Q: I've been following your advice on designing a strengthtraining program but am still confused about how much exercise is appropriate and how much is too much. I really want to lose weight as quickly as possible so I have been training every day. Any suggestions?

A: A healthy body is one that gets appropriate amounts of exercise, but at the same time also gets enough rest. The amount of rest between workouts is directly related to the amount of progress you will make as you train.

Individual differences and variations in the intensity used while weight training make it impossible to determine with complete accuracy how much time should elapse between workouts for each person. Allow too much rest and you could potentially lose progress, while too little and you risk overtraining.

A good rule of thumb is to allow a minimum of 36 to 48 hours of rest before working the same muscle group again. The greater the intensity, the more time you should allow. If you find that you are still sore from your previous workout, give yourself extra time. Remember that it is during the rest phase of your training that your body actually grows stronger, not while you are lifting.

Most people become aware gradually over time that they may be overtraining. Signs can include poor overall exercise performance, decrease in strength, feeling burned out, fatigued, chronic soreness, difficulty sleeping and mood swings. Other things to consider:

• Allow four to six weeks of conditioning if you are just starting out, paying attention to form and technique over the amount of weight you are lifting. You can start by doing one exercise of eight-12 reps for each major muscle group (abs, legs, back, chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps).

After this time you should be ready for two or three sets of each exercise and one or two exercises per major muscle, and begin working different muscle groups on different days. An example might be to train upper body one day, lower body the next and so on.

• Try doing more sets for the larger muscle groups (legs, chest and back) than smaller ones. The smaller muscles of the shoulders, biceps and triceps are strengthened indirectly as they assist the larger muscles being worked. Doing too many sets can leave them too weak to fully assist larger muscle groups during your next workout.

The exact number of repetitions that you do varies depending on what you are trying to accomplish. Low repetition sets (one to five) with very heavy weights (85 to 100 percent of one "rep max" — the maximum weight that you can lift one time) helps to develop great strength. However, this type of lifting is inappropriate and dangerous unless you have many months of consistent weight lifting experience under your belt.
Marjie Gilliam is an International
Sports Sciences Master certified
personal trainer and fitness consultant.
E-mail:
marjie@ohtrainer.com. Her Web
site is www.ohtrainer.com.