I wish I could workout 7 days a week, but no time for that :(

Get in there bang out your workout HARD and FAST like the old lady prefers it.. Try for under an hour per workout. Remember growth occurs with rest and nutrition. Not from necessarily training more. Like you said its probably even counter effective. I use to feel the same way, I'd feel guilty and shit If I skipped a day or 2 a week. But I realized I wasn't growing like I used. My EGO was the only thing that was huge. I thought I had to go in all time and show up all the little kids and shit . Then I rested and ate well and became pretty fucking lean and strong. Just my honest opinion.

Muscle growth happens during rest. Training tears them down and resting repairs/grows them. How much rest you require depends solely on your diet and training intensity. The average gym goer does not train hard enough to require 3 to 4 days rest per week. If you truly push your muscles to failure then IMO rest days are required. Amount of rest is purely dependent on your training/eating habits.

Yeah I used to do 6 days a week, 2 times a day and never had a problem. I think the biggest thing is just switching up your routine every few weeks, going from low reps, longer rest in between sets to high reps, less rest. I was 19 when I started doing this routine (about 1 year of serious training) and no joke I went from squatting 225 to 405 in about three months.

It would kill my joints and connective tissue, for muscles it is perfectly possible.

I have been working out for over 30yrs and do 7 days a week. gym owner opens up on xmas day for me..i have never overtrained. i have the odd day off for various reasons but normally 7 days 52 weeks a yr..i only exercise one muscle a day so each muscle group gets a full 5 days rest before the next blast. (overtraining is a myth anyway like many myths about the gym)..if ur happy with 7 days a week then stick to it..listen to your body it will say when it needs a rest.

Overtraining is a real culprit indeed for many people. For the majority of us that do not possess the one in a million genetics like the pros do, our bodies take a bit longer to recover. (This is also why we can not grow as quickly and easily, respond to minimal amounts of gear, and have our bodies absorb the vast quantities of food that would be necessary for continued growth year in and year out).

Many people simply make the mistake of thinking that just because the muscle they are going to work in the gym today is not sore and they have energy that everything is good to go. But they fail to realize that recovery isn't just about a muscle group, but rather the CNS and the body as a whole. Everything you do either adds to the CNS health or takes away from it. Rest is good, stress is not. And stress isn't just about the training in the gym. It can be anything. Your job, spouse problems, etc..

Yoga, sounds interesting

I am in gym since 14 years. For excample when I workout chest I do on the next day legs. I try to avoid to train the same muscles on two days in a row. But I know, as you sais, I can not avoid that completly (like chest, trizeps and shoulder). Until now I have no problem and muscle gain. I do also cardio every day after my workout. But only for 20 minutes each day.

You dont make gains from lifting weight, you make gains from recuperating from lifting weight. Recuperation being rest and food. I dont have time to find articles right now but it's scientific fact, at least thats what they teach me and all the other exercise science and physiology majors. You will make better gains from weight training with a few rest days thrown in. By rest I dont necessarilly mean absolutely no exercise though, light cardio or a pickup basketball game or something is ok just nothing that seriously taxes the muscles you broke down before they can heal. Lifting is breaking down muscle not building it up. If you break down muscles every day when will you have time to build the broken down muscles back up effeciently? If you recut a cut every 3 days it will take forever to heal completely if it ever heals at all. Same with muscles though they heal faster than a cut. You may "think" youre working different muscle groups every day but thats impossible because you arent working muscles independently of each other. Chest day doesnt just break down chest it breaks down the tris and anterior delts also for example, so when you have shoulder day 3 days later your breaking down those same delts and tris again and youre body hasnt even had time to recuerate from the earlier session because youve been taxing your system working out every day between. Sooner or later you will end up overtraining. We arent Jay Cutler, we dont do the amount of juice, gh, and slin he does and most of us dont have his grocery budget either. It may get results for a while but in the long run, when it comes to breaking down muscles, working out every day for months on end with no rest day whatsoever is counterproductive.

If you feel like you can train, then train.. as long as you're getting enough food and Sleep in. Sometimes on my "day off" I will still go gym and just do something like cardio or core, If I am going to weight train I take it easy.

I have no rest days. I train 7 days the week since long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8_8phD7AwM
Rich Piana and CT Fletcher say overtraining is a myth. I train 7 days a week. Only time I would take a day off is if I was seriously injured. If you feel like you can train more then train more, fuck what people say about resting. Most important thing is that you're eating enough food and sleeping enough to repair your body so that you continue to build.

I have found the 2 on, 1 off routine works best for me. Although I switch it up often .... I've also had great results with 3 on, 1 off....
Day 1 Chest/Back
Day 2 Legs
Day 3 Shoulders/Arms
Day 4 OFF

Its good to give your body a break. It actually can benefit you for some growth. A good couple days at rest then shocking your body by coming back hard. Good shit.I have been off for a week, which sucks. Not by choice. I had a bad stomach virus. But im gona hit it today like a beast.\

I take maybe 5 days off the entire year. Your body has excellent feedback mechanisms... pain & fatigue. If you feel like you really need a day of rest then take it, otherwise I have had no issues training 7 days a week for many years.

I had hernia surgery 10 years ago. All my friends that went to "regular" surgeons were told to take 3 weeks off from the gym. My doctor said I can resume my activities as soon as I felt ready. Of course my question was "aren't I going to rip something open". His response... "If you feel pain, STOP". Makes total sense.

It shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you are not overworking yourself, getting in enough calories and making sure to take deload weeks in order to give your connective tissue time to repair. Whats your routine like? People can get away with working out twice a day 7 days a week if their routine has intelligent programming in it

Nothing wrong with hitting the gym 7 days a week do I personally do it.. No if I feel over worked or too sore i'll take a day off my workouts look like this Monday- Chest ... Tuesday- Back ... Wen- HIIT Cardio /Biceps an Triceps... Thursday- Legs ... Friday- Shoulders ... Saturday- HIIT Cardio ... Sunday- Off .... An so on but the great thing about that one day off is it doesn't have to be on Sunday can be any day i'm feeling run down always a good idea to let the body have a rest day steroids or no steroids IMO