How often should you work out?

[thrutch]

If you can't afford gym membership try getting hold of a goose, then take it down the park and do some bench presses:



If you can't get a goose then a daily calisthenics routine is a good workout for general all-over tone and strength. If you're not absolutely slaughtering yourself for a couple of hours at a time then doing it every day is fine. If you're really hammering it then take a couple of rest days in a week.

[RandomTriangle]

If she can't afford a gym stronglifts isn't the way to go

try
http://rosstraining.com/blog/

for low tech cheap options for strength & conditioning programs

I completely agree. I would recommend his book "infinite intensity" for any martial artists/combat sport athletes

[Krijgsman]

If she can't afford a gym stronglifts isn't the way to go

try
http://rosstraining.com/blog/

for low tech cheap options for strength & conditioning programs

Good point. I missed that, and therefore fail.

[ChenPengFi]

Some good stuff here:
http://www.trainforstrength.com/workouts.shtml

Considering your goals, Dominic Lacasse's DVDs would probably be worth saving up for.




http://dominiclacasse.com/dvdse.php

[NeilG]

Good information for women or beginners in general here.

[whatever123]

I completely agree. I would recommend his book "infinite intensity" for any martial artists/combat sport athletes

Infinite intensity is great. But If she would get a book "Never Gymless" would be a better recommendation for her, due to more focus on bodyweight low tech exercises.

[european ninja]

Thanks for the help. All of this has been insanely helpful. So if I wanted to use calisthenics for now and move on should i just mix all the exercises i listed and use them on a daily or almost daily basis? Once I achieve a certain degree of strength i'll move on to different programs. Thanks

[HereBeADragon]

How often you train depends a great deal on how you train. There are many training splits and schedules out there but my weapon of choice is the 4 day wave. It waves intensity, including both recovery and mobility work which are vital to successful training. The 4 day cycle runs from No Intensity (mobility work day), Low Intensity (Recovery/Myofacial Release), Moderate Intensity (Workout day focus usually on strength and form) and High Intensity (Cardio Intensive workout). I am of course bias because I am an instructor in the Circular Strenght Training system that this comes from but to me its an ideal training method for your goals. For a readily packaged program that follows this design and sets everything up for you I would suggest a TACFIT (Tactical Fitness) program.
http://www.rmaxi.com/tacfit/programs.php

[quentnwhite]

And I'm not extremely weak. I'm starting out from something. I can do about 30 normal push ups, 10-15 diamond push ups, and 4ish pull ups.

Yeah, you are not weak, doing 30 normal push ups is a good thing. At first I can only do a maximum of 10 push ups but as the time pass by, it increases. I experienced doing 100 push ups because of punishment during our training, the result, muscle pain, I could not barely bend my arm during that time.

[dr_seth_l]

If your goal is strength, then nothing will help you more than a gym membership or a barbell set. Body weight exercises can only take you so far. If you do the basic compound movements (squat, bench, deadlift, etc) you will get strong. Keeping the reps below five will build strength, but will not build mass. You don't have to be afraid of getting bulky.

Edit: Also, in reference to frequency, take 48 hours between strength training like this.