FITNESS

How Often Should You Work Out? A Balanced and Effective Weekly Workout Routine

The ideal breakdown between strength training, cardio and offcourse rest!

How do I improve my Fitness

Whether you’re just starting a workout routine or are already a gym regular, you’ve probably wondered at some point: How many days a week should I work out? And how long should I work out each time?

First things first regarding fitness: There are no one-size-fits-all answers to those questions. It really depends on your fitness level, goals, and how much time you can realistically devote to exercise. For instance, the best weekly workout plan for a seasoned marathoner trying to set a new P.R. is going to look very different than a weight lifting routine for beginners trying to build muscle and strength. And that’s okay.

If you don’t have super-specific fitness goals—perhaps you’re just looking to generally boost your strength and endurance so that you can feel better and move about daily life easier—there are some guidelines that can help you craft a solid workout routine. From weight loss tips to workout posts and yoga best practice, you can learn more here. There really is something for everyone. 

We tapped three experts for advice on how often you should work out, what to focus on, and how you can make it a lasting habit. Here’s what you need to know.

How often should you work out each week?

Like we said, there’s no simple formula that’s right for everyone. If you’re looking to amp up your fitness level, your magic number of days depends on how active you already are.

For example, you’ll probably see physical (and mental) results from one day a week if you don’t already work out at all. But if you’re used to multiple workout days a week, one day probably won’t challenge your body enough to maintain your fitness or make progress.

MOST RELATED

2 week Fitness challenge

Do you think competitive parents compensate for their insecurities?

The breakdown varies depending on your specific goals, but in general, four to five days a week will do the trick if you’re aiming to improve or maintain your fitness.

Of course, if you’re just getting started and don’t exercise currently, that might be too big of a jump at first and that can turn you off completely from working out. Instead, a good beginner workout plan is to try starting with two workouts a week. After you get used to that, you can consider gradually increasing the number of days say website Self.

OTHER MOST READ

Clean It, Fix It presenters reveal all about the new BBC Daytime series

Holly Willoughby wants to get involved in activism for women after releasing book

Importance of Essay Writing Skills For Future Career

How can beginners turn working out into a habit?

Setting a doable goal for how many times you’ll start working out each week can be helpful by making sure you don’t get burned out, says Fagan.

But shooting for a bit of movement each day, even if you’re not doing an actual workout, can also help you make working out a habit that will stick, she says. This might mean a 10-minute walk or a series of gentle stretches.

Another important consideration is determining when you’ll work out. Again, there’s no right answer to this, but it helps to take a careful look at your schedule when figuring out when you should pencil in your workout. For instance, if your mornings are super hectic with lots of last-minute changes, it could be self-defeating to plan on morning workouts, says Fagan. In that case, an afternoon or evening workout may be more likely to happen as scheduled.

And pay attention to your body too: Some people feel more energized in the morning, while others are dragging. Matching up your workout time to when you feel the best can make you more likely to want to stick with it.

What’s a good workout routine?

A good workout routine will depend on your individual goals, but if you’re looking for general fitness, it should include some type of strength training and some type of cardio.

If you want to work out five days per week and are working on both strength and cardiovascular fitness, try three days of strength training, two days of cardio, and two days of active rest. If you want to work out four days a week, think about your goals: If you want to add muscle, cut a cardio day. If you want to improve endurance, skip a strength day. Or switch it each week.

Remember, it’s important to be realistic about your own schedule when you’re asking yourself how many days a week you should work out. If four days makes more sense for you than five days, do that. But if five days is reasonable, great!

Either way, here’s how (and when and why) to crush it at each one. Strength training: 2–3 times each week

POPULAR POSTS

Here Is the List of 10 Instruments You Can Easily Learn at Home

10 Digital Photography Tips

What Are The Steps To Do To Increase Style?

Why: Strength training is a super important way to keep your body functional for the long haul, says Fagan: It helps prevent the bone loss and muscle loss that comes with aging. It also strengthens your joints too, says Tamir.

How: To build muscle mass, you should try to work each muscle group two to three times a week, says Tamir. So in a two- to three-day strength plan, this means you should aim to do full-body workouts. (Make sure to give yourself 48 hours in between them to recover!)

You’ll want to hit the major muscle groups of your upper and lower body, including your glutes, quads, hamstrings, chest, shoulders, back, and arms—and don’t forget to include some core exercises, too. That might sound like a lot, but that’s where compound exercises come in. Moves like squats, lunges, rows, and chest presses work more than one muscle group at a time, so you get more bang for your buck.

You also want to have a balance between pushing movements (like an overhead press or chest press) and pulling movements (like with a row). Remember, strength training is not just about free weights or machines—mastering bodyweight moves will challenge your muscles too.

Shoot for 12–15 reps per set when you are just getting started, says Fagan. Once you’ve become more comfortable with the moves, you can decrease the reps as you add more weight. One to two sets of each exercise is enough for your first month, after which you may want to increase it to three, she says.

You should do different moves in each of the three strength sessions, but repeat those same moves every week.

“I would stay with a program for four to six weeks and progressively increase the weight,”. “[The week before your last week] I would have a little bit of a drop-off to give your body a little bit of a recovery, and the last week, really push it hard.”Cardio: 2–3 times each week

PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING

Gal Gadot lands major role in live-action Snow White movie

What are the Key Drivers Of Company Culture

The CBD Oil Tincture – What’s With All The Craze?

Why: As important as it is to strength train, cardio has its place in a balanced workout routine. “Doing cardio keeps your circulatory system working optimally, helping you to recover faster…[and it] keeps your endurance up,” says Tamir. “It also increases your VO2 max, which helps your body utilize oxygen.”

How: You’ve got a ton of options for cardio: an outdoor jog, a bike ride, the good old elliptical machine—the list goes on. Functional movements, like kettlebell swings, and agility work can also count as cardio, as long as you’re doing enough reps during a certain time frame to keep your heart rate elevated.

“Whether something is cardiovascular depends on where your heart rate is at and how long you’re doing it for,” says Tamir. Target heart rates are different for everyone, but Tamir suggests that a good baseline to aim for during your cardio routines is between 120 and 150 beats per minute for 45 to 60 minutes.

Another option is interval training, where you work hard for a short amount of time and alternate that with recovery periods, says Tamir. The best part? You can do this with pretty much anything—indoor rowing machine, bike, running, functional movements, you name it.

There are also plenty of cardio classes out there that you can try. Heart-pumping examples include indoor cycling, kickboxing, HIIT classes, dance cardio, running classes, rowing classes, and more.Rest Days: 2 times each week

Why: Taking a break lets your body recover and rebuild—and gives it some time for post-workout muscle soreness to ease up—so you can get back to your workouts refreshed and ready to rock it.

There are few ways to work a rest day. A rest day can be considered active recovery, meaning you don’t have to hit the gym or break a serious sweat, but you still do something.

“It’s not just about the physical recovery—it’s also the mental,”. “Doing something that you enjoy that’s active is great for the mind…and it assists in residual fatigue.”

But sometimes the best rest day is a day of actual rest. It’s perfectly okay to do absolutely nothing on your rest day. What’s most important is that you listen to what your body and brain need. Some rest days, that might be doing a light morning stretch routine. Other days, it might be binge-watching Netflix on the couch. Both have a place in your weekly workout routine!

How: Active recovery shouldn’t require a ton of effort like a workout day, but it can get you moving. You can do some stretching, just take a walk, or try a restorative class, like gentle yoga or a relaxed mat Pilates class. It’s also okay, as mentioned, to do nothing physical on your rest day. If you do choose active recovery, aim for 30–60 minutes of really light activity.

Where you place these rest days is up to you—if you do your workouts Monday through Friday, feel free to take the whole weekend off. Or you could break them up by doing a strength day, a cardio day, then a rest day before getting back to weight training.

Is two hours in the gym too much?

When it comes to exercising, more doesn’t always equal better. In general, a smart approach to working out is “quality over quantity,”.

“It’s totally possible to get a good workout in, or enough of a workout, to elicit the goals you want” without exercising for hours at a time, says Fagin. Of course, some people, like marathon runners, may actually need to spend multiple hours exercising at a time as part of their super-specific training programs. But for the general population, logging two hours at the gym isn’t necessary—and in some cases, could even be counterproductive if you push yourself too far and overwork your muscles.

So how much time at the gym is ideal? In general, a strength-training session should last 40–60 minutes, plus foam rolling and a quick warm-up beforehand. As for cardio, logging 150 minutes of moderate-to-intense activity per week. How you split up those 150 minutes will depend on what type of training you’re doing, whether that’s longer, steady-state sessions; shorter HIIT workouts; or a mix of the two.

Is it bad to work out every day?

Rest days are on the schedule for a reason: Working out every day is not a good plan if you want to improve your fitness long-term.

Working out too much without giving your body the down time it needs is akin to taking two steps forward, one step back, explains Fagin. Eventually, taking that one step back over and over again “elicits a downward slope of progress just because you’re so tired,” she says.

Not taking a rest day when you need it, especially if you are overtraining, can increase your risk of overuse injury, decrease your performance, crush your motivation, and suck the joy out of an activity you once loved.

Instead, follow the advice above for building workout plans that include doses of work and doses of rest. With that kind of balanced approach, you’ll get to your goals faster and with less risk of injury (and enjoy the process more!). Now that’s what we call a workout win.

Latest Posts

---

Got a story? If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the MarkMeets.com entertainment team by emailing us Tips@MarkMeets.com or by visiting our Submit page – we’d love to hear from you.

---

Follow MarkMeets across social media

Twitter @MarkMeets | Facebook @MarkMeetsPR | Instagram @MarkMeets | Youtube @MarkMeets |

“We’re Here To Inspire And Lead The Way In Entertainment”. – MarkMeets