Workout Routine Question

I usually work out my upper body exclusively for one whole week, then cool off the next with lower body workouts. Is routine bad for my body? Should I alternate each day between upper and lower body workouts?

i wouldn't recommend doing that. 

if you're doing the same body parts every day for one week, you're not allowing your body to recover.  your muscles need to recover; so if you do chest and arms on monday, and back and shoulders on tuesday, as well as legs on wednesday, then thursday is the same as monday, and friday is tuesday............see with something like that, you're giving your chest and arms two days to rest.  that's probably the most healthy for you

I'm wuth Boomer that seems like a strange routine.

"A girl phoned me the other day and said... Come on over, there's nobody home. I went over. Nobody was home." Rodney Dangerfield

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." Albert Einstein

I agree with boomersooner and kingyoto.  The only thing I'd add to what they said is that, with your current routine, you're probably doing more work for less gains.  I've heard someone say that growth doesn't happen in the gym, it happens out of the gym.  If you don't give your body time to rest, it can't grow.  Yes, you will get a some growth like that, but nowhere near what you could/should be getting.  You can actually get much better gains by doing less...  maybe not less work in the gym, but much less work to each muscle group.

ORIGINAL: crx81

I agree with boomersooner and kingyoto.  The only thing I'd add to what they said is that, with your current routine, you're probably doing more work for less gains.  I've heard someone say that growth doesn't happen in the gym, it happens out of the gym.  If you don't give your body time to rest, it can't grow.  Yes, you will get a some growth like that, but nowhere near what you could/should be getting.  You can actually get much better gains by doing less...  maybe not less work in the gym, but much less work to each muscle group.

yes thats true the muscles grow while your resting not while your working..

Football season so won't be on here as much.

ORIGINAL: crx81

I agree with boomersooner and kingyoto.  The only thing I'd add to what they said is that, with your current routine, you're probably doing more work for less gains.  I've heard someone say that growth doesn't happen in the gym, it happens out of the gym.  If you don't give your body time to rest, it can't grow.  Yes, you will get a some growth like that, but nowhere near what you could/should be getting.  You can actually get much better gains by doing less...  maybe not less work in the gym, but much less work to each muscle group.

this is what the superstar guy (or whatever his name is) is talking about. 

that is not true at all, and he'd agree with me 100%.  you gotta lift hard, and lift heavy.  you're not going to get big by just lifting weights. 

he said something, and it's stuck with me. "if that were the case, then you'd walk into the gym and see jacked dudes everywhere."

ORIGINAL: boomersooner1331

this is what the superstar guy (or whatever his name is) is talking about. 
that is not true at all, and he'd agree with me 100%.  you gotta lift hard, and lift heavy.  you're not going to get big by just lifting weights. 
he said something, and it's stuck with me. "if that were the case, then you'd walk into the gym and see jacked dudes everywhere."

 
WHO?  HUH???
Who said anything about NOT lifting hard or NOT lifting heavy?  I said less work for each muscle group, meaning not hitting the same muscles every single day for a week.   Give them time to recover (which = growth) before you hit them again.   I said, "not less work in the gym, but much less work to each muscle group. "  You even added the underline, so how you got confused about what I was saying I don't know.

ORIGINAL: crx81

ORIGINAL: boomersooner1331

this is what the superstar guy (or whatever his name is) is talking about. 
that is not true at all, and he'd agree with me 100%.  you gotta lift hard, and lift heavy.  you're not going to get big by just lifting weights. 
he said something, and it's stuck with me. "if that were the case, then you'd walk into the gym and see jacked dudes everywhere."

WHO?  HUH???
Who said anything about NOT lifting hard or NOT lifting heavy?  I said less work for each muscle group, meaning not hitting the same muscles every single day for a week.   Give them time to recover (which = growth) before you hit them again.   I said, "not less work in the gym, but much less work to each muscle group. "  You even added the underline, so how you got confused about what I was saying I don't know.

i took it as "doing less work and putting less effort in"

sorry

but that's right.  only doing each muscle group once or twice a week is ideal, as it gives your muscles the most time to recover and grow

ORIGINAL: boomersooner1331
i took it as "doing less work and putting less effort in"
sorry
but that's right.  only doing each muscle group once or twice a week is ideal, as it gives your muscles the most time to recover and grow

 
Now we're on the same page.     We agree with each other, we just got lost in the semantics.
 
I see some people who are putting extreme effort into their workouts, but are getting minimal results.  Like the O.P., they're working the muscles too much, and not allowing time for recovery and growth.  The sad thing is, when they don't get the results they're looking for, they either start working them even harder, or they eventually give up and think they just don't have the right genetics.  I absolutely believe in working out hard and heavy, but if you don't work out smart, you can rob yourself of the benefits of all the effort.