How many hours apart do you have to wait before repeating the same workout

[TryingToGetInShape]

I plan on working out twice a day to shed body fat and was wondering how many hours do I need to wait before repeating the workout. I was going to start at 5:15am and then again at 4:30pm. Is that more then enough time?

[GG300]

If you are seriously working out a muscle you should be giving it a full 24 to 48 hour rest. If you want to work out twice a day I would suggest doing a HIIT session in the morning and alternating between a upper and lower body lifting session in the afternoon. I am sure some more knowledgeable folks here will give you some more technical ideas as well.

[rgv]

Originally Posted by GG300

If you are seriously working out a muscle you should be giving it a full 24 to 48 hour rest. If you want to work out twice a day I would suggest doing a HIIT session in the morning and alternating between a upper and lower body lifting session in the afternoon. I am sure some more knowledgeable folks here will give you some more technical ideas as well.

Definitely true for lifting. Your muscles only grow during rest periods, more time at the gym won't help them. Now if you're doing lifting in the afternoon and cardio in the morning (like GG suggested). I'd still be cautious about over training it but its doable.

[Lost Dog]

You really shouldn't repeat that workout again for days, not hours. And, at a minimum, you should have two workouts that you alternate between.

Why do you have just one workout?

You should look into a fat loss weightlifting plan, like Metobolism Advantage, New Rules of Lifting, Turbulence Training, etc.

[laxcdn]

I wouldn't repeat the same workout twice in one day. But you can do 2 workouts in a day. There are a few on t-nation that do that, one of them is Chad's. They usually do an upper in the am and lower in the pm or break the body up for the am pm. I am/was doing 2 workouts in a day. HIIT in the am and bw in the pm (but I have a broken collarbone or I would be doing weights). Give it a try and see how you feel after doing the 2 workouts.

[TryingToGetInShape]

Ok thanks for all your help. I will be honest with you I am 5'9 250lbs and was thinking about doing Phase 1 of HGM twice a day then repeat it later on in the afternoon. I know what your thinking that the workout is very tuff and believe me I know that but when you are desperate to lose weight you will do what ever it takes. I use to be in great shape in college and I want my body back I'm tired of eating and looking like shit. So should I try a upper/lower body split instead and just switch back and fourth? My workout can look something like this.

Monday-Chest & Back(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Tuesday-Legs & Abs(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Wednesday-Shoulders & Arms(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Repeat over on Th, F, and Sa.

[laxcdn]

This is my workout (may not work for everyone)

M-F
Am
HIIT on exercise bike

PM
10 minutes exercise bike
bw exercises (because of broken collarbone I do bw now)

Weekends some cardio or HIIT

Before the broken collar bone I was doing AM HIIT and weights 3-5x week in the PM with cardio on the weekends. I also cut the diet to 60% protien, 25% fat and 15 % carbs and lost 17lbs in 6 weeks and I am 6'1" 177lbs now. People said that what I was doing wasn't right, but it worked for me so try things and see how it works for you.

When I first started to lose from 237 I ran walked/jogged 2x day 6-7 days a week and did weights for 60 minutes 4x day. I lost 55lbs in a year that way, 30 in the first 5 months. I looked skinny with not much muscle, but I cholestoral was down and I didn't have the big belly anymore. I then bulked up to 205 and then cut back to 195. In Oct I started the above diet/exercise plan and weigh 177. Try your workout and see how it goes, adjust as needed and keep the diet steady.

[GG300]

I will be honest with you I am 5'9 250lbs and was thinking about doing Phase 1 of HGM twice a day then repeat it later on in the afternoon. I know what your thinking that the workout is very tuff and believe me I know that but when you are desperate to lose weight you will do what ever it takes.

That all sounds great but if you burn out before you meet your goals or don't make permanent changes than no matter what you started out doing it will be wasted. As I was told a number of times "you didn't get out of shape overnight" so don't expect to get back in shape that quickly either. If you make it a long term commitment to a good program you will see the results you are looking for.

[Lost Dog]

Go ahead and do HGM Phase 1, but just once. Do some cardio as your other workout, if you feel you have to.

I think you're setting yourself up for failure. You can't keep up that pace for long, and then what happens?

At your height and weight, diet and the "normal" amount of exercise should cover it.

What's normal? Normal is the amount that you feel you can realistically keep up for the long term. There are times that we all feel like doing more. Do it, but don't rely on it.

It's good that you know that lifting will do a good job helping you shed the fat, but lifting twice won't do much more than once. In fact, you won't recover to workout hard enough again in a day or so.

A fat loss program should incorporate good nutrition, lifting, interval cardio and/or steady state cardio.

[JoshDunn]

Feel free to lift twice a day however you need to do a program that is incorporating the fact that you are doing twice a day sessions.

Pop over to www.t-nation.com and find chad waterburys high frequency training and that article will show you how to do it by incorporating recovery techniques.

The workouts are great too and with that extra activity you will be able to lose weight nicely. Just don't cut calories too low as you need lots of fuel to train this way.

[JoshDunn]

Answering your question I would say about 8hours.

[McCarley]

Originally Posted by GG300

"you didn't get out of shape overnight"

True words! The bad news is, you've let yourself go for too long. The good news is, it takes less time to get into shape than it does to fall out of shape. There is no magic pill - it's gonna take some time to undo the damage. You can't lift 24/7 to get the results you want but you can channel your time and effort into your diet.

[James Newman]

I prefer to take a day before repeating a workout. I am fond of the standard MWF A-B split and M/Tue/Thur/Saturday as well....

Newman

[bipennate]

More exercise isn't always the answer...as some of the others have mentioned, weight loss is diet-driven, exercise steered. More is not always better, and it can sometimes be worse. The "standard" M-W-F workouts with 2-3 cardio sessions on the off days should be more than enough to help you lose weight and gain strength.

Trust the process and be patient with it...if you're doing the right things, then the right things will happen for you. Best of luck!

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by TryingToGetInShape

Ok thanks for all your help. I will be honest with you I am 5'9 250lbs and was thinking about doing Phase 1 of HGM twice a day then repeat it later on in the afternoon. I know what your thinking that the workout is very tuff and believe me I know that but when you are desperate to lose weight you will do what ever it takes. I use to be in great shape in college and I want my body back I'm tired of eating and looking like shit. So should I try a upper/lower body split instead and just switch back and fourth? My workout can look something like this.

Monday-Chest & Back(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Tuesday-Legs & Abs(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Wednesday-Shoulders & Arms(Morning) Cardio(Afternoon)
Repeat over on Th, F, and Sa.

Perhaps you can fill us in a bit more on your cardio...

- how long ( i.e minutes ) is a typical session ?

- do you do the same type of cardio each day ( i.e run, bike, row etc. ) ?

- what is the intensity of a session like ? ( i.e HIIT, LSD )

You'd said you are " desperate to lose weight ".

I assume that, therefore, fat loss is your #1 goal behind gaining strength or / or adding muscle mass ?

However, it seems you are allocating your time equally to actvities to achieve both goals.

[Adam425]

"More exercise isn't always the answer...as some of the others have mentioned, weight loss is diet-driven, exercise steered. More is not always better, and it can sometimes be worse. The "standard" M-W-F workouts with 2-3 cardio sessions on the off days should be more than enough to help you lose weight and gain strength."

I agree.

Let me add that six months ago when I decided to get back into shape at 30 years old, 6' and 225 #'s, I started working out twice a day. The same workout ten to twelve times a week. It worked great because anything works great when you first start working out. I had to read half a dozen books that all said "STOP WORKING OUT SO OFTEN" before it got through my thick skull.

I'm having much more success now working out 4 or 5 times a week and varying my workout every single time.

The bottom line is that for most of us, lifting more than 4 hours or so a week means that we would just trade intensity for volume. To create the greatest metabolic and neuroendocrine response, it's more important to lift at maximal intensity than to lift more often.

Good luck! And congratulations on your commitment to getting in shape!

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Adam425

The bottom line is that for most of us, lifting more than 4 hours or so a week means that we would just trade intensity for volume. To create the greatest metabolic and neuroendocrine response, it's more important to lift at maximal intensity than to lift more often.

Well said.