Setting the right workout schedule is the key to hitting your goals.
For most people, the biggest obstacle to hitting their get-fit goals isn’t what exercises they include in their workouts – it’s how consistent they are.
“By spacing your workouts too far apart, you don’t give your body enough of a chance to ‘build’ off that last workout,” explains California-based certified strength and conditioning specialist Mike Donavanik. “Every time you exercise, you essentially give your body a little booster shot. Then between that booster shot and your next workout, your body slides back to where it was before.” In fact, research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology shows that taking just two weeks off can significantly reduce your cardiovascular fitness and lean muscle mass.
On the flip side, though, scheduling workouts too close together doesn’t give your body enough time to fully recover, Donavanik says. After all, every workout is a physiological stress to your body. Too much stress without enough recovery puts you at risk of overtraining, lackluster results and injury.
So how much should you hit the gym? It depends. Workout routines aren’t one-schedule-fits-all, and it’s vital to schedule your workouts appropriately for your goals.
For instance, while the American Heart Association recommends people get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days per week, 25 minutes of vigorous exercise at least three days per week or some combination of the two, it’s important to recognize that those recommendations pertain to promoting overall cardiovascular health.
In some people, especially those who are new to exercise, that level of activity can also help reduce the risk of other chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and dementia as well as spur weight loss, says Dr. Russell Petrie, an orthopedic surgeon with the Hoag Orthopedic Institute in California. And, for beginners, this frequency is often the best place to start – no matter the goal.
“The biggest mistake many people make is treating an exercise program as a finite event, meaning there is an end in sight. Adopting exercise as a permanent lifestyle change is most effective when it is incorporated as a daily or near-daily routine, rather than the ‘weekend-warrior’ mentality,” Petrie says.
However, as beginners get accustomed to their new workout routines, it’s natural to need to increase exercise frequency as a way to further challenge the body and keep it adapting, Donavanik says. He notes that performing three to four workouts per week – including a combination of cardio and strength training, both at moderate to high intensities – is ideal for steady weight loss.
Meanwhile, for exercisers who are trying to build muscle (regardless of whether they are trying to lower their body-fat percentage), it’s essential not just to consider the number of strength training workouts you schedule per week, but also how often you strength train any given muscle. That’s partly because, in order to effectively build muscle, your level of intensity needs to be high during nearly every strength workout, says Donavanik. You can’t train at a high intensity if your muscles are still trying to recuperate from your last workout; doing so contributes to overtraining, stalled results and potential injury.
When increasing muscle is a goal, Donavanik recommends exercisers strength train four to five days each week, making sure not to exercise the same muscle group (glutes, chest, back, for example) on any two consecutive days. Scheduling your workouts this way will allow you to train each muscle with the right frequency and intensity without risking overtraining, according to Petrie, noting that rest should be increased in older adults, as the ability to quickly recover from a given workout is reduced.
“We must allow our bodies the opportunity to respond and repair in response to the stresses we’ve placed on them,” he says. “Rest days are a great opportunity to work on flexibility and balance.” Try taking a restorative yoga class or performing a gentle foam rolling routine.
Written for Health.USnews.com