Weightlifting question?

Question

I have heard like 100 times that lifting daily is bad. I have been doing this forever. My muscles get sore, but not enough to where they hurt to lift or I have to back down weights. My regiment includes a dumbell workout for 45 min. This includes over 12 different exercises. I bench around 20-30 reps. Use minimal machines. This may take about 15 min. Most of my muscles if not almost all of them get worked each day. I drink whey protein every other day. My daily workout usually lasts a little over an hour. I just physically cannot stop lifting and rest. I feel rested and get plenty of sleep. My diet is better than most peoples. I am 5 foot 9 and 160 pounds. Friends have made a big deal about how strong I am and how muscular I have got. Can someone, anyone tell me what I am doing is ok. I am tired of hearing about a rest period. I think it is needed if I was completely tired and maxed. I feel the same everyday. Night time my muscles are just a little sore, but after waking up and eating I feel great. I am seeing no decline in weights. I am getting stronger slowly. Does anyone still think I should rest? I just can't fathom how resting one or two days a week will show much difference. Input would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I think in the end, everyone is different. If what you're doing is working for you, I say don't stop. The reason people generally need a rest period is because muscle fibers physically tear, and need time to repair. That's generally how muscles increase in size, and so the belief is that if you don't allow a rest period, the fibers never really reconnect and you don't get nearly the same gains if a person doesn't rest. That's just the general belief, I'm in no way preaching what you're doing is wrong. If you like what you're doing and you're improving in the way you want to, who cares what people say. When you say you bench 20-30 reps, is that over a few sets or per set? If that's just one set, you're doing something called endurance lifting. You could check it out if you want. I do 8 reps or less per set because I like to tear muscle fibers as much as possible and go until I can't go anymore, every single set. I've gained about 30 pounds of muscle in the last 6-7 months like this while using rest periods.