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pic: Do exercise routines have to use a 7-day week?
Sounds like a silly question, right? I mean, a “real” week is 7 days, so shouldn’t our routines be based on “reality”?
Actually, after years of lifting and running, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that in many cases, our bodies don’t care about “real weeks”. Our bodies care about the balance between stimulation and recovery.
The goal for every serious fitness buff is to kick your own butt just enough to get progress, but not too much that your body can’t recover. This applies to lifting weights, running, skiing, biking, etc.
Why 7?
So we’re all stuck on “x days per week” and we assume that a week means 7 days. (And to be fair, it usually does mean 7 days.)
But what if the key to getting in the right amount of work means you have to shift your paradigm from 7 days a week to something different…?
What about a 6-day week?
What about an 8-day week? (Please, no Beatle quotes…)
In my newest lifting program, Hypertrofreak, I include two different programs.
And guess what? I’m using an 8-day week.
I have you working out 6 days a week, but there are 8 days in my week. That means you are getting 2 recovery days each cycle.
Here’s a cut and paste from part of the program:
Day 1 = Day 1
Day 2 = Day 2
Day 3 = Day 3
Day 4 = recovery
Day 5 = Day 5
Day 6 = Day 6
Day 7 = Day 7
Day 8 = recovery
Day 9 = Day 1
Day 10 = Day 2
Day 11 = Day 3
Day 12 = recovery
Day 13 = Day 5
Day 14 = Day 6
Day 15 = Day 7
Day 16 = recovery
At first, this is hard to get your head around and can be a little confusing. But if you learned to tie your own shoes, then you can learn this.
I’m also experimenting right now with The 6×6x6 Routine to see if 6 days or 7 or 8 make the most sense. I’ll share the results in a couple months.
Now if you are a beginner or newbie, then don’t worry about how many days are in a week. You are just starting out and you just need to get into a regular habit – the good old “x days per week” has worked for centuries so you don’t need to get complicated!
But for more advanced lifters, where progress is harder and harder to continue, you really should think about this concept.
In fact, one of my “idols”, Tom Venuto, uses a 6 day training week. He lifts two days on, one day off, two days on, one day off. Now, he’s a superstar natural lifter and he’s had years to experiment on himself as well as hundreds of serious lifters he’s trained. You can learn more about Tom and his great book here.
What About Cardio?
I’m assuming that most of you reading this consider lifting as your primary fitness activity, with cardio secondary. But some of you might be training for a marathon or some other non-lifting event. Are you assuming a 7-day week? If yes, then why? What improvements to your routine could you gain by moving to a 6- or 8-day week? I could make an argument that if you are serious about your non-lifting sport, but are also trying to work in lifting to prevent muscle loss, then it’s even more important to consider a different week definition. For example, you might want to do this:
Run, Lift, off, Run, Lift, off - a 6 day week
or
Run, Run, Lift, off, Run, Run, Lift, off – an 8 day week
The possibilities are endless if you give up on the concept that a week must be 7 days.
Have You Tried An Atypical “Week”?
If you have used a non-7-day week successfully, please share your story below!
Oh, and did you know you can get an RSS notice each time someone adds something to the free discussion forum? Subscribe to that via http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/forum/?xfeed .
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January 19th, 2010 at 10:34 am
If my family’s schedule didn’t have any deviations from the norm, and each week was a “normal” week, I’d do a 7-day plan just because it fit the schedule. Alas, a “normal” week is hardly normal… My wife and I are settling into a routine where we lift 2 or 3 times a week and run most of the rest of the days. She’s more likely to take a day off than I am. I think any attempt at a more rigid schedule will have to wait another six years when both boys are in college…
January 19th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
I’ve used a variety of non-standard week workouts, the trick is to not worry about what day it is. Of course this is easier if you have the flexibility to workout any day of the week and are not restricted as many are by business, social or personal commitments. In my case I use a five body part split routine, lifting three days for every one off. Since five is not a multiple of three, it provides automatic variation on which body parts are worked when: beginning, middle or end of a three day group. The variation is nice, there is no set routine, even though the overall program is highly structured.