Do you train the same set of muscles every day? It can be disastrous

Maybe you are conscious about your thick thighs or eagerly want to get your back into better shape as soon as possible – does that mean you should train them every day in the gym? Nope, you can’t and you shouldn’t.
Training the same set of muscles can go horribly wrong and leave you with severe injuries. Fitness experts as well as doctors warn against it.
“Training the same muscles over and over again can lead to injuries or increased soreness. Muscles need time to recover and rest. After a good workout, you should give your muscles at least 24 to 48 hours to recover so that they get repaired well, and your performance will increase,” says Abhishek Singh, a Raipur-based fitness coach.
Recovery plays an important role in hypertrophy, which is the process of muscle growth.
“Recovery allows for neuromuscular adaptations, which enhances the communication between one’s nervous system and muscles, improving coordination and overall performance. Allowing time for muscle recovery also increases the density of Actin and Myosin filaments within muscle fibres, which enhances contractility or strength,” says Dr Prasad Bhagunde, orthopaedic and arthroscopy surgeon, Saifee Hospital and Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai.

Experts suggest giving your muscles at least 24 to 48 hours to recover from a good workout. (Photo: Getty)

Robin Nagar, a Delhi-based gym trainer, explains how training the same muscles every day can work against your goals.
“For instance, you train your legs every day; by doing that, you are only breaking down your muscles. During a workout, muscle fibres break down, and it is during rest that they repair and grow. Without proper rest, muscles can become overly fatigued, eventually obstructing recovery. This can lead to injuries and prevent muscle growth (hypertrophy) and strength gains,” Nagar tells India Today.
Now, continuing this pattern without proper recovery can prevent micro-tears in the muscle fibres from healing, leading to chronic fatigue, muscle strain, or even tears.
“Attempting to push through without recovery often results in lowered performance; one may not be able to lift the same weights or complete the same number of reps,” says Dr Bhagunde.
There is also an increased risk of muscle imbalance – a condition where some muscles are strong, but others aren’t. It happens when you focus on only a particular set of muscles or don’t switch up your workout often.
If a daily run is the only form of exercise that you perform, you are not training your other muscles. It is important to train all major muscle groups in the body, to avoid pain and injury risks.

You can develop muscle imbalance if you don’t train all major muscle groups and focus on only one type of workout or a particular set of muscles (Photo: Getty)

People who focus on one particular activity or sport often witness this issue. A study noted that professional soccer players with strength imbalances were four to five times more likely to get a hamstring injury compared to those with no imbalance.
Hence, if you do the same kind of workout every day, it is important to introduce other types of activities as well. And if you are a gym-goer, it is recommended to alternate muscle groups throughout the week to ensure each set receives attention and also gets time to recover.
The risk of muscle fatigue and injury is especially higher with high-intensity training involving bigger muscles like quadriceps (thighs), hamstrings, glutes (buttocks), back muscles, and chest muscles. Big muscles take longer to recover after being worked out, especially when trained intensely with heavy weights or high volume. If not given enough rest, the muscles can become fatigued, lead to poor performance, affect coordination, and increase the risk of overuse injuries.
“Normally, smaller muscles with low intensity can be trained every day like biceps, triceps, and abs – but only with low-medium intensity,” says Yash Sharma, a Delhi-based fitness YouTuber.
“If you keep the intensity light or moderate, you can perform some exercises every day – like push-ups and biceps curls. The important thing to keep in mind, however, is to not reach the saturation of training and not reach a point where the muscles get more damaged than they can recover from,” Sharma adds.

There are some strategies to training the same muscle groups without overstraining them. (Photo: Getty)

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Bhagunde agrees and adds that training the same muscle groups daily can be managed safely by changing the intensity and volume of workouts.
“By alternating between high-intensity, low-volume training and low-intensity, high-volume sessions, one can keep engaging their muscles while not straining themselves,” he tells India Today.
In case you want to train your legs every day – for reasons like your mental satisfaction – you can also take up the technique of dividing the exercises throughout the week.
“If you do five exercises on your legs day, spread those exercises out throughout the week. Do one of those exercises each day to avoid overtraining and subsequent problems,” suggests Nagar.
Changing training modality, Dr Bhagunde says, can be an effective way to train the same muscle groups without overstraining them.
“For instance, after a high-intensity session of barbell back squats, one could switch to a lower-intensity activity such as cycling the next day. This method will keep the quadriceps engaged while reducing stress on the muscles. It is crucial to avoid lifting the same weight at high intensity on consecutive days, as this can hinder recovery and raise the risk of injury,” he says.
Oh, and your muscle recovery not only depends on the rest days you are providing to particular muscles, but also on other factors like eating well, staying hydrated, and getting good sleep.