How often do you/should you exercise

Bel7024

Help! I’m getting conflicting advice from friends. I joined a gym in January aiming to lose weight and tone. I go 6-7 times a week. I usually do 30min cardio and 45min weights machines. Followed by a quick swim. I’ve been told by some friends it’s good to go daily while others tell me I should have rest days. I like going and it stops me watching tv and snacking! Opinions please x

CharlieBeansmomTracey

a calorie deficit it what aids weight loss. working out id for health,to help retain muscle and so on. the tone look comes from losing fat over existing muscle you have. you dont have to go to the gym daily unless you want. rest days are needed though. at least one a day. resting will help your muscles repair themselves.

gearhead426hemi

Just listen to your body. Overtraining is different for everyone so just do what feels good and make sure you are eating accordingly.

30kgin2017

Your going to get conflicting advice here too. It really depends on the intensity of the sessions you do. Really intense exercise will prob require rest days after (think heavy lifting) some people manage this by doing different parts of body on dif days so they can still go each day others will do whole body and have a day off. A year ago I ran once a week and walked 2-3 days a week. Now I run 3 times a week (1 run being a progressively longer run each week), walk 2-3 days a week, play volley ball once a week and try to fit in 1-2 weightlifting sessions in there. So some days I am exercising twice a day some days I have off.

cwolfman13

What's your cardio..."cardio" is extremely broad and can range from light to moderate to intense to very intense...

In general, rest days are recommended because they allow for recovery and recovery is actually where you make your fitness gains. That said, a rest day doesn't have to mean not doing anything. I typically have one or two rest days per week...usually two, but I still walk my dog, maybe do a little yoga, maybe take a recreational family ride, or an easy hike, etc.

A rest day is rest and recovery from more vigorous exercise...it doesn't mean necessarily doing nothing and parking it on the couch (which I do occasionally and it's wonderful)

Keep in mind that with lifting, in general, you shouldn't be using the same muscles/groups of muscles on consecutive days...doing so basically stunts the work you're doing. It's really best to follow some kind of program, at least in regards to efficiency and efficient results. Doing willy nilly leaves most just spinning their wheels. Most beginner programs are 3x per week full body programs on non-consecutive days...otherwise, their are body part splits, but these programs are typically for more advanced lifters and lifters looking for increased volume to achieve advanced body composition goals.

I've made quite a few general observations over the years in regards to what people do on the fitness front...for one, many if not most seem to want to come out of the gate guns a blazin and do all the exercise for all of the hours. This is most often counter productive long term. Spending hours in the gym on a regular basis usually leads to burnout sooner rather than later, so their tends to be very little in the way of long term sustainability and given that fitness is a lifetime endeavor, long term sustainability is paramount. In that regard, your fitness regimen should be flexible with your everyday life and not interfere with other obligations, family, work, social activities, etc.

You also have to be careful that your exercise isn't leaving you gassed for the rest of the day...in many cases, too much exercise slows down other daily activities and leaves many moving less throughout the day...in general, moving throughout the day is going to burn more calories than an exercise session...it's quite possible to exercise to the point where your daily movement drops to the point that the net effect of your NEAT decreasing offsets the calories you burned exercising...and basically it's like you didn't exercise at all.

As far as how much "should" people do? There really isn't a "should" other than the AHA recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity per week for heart health. But really, you have to look at goals and objectives. As a matter of general fitness and my overall health and well being I exercise differently than when I'm training for a long endurance cycling event that is going to specifically require me to up the ante training wise.

At the moment, I cycle 3 days per week...sometimes 4 and lift 2x per week. My rides are typically 10-12 miles which takes me around 35-45 minutes depending. I'll occasionally throw in a longer ride on the weekend if time allows. Most of my rides are around 15-16 MPH conversational pace with usually 1 interval session thrown into the week. I walk my dog pretty much daily in the morning for about 30 minutes and I take measures to ensure I'm getting in some general movement throughout the day.

ETA: I've pretty much made every fitness mistake known to man...I've over-trained and underfed, I've crashed and burned more times than I can count, I've been over the top obsessed with riding XXX miles all the time, I've injured myself being stupid and sidelined myself for months...you name it, I've probably *kitten* it up at one point or another...

LivingtheLeanDream

Listen to the wolfman he knows things

aeloine

Dang. I was ready to bust out some knowledge but @cwolfman13 NAILED it.

DragonHasTheSapphire

I'd listen to the advice above, it seems quite useful. Personally, I do 30 minutes of intense cardio daily, and from time to time I do take days off to rest so it doesn't stress my body out. Every other day I do pilates (core, thigh, hip/waist, and arm) But I would really advise NOT to overtrain. I did this once on a calorie deficit and nearly fainted when I was done. I didn't have a calorie counter and stuff then, so I didn't know exactly how much I was eating until I logged it down. I was shocked: 1400 calories and doing intense training like I was doing which burned a range from 600-800 calories, and that's not counting just moving around. Now that I have good estimates to how much I'm eating, I don't log down every little calorie and all that...

After eating more when I got to my desired weight my workouts weren't as sloppy and I felt great. I also do target certain muscles so I'm not just overworking my calves and thights.

cwolfman13

aeloine wrote: »

Dang. I was ready to bust out some knowledge but @cwolfman13 NAILED it.

@aeloine Not to derail, but whatever happened with your lifting? Did you go to 2x per week or stay at 3x?

HoneyBadger302

It's going to really depend on your needs and goals. @cwolfman13 pretty much covered the general things for the average person.

A hour and a half in the gym doesn't seem too bad, if you're feeling good doing your workouts then keep doing you. If you're forcing yourself through it in an attempt to lose weight, then it's time to rethink things.

I'm training for a sport, my workouts are intense, and 5 days a week is all I'm able to do (I built up to this intensity over several months as well). I need the weekends to recover both physically and mentally. Doesn't mean I'm sitting on my butt all weekend though (in fact, quite the opposite), but I'm not grinding through another workout at the gym, either.

I've also planned a week of lighter training in once every 5 weeks to give myself a bit of a break - basically toned down versions of my regular workouts, but about half the time (which means some sleeping in a bit more than normal) and a mental break from the grind. There are mixed opinions on a "deload" but since I have specific demands and goals from racing, which require the harder workouts, I need a planned "break" if nothing else just mentally.

tomwoods2006

Hello

Machka9

I exercise every day, but I do different things with different intensities and durations.

CeeBeeSlim

@cwolfman13. Wow. It’s like you had me in mind when you wrote that initial reply. I’ve learned a lot since my early mistakes but reading your post I still had some “aha” moments. Thanks!!

rsclause

I like cardio and abs daily, weight machines (full set) every other day. If you do free weights you split different muscle groups so you can do different groups every other day. As always listen to your body, if it needs rest it will tell you.