Can I Workout Daily

[Jordan Garcia]

I do upper body work on rings every week on Monday' Wednesday' and Friday but I know that Olympic gymnasts workout daily. Can I train my upper body daily? If so in what exercises (static positions or dynamic movements)?

[Daniel Burnham]

An Olympic gymnast and any other high level athlete will have a vastly different schedule from the average fitness enthusiast. It is not optimal to get no rest from strength work. For gymnasts strength work is only one part of the puzzle. Routine practice and skill work make up a large portion of their workout.

In short don't try to do everyday because Olympians do. It will wear you down. It is possible to build up to more volume but do it slowly and methodically. If you need to ask how to do it then you probably aren't ready for it.

[Joshua Slocum]

After recovering from a workout, your body becomes slightly stronger than it was before the workout. This is called overcompensation. If you work out before you've recovered, you aren't reaping the full benefits of overcompensation, and you'll get stronger slower. For beginners, it's best to stick to 2-3 days a week; MWF is good. When you get to the point where you've mastered the FSP's and have a few "real" static holds under your belt, then you can start thinking about adding in another day of working out. Beforehand, it's so easy to progress that there really isn't much need to work out more than 3 times a week. If you think you need to do more strength work during the week, you could consider adding more exercises to your routine, or increasing the intensity or volume of your current exercises. You can accomplish a lot with training only three days a week. 

[ADRIANO FLORES CANO]

HS work daily, flexibility (dinamic, static, PNF), mobility (Floreios, Martial Arts, Animal Flow, Boxing), prehab/rehab, Olylifts, swimming, sprints, etc etc. There are many many forms of movement; strenght it's not the only thing to do; in fact, strenght without mobility it reduces to nothing. Keep in mind.

[Jordan Garcia]

What is an FSP?

[Martin Hodges]

What is an FSP?

Fundamental Static Position. 

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/9386-wod-acronyms/

[emos]

I do upper body work on rings every week on Monday' Wednesday' and Friday but I know that Olympic gymnasts workout daily. Can I train my upper body daily? If so in what exercises (static positions or dynamic movements)?

 

It's very unlikely, but you never know. Start on a gentler schedule and gradually add work until you feel like you can't recover from any more, then back off slightly.

[andiswf]

I would NOT recommand real ring strength training more than twice a week! (like cross, maltese, maybe planche.. whatever puts a lot of stress on your body/tendons)

your body will not adept as fast as the muscle!

 

However, you can do basic / core stregth (over time) every day, when you increase slowly and get used to it!

you can alternate one day with legs, one day with bent arms, one day with straight arms

did I mention daily core strength?!

 

try to get an overview of your daily and weekly training.

check lists help a lot!

remember to give a periodic rest to your body.

 

and dont forget to stretch out after workouts and do other things for (active) regeneration.

also important for more possible workouts is sleep.. and food/water..

last but not least: dont forget the "rehab"stuff!

[Connor Davies]

I would actually highly recommend working out daily.  Not an intense strength workout everyday, or you would have to cope with CNS fatigue, muscle breakdown and tendon strains, which would probably make you weaker and maybe even give up altogether.

 

But some light work, abolutely!  For example 50 pushups everyday probably wouldn't wear you down too much, but over time would strengthen your tendons, stabiliser muscles, neuromuscular efficiency patterns and build endurance and work capacity.

 

Some people run every day, some people do yoga or pilates, a lot of combat athletes train the core everyday, even bodybuilders kiiiinda strength train nearly every day.  I've heard it recommended to work on things like hollow/arch position, handstands, bar hangs, support holds and the like every day.

 

If it helps, think of it as something seperate to your main workout.  Something relatively easy, you can do it without any real strain, which doesn't affect your main workout.....  I've hear of crazy guys doing 1000+ pushups a day, so easy is relative.

 

And if it starts interfering with your main (strength) workout, stop.

[seiyafan]

Speaking of training everyday, a co-worker of mine who used to be an acrobat in China told me that in his childhood training was conducted every day and it was extremely brutal. The first thing he does after waking up each morning is a 60 minutes free standing handstand, he does it in a group with other young acrobats, no one is allowed to come down during the entire hour, once that's done everyone can go back and have their morning routines and breakfast meal. Years later he went on to win gold in a group program in an International acrobatic competition, and his specialty wasn't even in hand balancing.  His specialty was climbing things. His admitted to me that his puling strength was greater than pushing strength. 

 

While I would never train myself like that, it gives me the inspiration to push myself harder on occasions. 

 

By the way, he told me kids these days trained for acrobats hardly do handstand over 20 minutes, the system is much more relaxed now compared to decades ago. 

[acrobatlegend]

You can do whatever you want... as long as you are getting the results you want. There really are no rules.

 

That being said, there are a lot of resources on this site and many others that can give you schedules that have worked for other people.

 

In the end, you have to test things for yourself. Actually try working out every single day for an entire month. Don't skip a single day and don't cheat. Then at the end of the month evaluate how much progress you have made. If it's working, keep doing it. If it is not, then try something else. 

 

You really have to test things out for yourself. But as most people will tell you, working out every single day is harder than it sounds! But don't let that stop you. Test it out for yourself and then you will know for sure. 

[Daniel Burnham]

In the end, you have to test things for yourself. Actually try working out every single day for an entire month. Don't skip a single day and don't cheat. Then at the end of the month evaluate how much progress you have made. If it's working, keep doing it. If it is not, then try something else. 

I wouldn't try this.  Everyone needs rest. Like I said olympic gymnasts are not only doing strength daily and have light days occasionally to recuperate.  Everyone needs to periodize their workout in someway and rest.  Otherwise you will just burn out either mentally for physically whichever gets you first.  Working out everyday a week is hard enough.  Not getting an off day for a whole month would destroy someone, especially if they haven't been building themselves up for years and have great genetics and nutrition. 

 

I remember moving from 4 days to 6  a week.  That was killer and it took me about a month to catch up. I still only do strength a max of 5 days a week and don't plan on going up.