Why Four Workouts a Week May Be Better Than Six

monicalosesweight

This is an interesting article (that's the header/title - not my opinion on the topic by the way).

It's about a new study that explored whether it was better to work out 2, 4 or 6 times a week.

What do you guys think? It says 4 is the ideal number (something about what your body burns at resting rate).

Here's the article:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/why-four-workouts-a-week-may-be-better-than-six/

Monica

ubermensch13

It depends on the type of workout, in my opinion. I usually only work out 4 times a week, 5 tops. My body needs 2-3 rest days with the weight lifting and circuit program I'm doing. I think if I pushed it to 5-6 a week, I'd regress.

NuggetLovesEdie

That is really interesting.

The perception is that 6 times a week is too much is backed up by changes in physiology.

But feeling energized at two or four workouts per week leads to more incidental exercise and overall increased activities outside of workouts.

monicalosesweight

The article says they followed several groups of women and the one group who did the 4 days a week actually seemed to burn more from what I read at the resting rate (like 50 calories more). They theorized it had something to do with the body being tired and not having the energy to burn it. Either way, it's an interesting read.

SJ46

The study was composed of sedentary women aged 60 - 74, does this transfer across gender and younger ages? Wouldn't you expect women who have been sedentary and are between the ages of 60-74 to be more tired when put on a six day a week exercise program? I would like to see this study repeated with both genders and different age groups.

monicalosesweight

Good point, I'm not sure if it would transfer but you hear often enough that people say to give rest time in between. It does make you wonder though as to whether the rest time is needed. I do know that it's supposedly WAY harder to gain muscle when you're older so the fact that they burned more meant that they probably did something to their metabolisms. Either way, if it doesn't apply now, it may apply later on as we get older.

Monica

dixiewhiskey

Hmm, I workout atleast 6x a week.. doing workout videos for atleast 30 minutes (HIIT cardio+strength) everyday and I have been running on the treadmill to increase my endurance. There are weeks where life is busy so sometimes I only train 3x a week so my muscles do get rest.

My weight loss, in particular, fat loss has been phenomenal.. more than I have ever had just going to the gym 4 days a week, losing motivation when I have to work longer to burn a lot...

Just my personal experience.. everyone's bodies and mindset are different.

dixiewhiskey

The study was composed of sedentary women aged 60 - 74, does this transfer across gender and younger ages? Wouldn't you expect women who have been sedentary and are between the ages of 60-74 to be more tired when put on a six day a week exercise program? I would like to see this study repeated with both genders and different age groups.

Great eye.

monicalosesweight

True. It's interesting how different studies will note different facts. I hadn't caught the age one but that led me to this study:

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=women_youve_been_exercising_too_hard_says_study

This one talks about a study that says that heart rates for aerobic activity for women have been calculated incorrectly for us. Basically, they've been using the same study which is also applied to men. We may actually be pushing harder than necessary. Pretty bizarre. Either way, you got me curious about whether there were studies out there about women our age. I didn't find one like the one about working out four times a week but it was interesting to see that new studies are being done. Basically, I have a feeling that women haven't exactly been studied all that much.

Doberdawn

Interesting. If I aim for 6, I'm more likely to at least do 4, but if I aim for 4 will there be weeks when I only do 2?

drchimpanzee

The study was composed of sedentary women aged 60 - 74, does this transfer across gender and younger ages? Wouldn't you expect women who have been sedentary and are between the ages of 60-74 to be more tired when put on a six day a week exercise program? I would like to see this study repeated with both genders and different age groups.

In cougar country they always work out 6-7 days a week. Fact.

LauraW1219

Maybe I'm older then I think. lol I'm 41 and now I seem to only lose weight the day after my rest day if that makes any sense. I know everyone is different, but I found what works for me.

mareeee1234

Well I stalled doing cardio 6/7 days a week! But now, with eating more, i'm doing weights 3x a week with a little cardio (2 times a week, usually on the same day as weights), and I am getting more progress.
But alot of this I'm guessing has to do with the typeee of workouts I am now doing (weights!)'


Edit: I definitely believe 6 days of CARDIO can stall progress!

WendyTerry420

It makes sense to me. I aim for 3 days a week.

kdiamond

I can't lift more than 4 times a week, it just isn't physically possible due to DOMS, energy level, etc. I might add another day of cardio in (or something fun with the kids like ice skating or walking the dog) for a 5th day, but generally, 4 days is the magic number for my workouts, which are generally pretty intense.

NJL13500

As others have already pointed out it is a very specific group of people who were studied and I would be interested to see if the study produced the same results across age and gender.

I think that it is all about balance for me and what my "purpose" is for a given workout. I work out 6 days a week, but I do a combination of weight lifting and cardio. Honestly sometimes my cardio is high intensity and sometimes it's not. Sometimes my time on the elliptical or running is about relaxation and taking time to do something healthy when I am stressed instead of eat or something that would not be good for my body.

As cliche as it sounds I think you have to do what works for you. For some people it might be 4 and for some people (like me) it might be 6.

concordancia

The study was composed of sedentary women aged 60 - 74, does this transfer across gender and younger ages? Wouldn't you expect women who have been sedentary and are between the ages of 60-74 to be more tired when put on a six day a week exercise program? I would like to see this study repeated with both genders and different age groups.

In cougar country they always work out 6-7 days a week. Fact.

Dude, those young runs fast, we gotta keep up somehow!

drchimpanzee

The study was composed of sedentary women aged 60 - 74, does this transfer across gender and younger ages? Wouldn't you expect women who have been sedentary and are between the ages of 60-74 to be more tired when put on a six day a week exercise program? I would like to see this study repeated with both genders and different age groups.

In cougar country they always work out 6-7 days a week. Fact.

Dude, those young runs fast, we gotta keep up somehow!

My bumper sticker says "I brake for cougars."

LiftAllThePizzas

Maybe I'm super hyperactive, or maybe they mean something different by "workout," but if I only broke a sweat or raised my heart rate four times a week I'd consider myself lazy as hell. We have ape bodies, not sloth bodies. I don't see how our bodies could possibly be optimized for such a small amount of activity, especially to the point that it would be detrimental to have more activity than that.

Am I just misreading something?

monicalosesweight

I don't think they said it was detrimental...just that for some reason they tended to burn more calories on fewer workouts. You have to ask though, is it due to lack of energy because of not resting or maybe not eating enough? I wonder, if you do work out 6 times a week, do you tend to always eat more? I suspect if I did, and didn't eat back my calories, I'd be exhausted and would probably get unusually tired. Hmm. Either way, it's interesting. Did anyone look at the article on heart rates? I thought it was interesting that the current heart rates may be wrong when doing aerobic activity (too high).

Yeller_Sensation

In cougar country they always work out 6-7 days a week. Fact.

ROFLMAO. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: