Posted on: May 01, 2016Motivation, TrainingHow Many Times A Week
The biggest question that comes up with people looking to get into shape is how many times of the week they should go to the gym? If someone has better than average results, do you need to work out all the time to look like them or is less more?
People often question commitment because they want to know the level of commitment it takes to have a physique that’s truly admirable.
You might be concerned with working out too much or not enough at all. When do you finally get into an “overtrained” state and when are you undertraining?
These are all legitimate questions to ask as we all know people who go to the gym religiously yet make very little progress in spite of all the time devoted to their workouts.
How do we know what’s the right amount of training that perfect for each and every different person?
Factors That Affect Your Recovery
Do we really recover a lot slower when we’re older?
Well it actually goes to show that older adults have a more difficult time recovering from their workouts in comparison to their younger counterparts. The study also shows that these adults have just as much of an ability to recover with once a week as they can by working out twice a week.
Slower recovery periods after the age of 30 is understandable as this is the time period when our levels of growth hormone begin to gradually decrease.
Here’s a quick look at some other factors that affects how fast we’re able to get back into the gym:
Stress: Stress is basically defined as the brain resources being overloaded with tasks that conflict and clash with each other. This can be as simple as being stressed from multitasking too many things at the same time or even having to deal with an urgent unexpected crises that demands your attention when you’re already busy. What we do know with stress is that it creates hormonal responses to help relieve the flight or flight response in our bodies. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone that responsible for aiding with this and also prevents your body from properly rebuilding muscle. This makes it more difficult for your body to repair itself and can more likely leave you in an overtrained state that will make your performance decline with time.
Sleep: Everyone knows the less sleep you get per night, the more tired and irritable you feel the next day. The quick solution that most rely on is a fix of caffeine from coffee or another kind of stimulant to stay awake and remain focused. Caffeine, however, cannot make up the hours of sleep necessary to repair your muscles to grow bigger and stronger, especially during the most important phase of sleep known as the REM cycle.
Diet & Nutrition: Your body is composed of more than 70% of water which is necessary for carrying out basic life functions and at optimal levels. Your lean muscle mass is made up of mostly dense muscle fibers that are constantly being sloughed off and replaced by the amount of protein you eat daily. The amount of muscle breakdown and repair is determined by your nitrogen balance. A negative nitrogen balance will result in muscle loss rather than muscle gain. If you’re not drinking at least a gallon of water daily or consuming a proper amount of protein in your diet as a regular weightlifter you’re shortchanging yourself and your workout recovery will show this.
The Wrap Up
There are a number of factors that impact recovery times outside the gym, age being the main culprit. Men over the age of 30 produce less hormones that aid in muscle repair and rejuvenation. The other factors that affect your recovery times are poor stress management, lack of quality of sleep, and lackadaisical dieting and nutrition habits. If your recovery is taking too long between workouts, isolate one of these variables before you consult a professional trainer to help you out.
