Exercise frequency question
April 9, 2024 4:28 PM Subscribe
I'm wondering if I exercise twice in one day (10-12 hours in between) will the benefit differ from exercising once a day for two consecutive days? The exercise in question is a vigorous hot yoga flow class, if it matters.
Recent MeFi posts lead me to believe exercise can safely be done every other day, so 4-5 days a week ;)
posted by ixipkcams at 9:51 PM on April 9 [5 favorites]
posted by ixipkcams at 9:51 PM on April 9 [5 favorites]
Reading up on the relationship between anabolism and catabolism might help you here. In very general terms, exercise is catabolic, it breaks things down and recovery is anabolic - it builds them up again during recovery time. This is especially the case with things like high intensity interval training which are deliberately set up to be more heavily catabolic but over a duration sufficiently short not to boost cortisol. Your vigorous hot yoga flow class sounds like it might fall into that latter category; at least in part.
In your specific question you talk about vigorous exercise with an interval of either 12 or 48 hours. The logic above says that the longer spacing will give you more benefit. That does not preclude doing some much lighter exercises - more stretches than heart rate boosters, in between.
posted by rongorongo at 1:02 AM on April 10 [1 favorite]
In your specific question you talk about vigorous exercise with an interval of either 12 or 48 hours. The logic above says that the longer spacing will give you more benefit. That does not preclude doing some much lighter exercises - more stretches than heart rate boosters, in between.
posted by rongorongo at 1:02 AM on April 10 [1 favorite]
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You asked if there would be a difference between practicing once every day versus every other day, and I would say that yes, the outcome will be different. Never underestimate the value of sleep as a healing agent. That being said, presuming that you remain within an appropriate range of volume for the work such that the body experiences adaptation before overuse, two practices a day can be great, especially if you give yourself the day off afterwards.
This is all from a purely physical stand point, btw.
Assessing an appropriate volume requires data collection over a multi-week trial, and then scaling from there. Injury sucks and impedes progress.
Who knows? You might even find that you can practice every two days twice a day and then take one day off. Or two one day, one another, day off. The world is your oyster.
Unsolicited note: there’s a lot of benefit to doing a little less more often. And also, there are so many great yoga techniques out there, remember that when you’re looking for more balance.
Happy and safe practicing!
posted by MichaelJoelHall at 5:15 PM on April 9 [1 favorite]