How often should I Exercise?

When you want to get into shape, there are two types of exercisers: those that want to know how much they can do, and those that want to know how little they can get away with. If you want to start an exercise program, you will want to take note of the intensity of your exercise as well as the frequency of your routines in order to receive the most benefits.

What kind of shape are you in?

If you’re new to exercise, you will want to start out slowly in your fitness plans. Starting off with twenty to thirty minutes of walking every other day is a good way to begin an aerobic fitness routine without requiring a lot of time commitment.

However, as you progress, you will want to increase the duration of whatever aerobic exercise that you are doing to forty-five to sixty minutes most days of the week. In terms of strength training, you will want to perform a full body workout every other day, or train opposing muscle groups on opposing days.

Most experts recommend at least three days of aerobic exercise and two to three days of strength training each week.

Are you working out hard enough?

The trick with aerobic exercise is that you can not reap the benefits without working hard in the process. There are some experts that will talk about target heart rates and extensive calculations, but here is a simple way to tell if you are working out hard enough.

When you are working out, you should be able to talk, but not so well that you can carry on a conversation without any change in your voice. You should be able to talk for phrases, still able to finish sentences, but there is certainly a sign that your lungs are working harder than normal.

Are you working out too hard?

There are two ways that you can work out too hard – be too intense and be too frequent in your training sessions. When you increase the intensity of your workout too hard, you will have troubles talking at all and will probably have troubles breathing as well.

While there’s nothing wrong with short bursts of this, it is not going to be the way to have a comfortable workout – and it’s not helpful to your training either. When you work out too hard, you are overstraining your muscles and causing them to break down instead of build up.

Likewise, if you train hard every day, you can see the same muscle deterioration. You do need to take rest days every now and then – one or two days a week is recommended.  When your body is tired, be sure to heed its signals and take a rest day as well. It’s really about what you do most of the time – not every day. Workout most days and you’ll be well on your way to fitness and good health without hurting yourself in the process.