Hey there,
Okay, so ideally, I’m in the gym 5x weekly. However, every time I do that, no matter what at about 6 months in - I always manage to tear open some old softball wound or another. I’m finally realizing that ten years of 2 seasons a year was kind of… dumb.
So currently, I’m back in the gym but only going like every other day. Work out day/rest day etc… but I NEED to add another day in - like I N-E-E-D it. Am I being stupid? Or can anyone tell me the best way to add in another day? I was entertaining doing yoga on my rest days - figure I can’t hurt myself doing that lol [hold my beer. xD]
Lmk what you guys think. I miss being an actual athlete 
I could eat whatever I wanted back then lol
You could try home workout videos like Daily Burn or something. They have all kinds of things on there, even “rest day” exercises. at 20 bucks a months its not exactly cheap but you do get a free one month trial.
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I’m a bit proponent of DDPY, it’s a type of Yoga. Run by a former pro wrestler, he’s got a pretty good success rate helping folks lose weight and get in shape.
Worth it, in my opinion.
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I think there are various issues here.
In theory you could go 5x a week to the gym, if you adapt your workout and ensure you take the best care of your body (e.g. do not go all out strength training every day).
Anyhow, looking at your current routine, it is hard to say because you don’t state whether you do a full body workout or for parts. Assuming you do a full body workout you could still add another day; just a different one.
For instance it could be light cardio+abs+stretches + bodypart that you want to work out light (high reps a couple of exercises).
On the other hand, something along the lines of yoga could be great. It is something that many athletes and ex-athletes are currently practicing.
I think the trick is to take it easy on that day, do something you do not usually do; focus on stretching and working your body out in other ways.
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Number one rule is listen to your body. No one can really answer this question but yourself.
If you want more exercise volume I highly recommend incorporating more bodyweight exercises in varying positions. A little easier on your body, give functional strength, and can be used as active recovery depending on how they’re done.
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You guys are great, thanks! I’m going to try these options and see where I’m at.
FWIW, I’m doing 40-60 minutes of cardio (walking quickly) and then free weights. Very basic stuff. So Monday is cardio alone, Weds is Cardio + arms/chest/back and Friday (yay.) Is cardio + legs.
I do less cardio on Fridays since I’m doing legs. I just do like 30 minutes or so but the cool down stretches it to 40 minutes.
My reps are 13-15x3 although, on the third round I’m tempted to go until fail - but I think that’s where I’ve aggravated previous injuries - so I go to 15 if I can and leave it. If I can’t make it, I can’t make it and I’ll rack what I’m using wherever I am between 12&15.
Yoga is ideally what I was looking for; that DDPY looks interesting.
Thanks again!!
I am very guilty of overtraining - it is a real thing. I was a dancer for decades, nearly nonstop my whole life. Around 36, I started running - really a dumb decision on pavement and what I had already done to my body, plus I hated it. Kept that up for 7 years. Now I have done 40 to 80 mins of cardio a day at the gym, many types of HIIT workouts, often on top of gym cardio, and have done yoga and pilates for years whenever I toss it in once or twice a week. The problem is, I do this 7 days a week until an injury benches me. It is a huge disservice to your body and wellbeing to push too hard and is in fact counter productive. You have more success (doesnt matter if its muscle gain, weight loss, weight gain, maintenance - it all has more success) when you have rest days and it equals less injury. I know how irresistible it is to push harder or more days - but it is sincerely PART OF working out to NOT workout a few days. (When I was dancing and part of a performance, sometimes I was dancing 8 hours a day - and we would be ordered to sit out full days even when prepping for performances…and that was with a young body). Every time you get hurt, you cant workout, you are in pain, your recovery is probably only 50% and what you can do for the pain is limited. It isnt worth it - rest instead. I would not count “just yoga” as rest. Yoga is a workout - ever see a yoga practitioner who was overweight or out of shape? Nope. Good luck and thank you for reading if ya did! (youtube has millions of free videos, dont pay for em)
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