Saw something online yesterday (but can't find it again) where the "expert" said doing the same lifting routine more than twice a week is actually detrimental to a weights program. I'm pretty much doing the exact same routine 3-4 a week. Website said done right, you can do weights just once a week and get more results. Anyone have an opinion?

Website made alot of sense. If you wants abs, the best way to show them is use the treadmill (i.e., burn as much fat as possible).

What I am curious about is I see guys in the weight room nearly every day and I can't believe they are just isolating certain sets of muscles each day. I have to believe it is difficult to isolate pecs and not work your biceps, tric, etc. I'm wondering if I should cut down to 2x a week.

Any experts out there? I'm looking for mostly toning, some definition but obviously, not looking for any major bulk. (I look for my bulk in the showers.

I am not an expert per se, but my brother and dad both work out a lot and they have imparted random bits of knowledge here and there. I think it depends on how hard you are working. If you're just doing a light, fun circuit to help stay toned, 3-4 times a week is fine. My brother only does 60-minute hard workouts twice a week--he's sweating like a pig at the end of them and can barely move. Doing something like that without allowing for recovery time is obviously not a good thing. That's not to say you should pig out and do nothing the other five days--you can run, play soccer, do short but intense core workouts, whatever.

As for the guys who are in the weight room every day, they probably have extremely detailed routines that target different muscle groups and change things up every month or two. But who knows, maybe they are just there doing bicep curls all day.

"Website made alot of sense. If you wants abs, the best way to show them is use the treadmill (i.e., burn as much fat as possible)."

The only way you can get abs is by lowering your body fat %. You can have massive muscles, but if they're under a layer of fat then it won't matter!

Again, though, I'm not a nutritionist or a trainer. Maybe someone else with training will chip in.

I'm keeping this simple and because of that, everyone can contradict me.

Decide if you are training for aerobic fitness or size and strength.

If aerobic, do whatever you want and several times a week.

If you are doing size and strength, then do one body part a week. For example, Monday only do back muscles. Tuesday do chest only. Wednesday do abs and biceps/triceps. Thursday do shoulders. Friday do legs. You do the body part only once a week because it needs a week to recover.

You can also do chest and triceps the same day because they are related. And you can do back and biceps same day for same reason. Otherwise, do the body parts separate. Also good idea to have a break somewhere in the week to recover.