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I would like to know how many days should muscles rest before I have another workout with that muscle group?

At the moment I am going to gym 3 times a week and on each day I have exercises for different muscle groups. However I feel like week of rest is too much and would like to know the minimum as well as suggested rest period.

Thanks in advance.

Martin Tale
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  • A similar question was asked. – Freakyuser Aug 16 '13 at 11:13
  • Another question that might help in answering the problem: Importance of Rest Days. – Baarn Aug 16 '13 at 12:18
  • If you are interested in doing a bodybuilding-styled split, but want to hit the same muscles twice a week, Layne Norton's PHAT (http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html) and similar routines do that. Alternatively you could switch to a full-body workout 3 times a week such as StrongLifts 5x5. – Tristan Aug 16 '13 at 21:15

2 Answers2

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The amount of rest that your muscles (in general or one specifically) need to rest after a workout depends on your eating and sleeping habits during the recovery period, level of training ability, as well as the intensity of the workout. That is to say, there is no answer to your query, or more precisely, there are many answers and all of them are correct in different circumstances.

If you're new to lifting and you lift heavy, one or two days of rest is a fine approach. If you're very new and using moderate weights, you might be able to get away with no rest between lifting days, but this is tough to keep going for a substantial period of time. Experienced lifters are also sometimes able to train every day, using careful modulation of training load and diligent recovery efforts. Some lifters split the body into components, so that they can work their upper body on one day and their lower body the next, each one resting while the other half works. As you see, there is no simple answer.

Dave Liepmann
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Doing a 5-day split with different muscle groups being exercised each day compared to a 3-day split where one works out the entire body makes little difference in terms of muscle building in the long term. Naturally, this applies to the non-professional who is not on a elite level where the slightest detail can make or brake the winning of a competition.

If what you are saying, assuming I am reading it correctly, you are splitting your entire body on 3-days which is too little to make significant improvements. you will need to have either a 5-day or 3-day split. Many programs doing this can be found online, i.e THT5.2 Program

Petter
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