So… you’ve got goals and you’re fired up to accomplish them. Will working out a lot help you do it?
The answer is, “maybe.”
To give you a more precise answer, we’ll need to dig in and consider a few variables, your fitness level, your goals, and your recovery.
Your Fitness Level
If you’re new to working out, you don’t have to train a huge amount to get results. Even one session a week has benefits but three will be much better. Four or five might be overwhelming and can even be counterproductive.
If you’re very experienced in the gym [or you’re very fit], you might want to train four to five times a week to get the best results.
The reason for this is that your body adapts to your training over time and if you haven’t trained a lot, a little dose of exercise will produce a significant response. When you reach a higher level of fitness, you have to change up the work you’re doing to stimulate a response.
But don’t worry: you definitely don’t have to work out all the time. The majority of our clients work out three to four times a week and get great results!
Your Goals
The next variable: your exact goals.
If your goal is general fitness, a couple times a week will be just fine.
But if your goals are more specific, we might need to adjust that plan.
For example: a top weightlifter who’s looking to compete at a high level might work out five or more times per week. Some elite fitness competitors will even work out twice in a day. But this level of training isn’t required for most people.
Another example: a person wants to reach a certain level of fitness by a certain date. Perhaps they want to run a marathon or run an obstacle course race. We might add in some extra sessions to ensure they are ready on race day.
But again, you can make significant progress toward your general health and fitness goals with three to four workouts per week. You don’t need to train every day — and, in fact, you probably shouldn’t.
Read on!
Your Recovery
When you work out, you stress your body. When you work out, you also cause your body to make repairs and improvements. These improvements increase your level of fitness.
You have to give your body time to make these adjustments and you have to give it the “supplies” to do so. If you have a tough training session and you don’t sleep well, you don’t eat well, and you don’t give your body ample time to repair itself, you’ll slow [and even reverse] your progress.
An example: a very motivated person wants to get fitter. He trains twice a day, every day. He’s a shift worker and doesn’t get a lot of sleep and sometimes eats poorly. If he keeps going like this, his body won’t be able to recover from all of his training. He could very well be tired all the time, add weight [and body fat] to his body, be cranky all the time, and performance might deteriorate at the gym.
He might even get injured.
More isn’t always better. You must remember that your body actually improves itself after the workout — not during the workout. If you don’t give your body the things it needs to adapt to exercise stress, you won’t get closer to your goals.
You want “just enough” training and then balance that out with your rest and recovery. In some cases, 24 hours will do. In other cases, you might want to recover for a longer period of time.
A Personal Trainer Can Help
That’s a lot to think about and it can be challenging to try to figure this all out on your own.
Good news: we have years of experience working with all kinds of people who have all kinds of goals. We can tell you what you need to do, and how often you need to do it to accomplish your personal goals. You don’t have to guess and you don’t need to reply on trial and error.
The things you will need to tell us?
- What do you want to accomplish?
- How have you’ve trained in the past?
- And any other pertinent elements to attaining your goals.
From there, we’ll give you a plan that will help you move toward your goals. We’ll tell you how often you need to train, what you should do for your food, and talk to you about your rest and recovery time.
If nothing else, take these three things from us:
- More isn’t always better. Some people need more workouts but some people need fewer workouts
- You must always give your body time to adapt to what you’re doing
- A personal trainer can tell you how much workout time and how much recovery time you need to accomplish your goals
To book a free consult and find out your details for your goals, click HERE.
