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I generally lift every 3-4 days, and run when I get the energy. My lifting routine says to lift every other day, but I've never felt good doing this, and like I said, I throw in running as well.

I took a week off of lifting. When I went back to the gym I had incredible energy. I lifted more than I have in a long time on lifts I normally do, and threw in a few new lifts for fun.

Could this heightened energy after a longer rest be an indication that I should be working out less frequently? Or, for maximum gains, should I stick to every 3 days anyway?

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  • This might provide you some useful insight to your question. Sleep plays a vital role in muscle recovery and body repair. If you get less than 7 hours of sleep, your body is on a sleep deficit and has trouble physically restoring your body. For example, if you sleep less than 7 hours you will see about a 30% decrease in lung capacity the following day. My experience running with asthma after good sleep and bad sleep includes a huge increase in my ability to run. I can run double the distance without incident. On bad days I stop because of my lungs. youtube.com/watch?v=pwaWilO_Pig – Craig May 9 '19 at 15:27
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We can't really tell you why you had an abundance of energy on any given day. Could be because you'd been resting for a while, it could be because you ate the right things the day before, or because you finished a stressful task at work, or any other reason.

Could this heightened energy after a longer rest be an indication that I should be working out less frequently?

I'm not sure I see the logic here. Are you saying that feeling good tells you you shouldn't work out? If I feel heightened energy, all I want to do is use that energy productively and go train.

Or, for maximum gains, should I stick to every 3 days anyway?

For maximum gains, you should work out more often than every 3 days, with or without "heightened energy". As a rule of thumb, we like to say that you should hit the entire body at least twice a week. Whether that means doing 2-3 full body routines every week, or any other reasonable split, is up to you.

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  • Every two days regardless of my body's recovery time, diet, and any other number of factors? I have trouble adding weight every two days, especially on legs (because I run, partially). I doubt the two-day-rule is universal. – HH- Apologize to Carole Baskin May 4 '19 at 20:21
  • Yeah, no rule is universal. Naturally, if you're fatigued all the time, you should lay off a bit, but this was not the case here. But this is exactly the point. There is no universal rule to answer your question, because we don't know why you're feeling energetic, we don't know your current state or what your goals are, we don't know how your diet looks, or if you have any pre-existing injuries. – Alec♦ May 4 '19 at 21:03
  • appreciate all the info – HH- Apologize to Carole Baskin May 4 '19 at 21:06

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