibility of your muscles and cooling down exercises such as slow walking or slow jogging to bring back your heart beat to resting rate and to flush out the toxins and wastes (from the cells) that are produced during a workout session.

About the Author:

Personal trainer/bodybuilder, Jason Diggs, gives quality, non-biased reviews on the nets top ” how to build muscle ” instructional programs. His highest rating goes to muscle gain truth, a highly acclaimed, all-inclusive bodybuilding package.