Lifting once a week worth it? page

[teach2183]

I only have time to lift weights once a week. DH is gone 6:30-6 M-F and I work in the evenings. I'm wondering if lifting Sat or Sun is worth it until I can lift more frequently when the weather is better (weights are in the garage). I play soccer W/Th so that's my sprinting. I have a 2.5 and 4.5 yo that I'm home all day with and will be chasing at the park again once the snow melts.

Will lifting once a week help me to work on body recomp and lose the extra weight around my middle? Or should I just wait until I can get in at least twice a week?

[bloodorchid]

Of course youll still make gains in strength and muscle til you can get more workouts in

in other words, go for it

[pace2race]

Of course youll still make gains in strength and muscle til you can get more workouts in

in other words, go for it

+ 1. You could also add a second day of body weight exercises at home when you can spare 5-10 minutes. Starting out, you can get gains by just doing it.

[Nigel]

I only have time to lift weights once a week.

Lift heavy, lift slow, lift in good form. It should only take about 10-15 minutes to get a good workout. Find your maximum lift and go to about 80% of that, you're not likely to hurt yourself and will probably only manage 2-8 reps until exhaustion. If you can do more reps, up the weight a bit until you're back down to two or three. According to the Body by Science folk it takes 5-15 days for your body to build new muscle so a week between bouts could be just the ticket. If you don't improve after seven days, try dropping back to 14 days between sessions and see if that makes the difference. Apparently it takes roughly four weeks before muscle mass starts to be lost so 14 days between workouts should not be a problem unless you're in a hurry.

[teach2183]

Lift heavy, lift slow, lift in good form. It should only take about 10-15 minutes to get a good workout. Find your maximum lift and go to about 80% of that, you're not likely to hurt yourself and will probably only manage 2-8 reps until exhaustion. If you can do more reps, up the weight a bit until you're back down to two or three. According to the Body by Science folk it takes 5-15 days for your body to build new muscle so a week between bouts could be just the ticket. If you don't improve after seven days, try dropping back to 14 days between sessions and see if that makes the difference. Apparently it takes roughly four weeks before muscle mass starts to be lost so 14 days between workouts should not be a problem unless you're in a hurry.

Interesting. I've been doing 3 sets of 5 for squat, bench, and lat pull down with 1 set of 5 for deadlift.

I'm not just starting out, but recently am having trouble with fitting in the lifting. I've done the body weight stuff but other than push-ups need a lot of reps to make it challenging so then it takes too long.
Last week I did
Deadlift - 155lbs
Squat - 125lbs
Bench - 105lbs
Lat Pull - 75lbs

I've been trying to add some each week but just feel like I'm hitting a wall so was thinking the problem was only lifting once a week.

[arthurb999]

Absolutely. Do a heavy total body destruction 1x a week or do an upper/lower body split sat/sun. I'd say add in a home workout in the middle of the week (using bodyweight stuff, yoga dvd, resistance bands, etc).

[sbhikes]

I think so long as you can keep adding weight to the bar you are making progress.

[seaweed]

i only go to the gym once a week as i live a ways out of town. it definitely works. i have made really good strength gains and also body recomp. my muscles are way more defined. i do walk alot the rest of the time over hills and gnarly terrain but i always have. i also dont really do any other stuff like body weight work outs inbetween. so yes. go for it but just make sure you go real hard when you are there.

[Kochin]

Definitely worth it.

Try and supplement it with other activity, though. Like if you're doing any light activity about the house or walking somewhere just throw a bag of weights on your back.

[Greenbeast]

i'm back with my personal trainer and i'll be lifting once every 4-6 weeks, even that is enough