Is Lifting Weights Every Day Bad for You?

Weight training does have a lot of advantages including better developed muscles and bones, well toned and shaped bodies, improved stamina, strength, and endurance.

Now, how could this habit of lifting weights each day be bad for us? Should there be intervals of rest between our weightlifting routines every day? Or should you lift weights daily for best results?

As stated previously, the benefits of weight training are numerous, and as weightlifting is being recommended for everyone from obese teens to women, everyone seems to be doing some form of weight training and reaping its rich rewards.

Now "why not me?", you say, and get on to the gym or at home, lifting weights every day of the week, pushing yourself, working hard, toiling away, till your body starts to ache.

"There's no gain without pain", you might think - and continue your workout, only to give up after a few days, totally exhausted and with aches in every possible corner of your body. Does this story sound familiar? Well, this is what usually happens when you overexercise.

Although exercising is definitely good for you, intense exercises like lifting weights have to be done more carefully and with sound knowledge.

Lifting weights each day is bad for you when you start pushing too hard and using more weights than you can carry. Always, follow the weightlifting routine determined by your personal trainer or use only whatever weight capacity you can carry until you have successfully completed all your sets without straining yourself.

If you sense pain towards the end of the sets, you should probably go a little lighter and then move back up. This will help you to slowly develop your strength without any serious injury, thus actually helping you work out more.

Daily weightlifting routines should help you get into shape, but if you are using wrong techniques, you are not going to be getting good results any time soon. On the contrary, you might be at a risk of developing an injury. Most often, it is the back that can be injured if your technique is wrong, although other body parts can also be at risk.

This is especially true when you are doing heavy weightlifting or have progressed to slightly heavier weights. For such cases, a day of rest, in between the day of workout is recommended as this helps in muscle building.

If you are working out on alternate body parts over the week, this may not necessarily apply, provided, you do not exercise one body part more than three times in one week. If you are older, this should be two times a week. If you want to lose weight, then you should perform some cardiovascular exercises every alternate day to help burn fat easily.

This is the most basic mistake you can make when you start working out. When you lift weights daily, your body needs added energy for all the hard work along with body building materials and nutrients for repairing all the wear and tear that happens while exercising.

So, all the necessary nutrients must be consumed, and all the unnecessary food items avoided, especially junk food.

Anyone, who begins a heavy weight training program, is recommended to first undergo a complete checkup for any health related problems, which could cause complications later on. This does not mean they can never weight train, but it does call for a more cautioned or specialized approach.

Some health problems that might call for a different approach to weightlifting, include, high blood pressure, aneurysms or an enlarged aorta, any other heart disease, bone or joint problems, asthma, and pregnancy. Obtain expert advice from a doctor or certified trainer on this issue before you begin.

Weight training can cause stunted growth, if and only if it is done wrong and without proper supervision. It is generally recommended to avoid heavy weightlifting before puberty is reached and full growth has taken place.

Teenagers could lift light weights every day, and do more reps to increase endurance. Such stamina and endurance building exercises are definitely safe for adolescents or teens, and can be safely done, but again, only after proper knowledge and under expert supervision.

We must remember that lifting weights daily without proper knowledge can be quite detrimental, and that overdoing it can actually do more harm than good. Do continue working out, and if you haven't started, please do, but remember to always be informed.