When you started your workout routine, how many days were you told to workout? Many people are told 3 days a week. Some people even say they workout every day of the week, taking off on the weekends. Others may say you should workout 4 times per week. The key to knowing what is right Is really looking at how you are working out and the ultimate goal that you have in terms of fitness. So, in reality, there is no one size fits all answer to this question.
How many days a week should you work out?
Given that there is no size fits all to this question, let's outline a few different scenarios for you to find the one that best fits your situation.
- For newbies who have never worked out before, and are looking to build muscle, they will find that doing a workout routine that trains the muscles in the body twice a week is going to result in more muscle growth. If you want to split this up even further you can workout your upper body muscles twice a week, then your lower body twice a week so that you are not doing an intense all over workout at first. Of course, after a few months you may find that the muscles aren't growing as much, which may mean you need to up how many days a week that you workout.
- For those wanting to put on more muscle who have been hitting the gym for months or even years, they will find that the amount of time they need to workout is going to be significant higher. You may have to work the lower and upper body up to four times or even five times a week to start seeing results. Of course, this is for those who are dedicated to becoming the next muscle model out there.
- If you are looking to simply get into shape, not concerned with weight loss or muscle gain, you simply want to work your heart, you may find that working out 4 times a week, whether this be a nice brisk walk around the block or on a treadmill is going to fit your needs. You only have to do about 20 minutes during these workouts to start feeling these results.
- For weight loss, the idea is to do cardio several times a week, 3 to 5 times per week in order to start seeing the fat melt away. Of course, this is coupled with a low calorie diet as well to make this work.
How long should you workout everyday?
With these scenarios being spelled out, just how long should you workout each day? There are those who have been working out for years that may spend an hour or more working out a few times per week. However, the majority of people will find that 20 minutes of intense cardio per workout is enough to get them health benefits. Depending upon the exercises you are doing though, will change the amount of time that you need to devote to this.
How a balanced weekly schedule looks likelihood
When you are really wanting to have a balanced workout, then you need to make sure that you are allowing days in which the body can rest. For example, here is a balanced weekly schedule:
- Mon: Cardio
- Tues: Strength training upper body
- Wed: Active recovery, rest day
- Thurs: Cardio
- Fri: Lower strength training
- Sat: Active Recovery
- Sun: Active Recovery
You have to find the schedule that best fits your needs, rather than doing what everyone else is doing. You may find it better to start slower and work your way up.
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