"Chris Malcolm" <cam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:6olj4oF49cqaU2@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 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.
There are other approaches which I advocate - use a moderately heavy
weight and don't do high reps. The addition of muscle tension,
especially in people who don't have a high skill level in a particular
movement, can actually make it safer - the muscle tension will tight up
the joints. I know this might sound counterintuitive but don't assume
that your year got you stronger connective tissue - it may simply be
that your skill at performing the exercise improved so that the load
actually goes where it's supposed to.
For example, a 5-rep set with a 10-rep max will, IMHO, work a lot better
for more people new to lifting than will a high rep daily calesthenics
routine. The right amount of resistance can effectively enforce good
form.
-S-
http://www.kbnj.com
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