How much often do you go to the gym?

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Just curious how often I should be going to the gym every week to start seeing great results? I try to go 3 times a week but someone told me the other day that I should be going every day, is this true?
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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    I go 7 days a week. I do some sort of cardio for 30-60min daily and lift everyday but only one body part. I won't train that body part again till next week.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • BriansTrident
    BriansTrident Posts: 443 Member
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    I go 6 days a well because I honestly have nothing else to do and if I didn’t I’m sure my friends would get me in some kind of trouble. You should go as often as you see fit for what you are trying to achieve
  • janet2030
    janet2030 Posts: 12 Member
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    6 days, without fail, occasionally I'll go 7.
    My training is very mixed.. I do cardio/hiit, resistance and strength and core
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 851 Member
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    I run on the treadmill at the gym 4-5 days a week and play baseball 1-2 times a week. Currently rehabbing my shoulder so I'm not lifting at the moment.
  • zcrowther007
    zcrowther007 Posts: 1 Member
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    4 days a week for weight lifting. General condition, cardio I do outdoors. It really depends on your goals but no matter what you are doing, you must have at least one day a week of rest. Even if you are only doing cardio, going 7 days a week will eventually grind your gears.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,086 Member
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    What @AnnPT77 said.

    I try to hit the gym 5 days a week, taking weekends off. Four days lifting, one day dedicated cardio. My fitness goal is building muscle while protecting joints, with just enough cardio to keep my heart healthy.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,340 Member
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    I “only” go 4x a week, but my sessions are quite long. For health I think it’s important to move everyday, whether that’s the gym, going for a walk, dancing around the house, doing something fun outdoors (I used to rollerblade a lot). If three times a week suits you, then that’s great and sounds like it will be sustainable. But whether it will get you the results you want depends on what you actually want and what you do.

    Also do remember that whilst exercise is vital for health, it won’t make you magically lose weight and it takes time to change your appearance.
  • AntR95
    AntR95 Posts: 7 Member
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    I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer, it all comes down to what you are trying to get out of going to the gym
  • kmuti1
    kmuti1 Posts: 9 Member
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    I go, at most, three times a week. However, I do not spend a lot of time there since it really doesn't benefit you do spend 2,3.or 4 hours there.
    My routine when I go is:
    40 minutes either on treadmill or elliptical
    20 minutes rowing machine
    15 minutes weights

    I alternate on other days by lap swimming 50-60 minutes and that's it.

    Of course make sure you stretch after treadmill and before swimming if you do it.
  • ReReNotMe
    ReReNotMe Posts: 63 Member
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    It depends. If it's cardio I do that more often (though mostly when I'm at work as I cycle between clients as a carer) but I also enjoy Olympic weightlifting which I do 2-4 times a week to give my body a bit more of a break. I'm lucky my uni has a weightlifting society where we work out together with a coach twice a week

    Also it depends what your goals are. If it's muscle growth and tone, having a dedicated back, leg, arm, chest and shoulder day can help, if it's cardio fitness like working on a 10 minute mile then I'd do that more often, if it's weight loss I might have more of a combination of cardio and weight work or if it's strength, like with weightlifting rest days are just as important as lift days so 4 days is probably the upper limit. Also stretching/low-impact resistance band mobility exercises everyday is a must.

    Honestly I don't know where I'm at. I'm still trying to figure out where my workouts best fit with my work/study/home schedule where I still have enough energy for workouts to be effective and safe and I'm not sure if I can lose weight, tone up and gain muscle, improve my strength and cardio fitness simultaneously within those constraints. If anyone has any advice it'd be much appreciated. Thanks :)
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,628 Member
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    It depends on what you’re actually DOING in the gym. How much volume and intensity will determine it. Are you mostly weight training with a little cardio or a little weight training with a lot of cardio? How long are your sessions?

    In light of all that there is no real answer to how many gym days. Generally 3 is fairly normal and 7 is doable as long as you’re not in there beating your self up all the time and are giving muscles enough recovery time.

    Anecdotally it’s been anywhere from 3 to 7, depending on what my goals were at a given time.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    I like to get some form of exercise every day and this time of year it's too hot/humid for me to get most forms of cardio outside. So on the days I don't swim, I go to the gym.
  • coffeeandtruecrime
    coffeeandtruecrime Posts: 20 Member
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    I don't, I exercise at home.
  • Brigit02
    Brigit02 Posts: 130 Member
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    I have free weights and a bench at home. Just started lifting again. Right now, I'm only doing it once a week but will soon increase it to twice. I don't want to rush it and risk any injury.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    It depends on what you mean when you say "seeing great results".

    You can, for example, get a lot stronger going 3 x weekly and following a program like Stronglifts 5 x 5.

    If your goal is hypertrophy (ie bodybuilding) you probably want to be going 6 x weekly and doing something along the lines of push/pull/legs & repeat with the 7th day being a rest day.

    If your goal is weight loss you don't need to go to the gym at all, it's all about the calorie deficit but from a health & fitness perspective working out is a good thing by itself.

    Personally I am lucky to have almost everything I need at home and try to goo for an absolute minimum of 30 to 45 min 7 days a week but I mix it up between running, cycling, rowing and strength training (my goals are more running / triathlon related - gotta get back into swimming).
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    kmuti1 wrote: »
    I go, at most, three times a week. However, I do not spend a lot of time there since it really doesn't benefit you do spend 2,3.or 4 hours there.
    My routine when I go is:
    40 minutes either on treadmill or elliptical
    20 minutes rowing machine
    15 minutes weights

    I alternate on other days by lap swimming 50-60 minutes and that's it.

    Of course make sure you stretch after treadmill and before swimming if you do it.
    That would depend on the goal of the person per se, but an hour is more than enough to get in a good workout.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    JaysFan82 wrote: »
    I run on the treadmill at the gym 4-5 days a week and play baseball 1-2 times a week. Currently rehabbing my shoulder so I'm not lifting at the moment.
    As a rehab specialist, you SHOULD be doing weight resistance training to rehab your shoulder or any other body part to rehab it correctly.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,340 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    JaysFan82 wrote: »
    I run on the treadmill at the gym 4-5 days a week and play baseball 1-2 times a week. Currently rehabbing my shoulder so I'm not lifting at the moment.
    As a rehab specialist, you SHOULD be doing weight resistance training to rehab your shoulder or any other body part to rehab it correctly.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    That’s a really good point. My shoulder took so long to rehab as I had been advised to immobilise it for too long. I ended up with pain owing to weak muscles and compensation in addition to the impingement. It took a lot of work to build the surrounding muscles back up so that they could support the joint again and then sort out the pain. The NHS physios and consultants aren’t really used to people who exercise so I got stuck in a round of “if it hurts don’t do it”, whereas I needed to work to pain then back off, and develop from there. OP - defo see a sports specialist if you can!

  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 1,628 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    JaysFan82 wrote: »
    I run on the treadmill at the gym 4-5 days a week and play baseball 1-2 times a week. Currently rehabbing my shoulder so I'm not lifting at the moment.
    As a rehab specialist, you SHOULD be doing weight resistance training to rehab your shoulder or any other body part to rehab it correctly.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    If the shoulder issue is due to RC then you have to be careful with weights as the wrong exercises can exaserbate the problem.