If You Work Out Less You Get Stronger Faster

I know it seems counter-intuitive but I've found that more days between workouts is more effective than working out the same muscle group every other or even every third day. Our company provides us with memberships to Billings Athletic Club and I've been taking advantage. But some days I go in and cannot lift the same amount of weight that I did even just a few days before. That's always puzzled me.

Well I had to fly to California to take care of some family issues and didn't work out for 6 days. I gained a couple of pounds back unfortunately BUT all of a sudden I found that my arms and legs are stronger and the only reason I can figure is that I hadn't worked either muscle group for over a week. Now I'm no fitness expert but I started reading up and found that many fitness experts recommend up to a week before working out the same muscle group again. Check out this article from Livestrong.com that recommends a full week before working the same muscles... particularly the larger muscles such as pecs.

I'm not planning to become a body builder anytime soon but I'm tired of having a gut and my feet get sore due to the extra weight I've carried for the last 10-15 years. So far I've lost 13 pounds in the last month and now that I've learned the secret of REST I'm getting stronger. Maybe at 50 I can be fitter and healthier than I've been in years. Now if only I can avoid the beer and cheese soup at Jake's I'll be on my way!