Quick question: Is is bad to work out every day? 4 of the days I do weight workouts and on the 3 days I do 300 medium-speed-legs-on-bed situps (6 sets of 50). My question is twofold, I guess: First, should the body have a few days of non-exertion and is there any way to keep the abs cut without having to work them 4-5 days a week? Thanks.
Leo, I suggest you read Ian King’s ab training article. This will help you match your ab volume with your training goals and give you some other exercise ideas. Remember that “cut” abs are largely a result of low bodyfat levels rather than lots of ab training. Your recovery might benefit from taking one or more rest days a week. Try incorporating your ab training into your weight workouts so you can have more days off.
Age, nutrition, life-stress and rest will play a large part in how often you can work out. I put on over 20 pounds of muscle in college working out 2 -3 xs a week on the big exercises, but i also played a lot of basketball, soccer, volley ball and i mountain biked when i could. So there weren’t too many days that went by (except the dead of winter) where i wasn’t doing something. of course I was in college so i could sleep 10 hours a day and i lived in a fraternity house with a fully stocked kitchen so i could eat what i wanted when i wanted. At 30, with a high-stress, 60+ hour a week job, I’d shrivel up like a raisin if i tried to keep up that schedule.