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How many of you really work out every day, twice a day? I do the Perpetual Lesson five days a week, in the morning, and walk 3 miles later in the day. This does the job for me. I think that the body needs to rest and recover, to maintain optimum health and fitness. Of course, we are all a little bit different, and one size does not fit all.

Hello Bridge,
as I metioned in a previous post, I do the complete course 2 times per year and in between I do the perpetual lesson.

When I am doing the complete course I try to train every day, morning and night. Of course sometimes it happens to loose one or two workouts, but the plan is to train 2 times a day, every day.

I thing that the key to the Atlas System is: Train don't Strain.

So, although it's true that you can't train the same body part every day when you are doing heavy bodybuilding with a lot of kilos and repetitions up to failure, in Dynamic Tension you must always follow Atlas advice:

"Continue until slightly tired. Never perform these exercises until exhausted or you do yourself more harm than good. "

By doing this you can train every day and instead of feeling excausted, you are feeling full of energy after every workout.

The perpetual lesson, on the other hand, it's meant to be practised ONCE per day. Again, when I am doing the perpetual lesson I try not to loose a single day, practising the lesson every night, always trying to remember to Traind don't Strain my self. Of course I may skip one or two Saturdays in a month because of getting out or traveling etc

It's great that you walk 3 miles the day. Walking is so good for our health and here once more we can see how complete is the Atlas course.

Health and Strengh to everyone,

George Stathis
Greece

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than you take from him in cash value;
then you are adding to the life of the
world by every business transaction"
Wallace D. Wattles

I usually train from 5 or 6 days per week. In the morning, due to time constraints , I try to do 2 sets of dips and 2 sets of deep knee bends. Also, I practice lesson 5's spine stretching exercises. At night, I would do my perpetual lesson plus another lesson from the 12 lesson course to give variety to my routine. Kind of helps to keep me motivated .

Thanks for the great replies. It is a hard lesson but a wise one to learn, "train, don't strain." I have posted this earlier:

I think for many people, myself definitely included, the hardest thing to learn about exercise is the sound advice given by Atlas, to train and not strain! Most of us have lived through the weight lifting, no pain, no gain mantra, being advocated in countless magazines and articles. Now that I am in my golden years, finally the message has sunk in, and I am feeling better than ever. The Atlas Course is a gem, a diamond in the rough. Read it and reread it often, as you can constantly pick up new tidbits of information that you may have overlooked before.The best is yet to come.

Hey George, when you do the 12 lesson course, do you practice it as directed (only the lessons corresponding) or do you add a few exercises from the perpetual lesson also to try and get a full body workout. Just curious.

Hi emfermi,
when I am doing the 12 lesson couse, I follow the instractions exactly as they come in every lesson.

I take one lesson every week, reread it carefouly (every time I read it I find another great advise I overlooked before) and practise it religiously. I believe that this way I can consentrate my efforts to particular body parts for two weeks having better results for strength, muscular development and endurance for these particular parts. Meanwhile, the dipping excersise which I practise every day, keeps my whole body in shape.

On the other hand, when I am doing the perpetual lesson I believe that I develop better whole body endurance and the coordination and symmetry between the different body parts.

George Stathis
Greece

George, I have adjusted my training level, so that I am not straining, but just training, so I will try to exercise every day henceforth, and maintain my 3 miles per day walking program. I'll keep you posted on how I do. Best regards.

Persistence is what is most important. Persistently exercising once a day, every other day, will benefit one far more than exercising twice a day for a week, and then quitting for 3 weeks, and then doing them for 3 days, and then quitting for 6 weeks, and so on. Persistence is the key.

Right on, Spearhead. Consistency is the key to success in any endeavor. I am now exercising daily and maintaining my walking program. I am not pushing myself, but am "training, not straining", as Atlas advised. I have gotten my weight down to where I want to be, so I just want to more or less maintain my fitness level at this point.

I usually take Sunday's off, but I find that it is better for me if I work out every day except Sunday. First, I need to be in the daily habit of exercise in order to stick to it. Unless I exercise every day I just forget to exercise. Second, DT is not like lifting weights because it does not injure or overstress the body. Your joints and ligaments, etc. do not need the added recovery time like it does in lifting weights.

Though I have not given this a try, I have been toying around with an idea. To incorporate a more strenuous exercise routine that allows for rest, you could alternate days where you really go after it one day, and sort of do the regular routine the next. Or, you could emphasize chest and tris one day, back and bis the next, legs and shoulders the next, etc. You could even incorporate exercises from the lessons in addition to the perpetual lesson. Or, you could do the perpetual lesson at morning and the exercises that emphasize leg/shoulders, etc., at night (or vice versa).