This is crucial to your overall health and happiness. If you neglect this one thing, it can be detrimental to your health.
Do you workout every single day? Are you consistent with your nutrition? I’m sure you have friends who workout everyday and some who workout 3x a week and even some who just jog every now and then. But what is the ideal frequency of when you should workout?
I really like the saying “You are ahead of people who are still sitting on the couch.” So with that being said, exercising even for an hour to an hour and 30 minutes a week is better than not exercising at all. But it all comes down to your goals.
What are your goals? I am sure you’re not trying to become the next Mr. Olympia or the next strongman competitor, or maybe even the next Ninja warrior, but hey, if it is, KUDOS!
Let’s say you’re an average joe and wants to just get rid of his gut or a plain jane who wants to get that thigh gap. Their goal is to reduce fat mass. What is the training frequency? From a professional standpoint, 2-4x a week of 30-40 minutes of weight training and cardio.
You’re an athlete. You want to increase your stamina, agility, and endurance. 2-4x a week of HIGH INTENSITY training for 30 minutes. The focus is your breathing technique and how long you can go for. In and out of the gym. That is the most efficient way.
Training for a physique competition? Well, 5-7x a week would be essential because you would be eating a lot more for mass. Maintaining and gaining muscle mass should be the goal here. You can’t expect to have an award winning physique on 2 workouts a week. Just like in life, if you’re not struggling, there is no growth.
Trying to outlift your whole squad? Yes, I said squad. Well, lifting super heavy weight everyday can be extremely damaging to your joints and overall, your body. 3-4x a week would be an ideal amount of workouts if you’re trying to set a new PR (Personal Record) every week.
The important thing about this is always having a spotter and making sure your form is 100%.
What kind of physique do you want? what kind of endurance would you like? What is important to you? These questions are very important to ask yourself so you can find the fastest way to get to where you want to be. What do all of these have in common? Yes, they all workout, but what else? They all have rest days!
Rest Periods and Rest Days
A lot of people ask me, “how long do I need to rest in between sets?” Well it depends again on your training style. If you are going for heart health and lung endurance, minimal rest in between sets should do the trick.
Go for 20-30 seconds before your next set and it will surely elevate your heart rate. 3-5 minute rest is the strategy if you are working with heavier weight. When we lift heavy weights, we put a lot of stress into the working muscle and will put it in a state of panic.
What happens if we our bodies go into panic mode? It will excrete all the necessary hormones, recruit all the necessary muscles, and it will deplete numerous amounts of nutrients so our body can make sure it can handle that stress.
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Once we use it for that specific set, it will require more time to recover before the next one. For the “traditional bodybuilder”, 60-90 seconds is the sweet spot for better muscle hypertrophy or muscle sculpture for the body. “Rest Day? What muscle part is that?!” Calm down Arnold. We aren’t all built like you.
It is EXTREMELY important for you to rest. The recovery process is just as important as the days you workout. You need to give your body time to heal itself. Eating proper food will speed up the process of recovery and will then help you be physically and mentally ready for your next workout.
“But I’ll get flabby i don’t exercise everyday.” No, no you won’t. The trick is, keep your carbs lower on your rest days than your workout days. Since we don’t exert as much energy on rest days, our body does not need the excess carbs.
If you really are paranoid about gaining a few pounds during rest days, a brisk walk in the evening or in the morning is always very beneficial for the body.
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I hope you enjoyed today’s blog! Leave us comments or suggestions for more content, and most importantly VALUE!
