Workout Frequency
One of the more difficult things to learn when it comes to exercise is what frequency works best for you. Every program out there makes its own recommendations, but these are arbitrary more often than you might think and inappropriate for more people than you probably imagine.
As a stand alone variable, frequency is not all that important. While studies suggest that, early on in your training career, you may get faster results by working out with higher frequency, this effect disappears quickly. In the end, if you are training intensely and consistently, two time a week and four times a week will get you to the same place with only the slightest difference in arrival times.
While this may be comforting (or perhaps disappointing) to learn, it does little to provide guidance on when you are ready to train again. Any blanket recommendations by definition fail to take into account individual difference. Not only do individuals have different rates of systemic recovery, but individual muscle groups belonging to the same person exhibit different recovery rates. Much of this comes down to the composition of the muscle in question. That is, muscles that contain mostly Type 1 fibers tend to recover faster than those high in Type 2 fibers. But training intensity and history are also important, as are lifestyle factors such as stress levels and sleep quality.
So, how can you know whether you are recovered enough for a hard training session? Biofeedback is your best indicator. This is a catch all term for things like your energy level, libido, mood, etc. While training when you don’t feel like it can serve a purpose, the most effective sessions will always be the ones you look forward to doing.
If this approach is not concrete enough for you, though, you can try one or both of these. Get into the habit of measuring your resting heart rate before you get out of bed in the morning. There are plenty of free apps that can do this. Once you have an average/baseline established, you can use this to measure your degree of recovery. If your measurement for the day is 10 bpm or more higher than your average, it’s a solid indication that you could use more recovery and should keep it light that day.
The second method is to get a grip test dynamometer. Over the course of a few days, establish your baseline. Then, testing your recovery is as easy as giving the dynamometer a quick squeeze. If your grip is noticeably weaker than normal, the most productive thing you can do is likely to focus on recovering.
