Have you ever wondered how often you should be training in the gym? Once when I was taking some lessons from a personal trainer, I visited the local gym several times in one week.

While I was there I noticed that there were a few trainees that seemed to be showing up every day and always hung out in the same area. They seemed to be performing the same exercises every day without any rest for the muscles. Meanwhile, I was just there to get some lessons for my trainer.

After speaking to a lot of experienced trainers and doing research on my own, it's become clear that many beginners make a lot of mistakes in the gym. One of the most dangerous things for a new trainee to do is spend way too much time in the gym.

The really disturbing thing about over training is that it actually can make you sick. That's right, you can actually becoming ill if you do too much weight lifting in the gym.

Even if you don't become sick, you may not be getting the results you want if you spent far too much time in the gym.

Remember why muscle grows in the first place. When you lift a weight that is more than your body is accustomed to, you are stimulating the muscles to grow.

This process can continue throughout the next day, so if you don't give your body a rest your muscle building efforts will probably suffer eventually. You can tell this is happening if you fail to progress during the next workout. Your body really does need to rest in order to prepare for the next, more challenging workout.

The bottom line is that you need to be cautious and take care of your body. When it comes to weightlifting, learn as much as you can about all aspects including the recovery phase. The right amount of rest can actually boost results and keep you healthy.