Re: How often should i do pushups and squats?

In misc.fitness.weights Jim Janney <jjanney@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> frolib@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 writes:

>> Hello. How often should I do pushups and squats? I'm a thin guy; I
>> don't intend to lose weight. I don't want to use equipment, I need
>> calisthenic exercises I can do anywhere. I want to do them to ward
>> against stiffness, and also to keep a toned body without getting
>> bulked up. Should I do them: twice a day, once a day, every other
>> day?
>>
>> I also intend to the do bicycle crunches. How often should I do
>> these?

> You can do bodyweight exercises every day if you like.  The reason is
> that after you get strong enough to do ten to twenty repetitions
> you're primarily training endurance rather than strength.  Strength
> training generally requires more recovery time than endurance
> training.

Unless like me you're no longer young and start doing that from a
position of long term unfitness and only at first able to a very few
of the exercise. I did that, and developed muscular strength so much
faster than tendon and joint strength that by the time I'd got up to
ten I'd seriously knackered joints and tendons. It took me over a year
to recover. As a result of that experience I'd advise not doing any
the next day if it hurts a bit, and waiting until the soreness has
gone before resuming the exercise.

I now do them nearly every day without problems, but it took a long
time to get up to that level of robustness in all the musculature
tendons and joints involved.

-- 
Chris Malcolm