Tue, Apr-12-05, 17:43
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Senior Member
Posts: 255
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Plan: Protein Power/6WBM
Stats: 181.5/139/129
BF:55%/27.5%/22%
Progress: 81%
Location: Chicago area
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You should never work the same muscle group heavily two days in a row. The reason is that when you work a muscle, you create microscopic tears in the muscle fiber. The muscle says, "Boy, if he/she is going to do that again, I'd better get stronger!" So it repairs itself on the microscopic level. (That pain you feel the day AFTER you work out, by the way, is actually the rebuilding process going on - cool, huh?) Having said that, I think it depends on whether you work the muscle to the point of exhaustion, called "muscle failure." If you do, then DON'T work the same muscle group for 48 hours. If you don't work the muscle to the point of failure (i.e., you're not using heavy weights, you can complete the reps easily while still maintaining perfect form and have lots of muscle strength left), then it probably won't hurt too much to do the same workout every day. But you also won't get the same improvement that you're looking for because your muscles easily learn to adapt to what you ask of them. By cross training with different exercises or tapes, you create what is called "muscle confusion," which results in MUCH faster gains in strength/toning/fitness than doing the same workout over and over.
Hope this helps!
Michelle
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