Some general questions on training

[aoa]

1) Is it better to train 2 hours a day, 3 days a week, or 1 hour a day, 6 days a week?

2) Is it better to train near the time you wake up, or near the time you go to sleep?

3) Is it better to eat before strength training or after (specify what would be the ideal pre and post training meal).

4) Taking whey protein on an empty stomach, and with water and nothing else, is good or bad? will protein be absorved or should I eat something in combination.

5) Is there a law of diminishing returns on training (each additional hour of training gives you a smaller marginal return on performance) and how strong is it? For instance, if an olympic level gymnast trains 40 hours a week, how many hours would it take to have 90% performance, 80%, etc. I train 1 hour a day on average 7 days a week, would it be much better to train 1.5h a day? people have told me that if you train too much you need a personal trainer/ professional guidance or else I will exercise the same muscle groups or stuff like that and not gain strength at all.

[Blairbob]

1. If we are talking about skill training, 6x1 > 3x2. Except that it's hard to put a lot of skill training when it comes to gymnastics, in just one hour. This sort of depends what you are doing. 1h would be about what I need to WU and do strength and conditioning and stretch out before going home...maybe.

2. That depends on you.

3. On the days that I haven't ate enough before gymnastics training, it generally means the workout is pretty crappy or has to be short. I generally eat after training but try to eat 1-2 hours before training and maybe a snack during ( 2-3 hr workouts, don't really need it for a 1hr workout ).

4. Whey protein concentrate only has 1-2g of carbs which is probably not nearly enough to stimulate insulin. Whey protein isolate and other exotic forms of whey protein can have even less. Eat it with a banana or fruit or a small amount of milk. However, dextrose is better than fructose in this regard.

5. The main reason gymnasts train so long is because it's necessary for SKILL training.

A workout that is 1.5hr can get a lot more in than 1hr. A 1hr gymnastics class is next to useless for me and I need 1.5hr preferably at least. I like 2-2.5hrs, but it all depends on how much time I have and how much energy I have in me before besides hydration. Sometimes, I find a 90 minute gymnastics class is fine if I condition at home later.

Balance your movements and you shouldn't need a personal trainer.