Nerds picking up heavy things then putting them down again

[Mark]

I'd argue for something closer to three days (anywhere from 2 to 4) over six if you're doing free weights especially. The latter basically means you won't be recovered by your next workout, unless you're deliberately doing less intense lifting - which can work if muscle gain is secondary to fat loss and aerobic health for ya.

I tried four and five days a week and it was way too much for me. Hell, even on three days a week, there are still days on which I'm not fully recovered - I have to go easy on monday, hard-ish on wednesday, and hard on friday, which gives me sufficient recovery time. Granted I've also got the RSI in one arm and I am an old man.

I read a study which said that lifting twice a week gives about 90% of the gains of twice a week (which makes sense given how muscles have a finite capacity for rebuilding), so if I were working I'd probably slip down to that. Three days a week sort of means that if I DO miss a workout, though (which, cross wood, I haven't done yet this year) I'm slipping down to twice and not just one in a week.

I haven't had any issues with being too wiped out to exercise, but then again I'm only doing like 45 minutes to an hour per session, so I'm not murdering myself in the process. From what I've read, only 24-48 hours of resting is actually required for muscle recovery, anything more is excessive unless you're nursing an injury or something. That said, do you have a link to that study? I'd be interested to know what they found and compare to the other stuff I've read. Also, it's worth noting that I only work the same muscle groups twice per week, it's just split into pushing, pulling, and legs.