Maintaining fitness for whole body workout

[Jami]

When I was young a person was "fit" if they could run or jog. This didn't involve a lot of muscle groups but it was good for heart, lungs, and those muscles engaged. Today's whole body workouts find a slew of new muscles I didn't even know existed. After my second wole body workout at the gym I am mightily sore. My question is ... once I get those muscles strengthened ... how often must they be worked to maintain fitness? Could I start doing that workout once a week for maintenance? Or will I need more frequent training (such as 3 times a week) to stay strong? This is a question of both time and money. I can walk and jog for free but that kind of workout is something I pay for and requires travel time to the gym. What long term benefits do you see for a whole body workout? Since I'm so sore today, I am obviously weighing cost vs. benefit to exercise muscles I apparently must rarely use.

[runnergirl318]

Hi Jami~

As you strength train you will increase lean muscle mass which will burn calories more efficiently. The more toned your muscles are the easier it is to maintain a healthy weight. As far as how much time and effort  it will take after you've built muscle to keep it--- I can't say for sure but it will defintitely need to be maintained or it will go away.  There are plenty of workouts you can do at home without fancy equipment to maintain.  Dumbells are relatively inexpensive and body weight exercises don't require any equip at all. Hope I helped a little bit.

[Jami]

Yes, thanks for your feedback, it's helpful! I can tell you feel strength training is worthwhile.

Right now I want to be strong enough to just get through the workout but that's not very motivating, long term. All I have to do is quit the class and the motivation is gone. If strengthening all those muscles results in overall greater health, flexibility, and strength to live my daily life, and a broader range of ability to do things I enjoy without injury, THEN it would be worth it to keep those otherwise forgotten muscles in shape.

[Nick17]

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends strength training two or 3 times a week.  If you are doing full body workouts, it's recommended that you rest at least 48 hours in between workouts to allow your muscles to recover fully.  If time is an issue, you can do a pretty brief workout of one set per bodypart to maintain strength, as well as increase lean muscle.

[Jami]

Thanks for your feedback, and support from a medical community. I found some additional incentives for a woman my age  - to protect bone density, reduce injury, improve balance, and improve blood sugar and lipid measures. I've always been oriented toward cardio ... and very reluctant toward strength and flexibility. Thanks for advocating for well-rounded health.

[laf982]

Try kettlebells, they are awesome! Kettlebells will give you an all over body work out along with cardio. You can complete a routine in 30 minutes and it is a great work out if you are limited on space. Kettlebells can run you about $20 + for one kettlebell, but I would begin with a 10 lb. kettlebell and work your way up. Try Target, the Reebok brand is okay for starting out. It is also very important you learn how to properly use the kettlebells. I suggest maybe look into a local MMA Ju Jitsu school, they may have classes or your local gym. Give it a try, I bet you will get hooked and have fun!  : )

[JenniLacey]

No you will not have to train more often, the recommendations for strength training are 2-3x a week for full body routines. This is because in order to increase strength/muscle mass, your muscles need opportunity to heal. When you workout, you create micro tears in the muscle fibers. It's when these muscle fibers heal that you become stronger/increase mass. They need to be rested at least 48 hours before training them again. This applies to beginners, intermediates and advanced trainers.

The only thing that will change is your routine and the amount of weight/resistance you use to continue to progressively overload your muscles to encourage more strength/muscle increases or rather, continue to challenge the muscles.

The soreness indeed, is brutal at first. You probably did too much too soon and did plenty of things your body isn't used to. However, the longer you train the less sore you'll be. You may still experience minimal soreness if you take a week off or change the exercises you perform but it shouldn't be anything like your first couple weeks unless you overdo it.

As far as maintaining... you just eventually reach a point where strength/muscle increases are extremely slow or you plateau. You'll have two options at this point, either eat more and gain weight to increase strength/muscle gain or continue doing what you're doing and just change up your routine every 6-8 weeks. You'll naturally maintain/plateau without a calorie surplus and weight gain.

[Jami]

Laf - I will look into the kettleballs and other home workouts with weights, something I can keep up without a lot of expense or travel. Thanks for the tips on which products to buy. Jenni, lots of good info on strength training in your post, a special thank you to you. Wikipedia gave a description of "delayed onset muscle soreness" that described my symptoms to a "T" which said it came from eccentric (as opposed to concentric) muscle movement. In other words I was using weights to stretch muscles instead of contract them. A contraction involves something like an arm curl, but a stretch involves something like dropping the weights to my ankles combined with a deep lunge. I think. I am not sure which moves were eccentric but Wikipedia says contraction exercises won't cause delayed onset muscle soreness. Anyway I am looking forward to the next class, but 72 hours later I am not ready to take it on again. Maybe two more days of recovery!

[Mary]

What class was it?  I'm just curious because I've done lots of strength training but never have experienced the soreness I get from a Body Pump class.  It only happens the first few classes, though.  Next time use lighter weights, or don't hesitate to put the weights down entirely for things like squats and lunges where your body weight is plenty.  That class 'reps you' to death.  Don't feel like an hour long class is needed.  You can accomplish the same in half the time, if you lift heavy but with less reps.  And yes, you can do it at home and kettlebells are a terrific way (though I'd start heavier than 10lbs.)  For terrific free info including on what to buy, check out livefitrevolution.org.  

[Jami]

That's a great way to put it ... "repped to death" ! Thanks for your understanding!

No, it isn't Body Pump but it sounds similar. This one is called Strength Endurance Training (SET).  I used pretty light weights - 2.5 lb for anything that went over the head or straight out to sides, and 7.5 for anything that resembled a curl (but I also used them on those lunges). I have 5 lb. weights I use with a cardio video at home so I thought I was being careful. I was also COLD that day. I never really felt warmed up and had upper thigh cramps even before the workout began. Next time I'm going to wear an extra layer and shed it as my body warms up.

[nelson]

When you start out a good rule of thumb is spend as much time stretching before and after as you spend working out.  Doing too much intiially just makes you miserable, it really does not get you in shape that much faster because you need to rest for longer between workouts. 

When you are in the kind of shape you want to be, a couple moderate workouts for strength traing a week should maintain you.  Assuming you do not want to be a body builder

[clay_mccandless]

I was trained in the Navy that all your muscle fitness that is built up over time, no matter what that time frame is, whether it is just a month or years of training, is going to start to deteriorate in only a matter of 10-14 days of inactivity. Keep at it, but leave time for recovery too.

[gymJUNKIE]

Split your muscle groups up so you get AT LEAST 48 hours rest between resistance training a specific muscle group. For example:

Monday; Back and bi.

Tuesday; Chest and tri.

Wednesday; Shoulders and legs.

Repeat for the second half of the week.

ACSM is slightly outdated - 'strength training x 3 days per week' is a broad concept. The frequency and intensity of your training will depict the dosage and days per week.

For strength training, complete 2-6 reps of your 1RM - x 3 sets.

For hypertrophy training, complete 6-12 reps of your 1RM - x 3 sets.

For muscle endurance training, complete +15 reps of your 1RM - 3 to 5 sets.