How many day a week should I exercise?

It depends on how quickly you want to see results. Training 6 days a week is ok as long as you don't injure yourself... but it sounds like you might be doing that already. Do you go to a gym to workout? You might try doing cycling some days instead of the treadmill to give your hips a break. Also, if you jog every single day you body starts to adapt to that training.

It's hard to tell someone else how often to exercise because you'll have your own capabilities and goals... but I try to exercise 5 times a week, normally for 45-60 minutes (fast uphill walking on a treadmill and stationary bike).

If I don't do at least that much I feel like I'm not doing enough.

Rest is as important as exercise itself, unless you're exercising different parts of your body on different days or are a athlete you shouldn't exercise 7 days a week in my opinion.
If your shins hurt badly you may have shin splints, and if you had a accident this is one more reason to be careful and not push it too much.
The only treatment for shin splints is rest, so take a couple of days and don't exercise your lower body, get a DVD or workout videos and do core and upper body work instead. Then if you feel you must exercise every day or very frequently alternate core and upper body workouts with running/walking etc this will give both parts of the body a rest day in between to recover.

If you can and have a heart rate monitor, monitor your resting heart rate daily when you wake up, a patern will start emerging after a while, if you see your heart rate significant higher then your normal it is time to stop.

Good luck.

Cardio can be done everyday. It is strength training that they say to switch up different days.

I know people keep saying to take a rest day, but I have been having a hard time doing it too, I am afraid I'll start making excuses to not work out the next day as well. Taking a rest day can help you lose weight faster though, and may help your hips stop hurting. Or you could just have a less intense workout one day a week. Also, if your hips and shins hurt, you may need new shoes. Good luck!

I recommend at least one rest day a week. Whether or not you need it for muscle repair (depends on how hard you've been working it), having one rest day is good for the mind and your motivation to keep at it. Exercising 7 days a week and burning out after 2 months isn't going to really get you anywhere long term. Just don't over eat/drink on the rest day.

It just depends on how you feel. If you want to exercise 7 days a week and you can manage it, DO IT! But right now it sounds like you should take a couple of rest days and let your shins and hips cool down. Maybe take an anti-inflammatory or something as well if you feel like it. Our running schedule is...

Mon - Rest
Tues - Mid-range run (about 6 miles right now)
Wed - Mid-range run
Thu - Rest
Fri - Short run
Sat - Rest
Sun - Long run

In a perfect world we would do some kind of cross training on the rest days like cycling, tennis, swimming, walking, hiking etc. This schedule works pretty well for us, keeps us on track for our goals and gives enough rest that we don't get hurt or burnt out.

I'd recommend working out M T Th F and resting on W Sa Su. You could switch from cardio to strength training (lifting weights) on your cardio off days.Exercising with intensity every single day is fine for short programs (like 30DS), but I don't think it's practical for every day use.

I would definitely say to take at least one day a week to let your body rest, especially in light of your previous accident. It's better to rest one day than be out of commission for a week+ from over doing it.