A lot of the time, when people start something new, or start to enjoy something they have been doing, they begin to think that more is always better. The same is true with fitness and working out. It is tempting to think that if you can make good progress working out once each day, that perhaps working out two times every day will provide even more benefit. So, is this true?
TLDR: Lifting weights twice per day is almost always a bad idea unless you are an advanced lifter who also happens to be using performance enhancing drugs. *Using steroids does help with recovery, but it is not something we advocate or endorse.
Adding in extra conditioning session on some days can be great, but only when recovery is monitored closely, and performance is tracked to ensure you recover properly and overtraining doesn’t start hindering progress.
The main point to remember is that you don’t grow while lifting weights, you grow from the recovery process after lifting weights. While you need to provide the stimulus for growth, you also have to provide ample time for your body to recover. By opting to add extra sessions, whether that be per day or per week, you have to ensure you have the ability to also recover from those sessions or you will start doing more harm than good. This is almost always easy enough to do when you limit your sessions to 3-6 days per week, but it will become nearly impossible when you start adding multiple sessions per day.
The question becomes a bit more complicated when it comes to adding extra cardio sessions because they can vary significantly in intensity. As a general rule of thumb, adding in extra conditioning is a great idea even when it means doing multiple workouts on the same day. Bodyweight conditioning workouts are great for heart health and are easier to recover from than lifting weights. As always, it is always best to track your workouts and progress to ensure you are recovering properly. If you are making steady progress and are feeling good, then you are most likely on the right track.
We recommend lifting weights for an hour 3-5 days per week and adding at least three days per week of conditioning. For most of the population, these numbers will be plenty to ensure growth while also not risking overtraining. The conditioning can be done on different days than the lifting sessions or on the same days, whichever works best for you and your schedule. Adding multiple lifting sessions on the same day is almost always something we recommend against and will most likely hurt you progress more than help it.
