I get tens of emails every week from readers who want to know how many times per week they should workout. It is an important question that deserves a detailed answer. In this post I will look at all the factors that determine how many times per week you should workout.
How many times a week should I workout?
In this post I will be looking at the main factors that we need to know when deciding how often we should workout. Each of these factors needs to be addressed by the individual athlete as it is hard to give blanket generalizations.
These factors include:
- Your workout goals
- Your time constraints
- Your fitness levels
- The type of training
- Your diet
All of these things need to be addressed. At the end I will give some loose guidelines as to how many times a week you should workout.
What are your workout goals?
The first thing you need to look at is what your training goals are. This has the biggest impact on how often you train.
For example, if you are training to compete in the Beijing Olympics then you need to train every single day of the week. You need to dedicate your life to it. If you are training to keep healthy and maybe lose a bit of weight then three or four times a week might be enough. The amount you train should be directly related to your training goals.
That being said, do not confuse quantity with quality. Professional bodybuilders may spend hours at the gym but they are quality hours. They do not just float through their sessions.
What are your time constraints?
My friend and I are always talking about how work and university study gets in the way of training. We really would love to train more but because of our other commitments we simply do not have the time. If we tried to train instead of doing these things our work, money, grades and health would all suffer.
You should try to work with your time constraints as opposed to fighting them. For example, if you work late shifts perhaps join an all night gym or go to late night martial arts classes. There is always some option.
What are your fitness levels
People always write to me and ask a blanket question “how many times a week should I workout”? It it very difficult to answer because I do not know this person’s fitness levels. What if they were a 64 year old man with a heart condition and I said “yeah go ahead and workout six times per week”? They probably would not last long.
You need to be honest with yourself and assess how fit you are when trying to determine how many times you should workout per week. If you are a beginner you should not train everyday. If you have a chronic injury you should not train everyday. The body needs rest time to recover and grow and if you push yourself you will just end up making yourself sick.
What type of training are you doing?
If you are doing an hour of 5×5 power lifting every single day of the week then chances are you are doing too much. If you are bodybuilding and you work out the same muscles three days in a row then chances are you are doing too much. If you are doing tai chi once a week then chances are you aren’t doing enough.
It is important to look at what type of training you are doing. This involves listening to your body and seeing if it is giving you signs that you are doing too much. Signs that you are doing too much include:
- Headaches
- Bad sleep
- Lack of muscle growth
- Persistent tiredness
- Mood swings
If you have any of these symptoms perhaps try cutting back on the amount of training you are doing and see if it makes a difference. Check out our full article on overtraining here for more information. On the other hand, signs that you aren’t doing enough training include:
- Unusual weight gain
- Poor muscle growth (bodybuilders)
- Poor strength gains
- Loss of flexibility
What is your diet like?
The last thing I like tell people when they ask about training frequency is their diet. If your diet is average then you should not be training frequently. If you are living on pizza and beer then you should not be hitting the weights six days per week.
Make sure you are getting enough protein, vitamins, minerals and water. You want to be eating a lot of fruit, vegetables and natural foods as well as supplementing your diet when you need to.
So how many times a week should I workout?
Based on all of the above factors there are some loose guidelines that you can follow to make sure you are not over or under training. Remember, the amount you workout should be individual and determined on your own after listening to an experimenting with your body.
Bodybuilders - If you want to gain muscle you should workout at least four times a week. Make sure you give yourself at least a days rest or, better yet, split your routine so each muscle group gets a full weeks rest. Never train when your muscles are sore.
Fitness - If you are trying to increase your fitness levels you should start with three light sessions per week and work your way up. For example, you might run for an hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then increase that amount weekly by walking or playing tennis.
Strength Trainers - If you are trying to gain strength my personal opinion is that less is more. Make your sessions heavy and intense and then give your body a lot of time to recover. Muscles grow when you are resting, not when you are training. Three times a week with some maintenance work should be enough.
Martial Artists - If you are trying to become an expert of a martial art you should train every single day of your life. The reason for this is that martial arts takes years to develop as you need to work with your inner energies as well as the outer forms. The reason you can workout everyday without overtraining is because you are working with your breath, internal energy as well as your soft forms. Each day does not have to be a full on cardio workout.
Sports People and Athletes - If you are trying to become a professional sports player or professional athlete you need to work on your game every single day. It is about harnessing a skill, not building a muscle. For this reason you need to give it time. Try to increase your fitness and weight training workout frequency as the season gets closer and work on your technique all year round.
People Trying to Lose Weight - Big thanks to Brandi from Market Me for pointing out that I had neglected to give some loose pointers on people trying to lose weight. Basically, if you are trying to lose weight you need weights and cardio. At the minimum I would say two weight sessions and three cardio sessions per week would be needed. Perhaps the best thing to do is a gym session where you do both weights and cardio four times a week.
I am open to discussion on these issues. Does anyone disagree or have anything else to add?
March 25th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
What would you recommend for people that fall into the weight loss category? There should be a mixture of weight training and cardio so say 3 days of weight training and 3-4 days of cardio?
March 25th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Brandi - I can’t believe I didn’t put that in the section down the bottom! I’m editing it now so check it out and let me know what you think.
Thanks!
RT
March 26th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Dear RT,
Thank you for taking the time to write this article. So, I was wondering if the type of workout will make any difference. For example, if I do exercises like pushups and pullups, would training once a week be sufficient?
Amr
March 26th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Thanks RT. I am working on shedding some pounds myself right now and my current schedule is weight training and cardio 3 times a week at the gym and a 4th cardio workout once a week at home. It is when I consistently get the 4th cardio session in that I see the best results so right in line with what you suggested as well. Thanks!
March 26th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Amr -
That depends on your goals. For example, if you just want to do a few exercises to stay healthy once a week might be enough. But remember, this website is about REAL MUSCLE so we train pretty hard. I do not think training once a week is enough to gain size.
Thanks for the comment!
RT
March 26th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Brandi - That is a good amount I reckon. Its not too much but it is quite enough to see good results. Actually, for the last year or so I have not trained more than 3 or 4 times a week. I usually step it up around summer time when there is more going on.
Thanks for all your comments.
RT
March 26th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Hey man great post.
I train everyday at the gym with weights and still get some good growth. i think this is possible because i have a good diet and a split that allows me to rest for a few days before i hit the muscles again.
however, i do feel some of the symptoms you mentioned about overtraining…
Hamish
March 26th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Great article! Great site! I just found you on Stumble.
I think what you say about martial arts is so true. You really do have to plug away even a little bit each day. I started making so much more progress at BJJ when I really knuckled down and did a bit everyday.
Keep up the great work.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Hamish - I think you know what you are doing but I would recommend taking at least a day off each week. I think you will find you will grow more if you workout less. At least give yourself a few weeks off over Christmas time to let your body recover.
Muscle Freak - thanks for the kind words. As a friend of mine once said “Martial arts is time. nothing else”.
RT
March 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Great shot of Arnie! Looks like he is using bad form though! haha.
I was training everyday but I had to cut back. My body was showing all the warning signs of overtraining.
Great post. Keep it up….
Jess
March 27th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Jessie - I am glad you took that step.
Thanks for the comments.
Rt
April 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 am
Hi! Good looks on the site Rt
I work out at home to build some mass for my muay thai training. How many months should i train before i see results and is it ok to do the same routine with 2 days rest after every training day? i do cardio and muay thai the day after my weights training.
Here’s my routine btw
normal pushups
inclined pushups
dips (if not too fatigued)
dumbbell press - *side question: is it better to do it on the floor or on a bench? because ive read it somewhere that its better to do it on the floor to isolate the chest, only hitting a bit of shoulders and tris*
bench fly
arnold press
military press
dumbbell shoulder press
abs / crunches
i do 8 reps / 3 sets and if its not hittin’ it anymore i gradually increase reps to 10 and then to 12 . And if 12 reps is not hittin’ it anymore i gradually increase the weights by 5 lbs. Is my routine ok or am i prone to overtraining? Advice please..
PS.
Im a noob at this so thats why i ask a lot of questions so please dont laugh at me.. lol
April 11th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
i workout for about 3 to 4 hours and do every possible muscle i can and im usually sore for about 3 to 4 days and i eat a ton of protien. i only work out again when i am not sore anymore. is this good to do?
April 11th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
usctr - sorry man but this is not a great idea in my opinion. Never workout for more than about an hour per session or your body builds up some pretty nasty acids that work against muscle growth.
Try making a program that is more balanced - I suggest a split routine.
RT
April 11th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Ed - thanks for posting your routine.
If you want to get good at kickboxing you need to focus on that as your main goal. Don’t worry too much about weight training.
However, that being said your weights routine needs some work. You are doing four exercises for the shoulders and four for the chest but none for the back, biceps or legs! You got to address that.
When I was doing some serious martial arts I kept my weight training to three days a week using pretty heavy weight. Try to do full body exercises or mulit-muscle compound exercises like:
Squats
Chin Ups
Dips
Military Press
Deadlifts
Bench Press
These are your best bet.
Hope this helps. These are just suggestions though my friend!
RT
April 12th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
thanks for the advice RT. currently im laying off the weights as what you suggested. im just doing circuit and plyometric routines with the muay thai training, building some mass is a must specially when we use our bodies to block a strike.. One thing i learned about building mass through weights is it hurts a lot on the cardio (just my observation).
Thanks again RT.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Thankx for the article. Do you think that working out everyday for two ours out of which 1 hour adn 30 minutes is strictly cardio and the other 30 minutes for weight lifting too much for someone who wants to loose weight? Now ive been working out for three months for an hour everyday and changed my diet n i only lost 6 pounds. So some gave me a new workout routine which i just started and I think my body is already getting use to it. Oh im always tired now. What do u think?
April 25th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Ed - good to hear.
Angel - are you male or female? If you are female then it is a lot harder to lose weight. You have less testosterone and less muscle mass which are keys for losing weight. Women have to be essentially calorie perfect when it comes to weight loss.
As far as training too much are you having any overtraining symptoms as mentioned above? If your body isn’t responding to the work then my guess is it isn’t right for you. I would suggest (see a doctor first) but shorter sessions with more intense workouts. Boxing, kickboxing, circuits, etc.
Let us know how it goes.
RT
April 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
There seems to be a contradiction;
Under “Bodybuilding” you said that you should work out 4 times per week to really grow muscle. But under “Strength Training” you said ‘less is more because muscle grows when you’re resting not training, so work out 3 days or less.
I have attached the full paragraphs for your review;
Bodybuilders - If you want to gain muscle you should workout at least four times a week. Make sure you give yourself at least a days rest or, better yet, split your routine so each muscle group gets a full weeks rest. Never train when your muscles are sore.
Fitness - If you are trying to increase your fitness levels you should start with three light sessions per week and work your way up. For example, you might run for an hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then increase that amount weekly by walking or playing tennis.
Strength Trainers - If you are trying to gain strength my personal opinion is that less is more. Make your sessions heavy and intense and then give your body a lot of time to recover. Muscles grow when you are resting, not when you are training. Three times a week with some maintenance work should be enough.
End
So what method will gain more muscle and how many times per week will gain more muscle.
thank you.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Hey Rick. Thanks for the comment. Remember, these are just general guidelines and not hard and fast rules.
Ok, so, the reason the two are different is because for bodybuilding you would normally split your routine into bodyparts which means you can work out more often without hitting the muscle twice. For example you might do back and bis, chest and tris, legs and then shoulders.
However, with strength training you usually do a full body workout so need to give yourself more days rest in between sessions.
Does that make sense? Cheers.
RT