It’s one of life’s biggest questions; how often should you work out? Whether you are a beginner or someone more advanced in your fitness journey, you can question if you work out enough or too much, or maybe you have the perfect balance. No matter your questions we’re here to help you in this blog which will outline the basics around hitting that sweet spot when it comes to working out. So, let’s dive right in with some suggestions for those beginning on their fitness journey.

Starting Off

As someone kickstarting their fitness journey it can often be scary as you wonder not only what to do, but how often to do it when you hit the gym floor or pool. To break it down easily the HSE suggest that people between the ages of 18 and 64 should complete 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity a week, which can be split up into a way that suits you. If you are someone that is only just starting their fitness adventure with no prior experience, we would recommend reaching these goals as a baseline whether that be walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes on three days and then performing some weight training for 30 minutes on two, or something else that you prefer to keep you active. The main thing for a beginner to remember is that fitness is all about building up to where you want to go with consistency being key to achieving your goals, so aim for the minimum at the start, maybe try a few fitness classes, a fitness programme, or going to the gym with friends to gain motivation before hitting your stride.
Intermediate or Advanced Fitness Fanatics

Once you’re at the stage when you feel ready to progress further in your fitness journey, then you can look at either upping the number of days you do or the tempo or intensity of your workouts to fit in more in a busy schedule. So, for someone more advanced it would be recommended to get in more than the two or three days you may have started with as a beginner. We would suggest that mixing cardio and strength training across the space of four or five days a week is ideal for those that are at a more advanced level of fitness. Only you will know what your schedule is as well as how your body feels, so while it is important to push yourself, it is also important to listen to your body and take rest days when needed as you want your body to be ready to hit every workout as hard as possible.
Strength Training and Muscle Growth

Another massive impact on how often you should work out is based around what your end goal is. For many that can be to build strength and muscle, in which case it is vital to allow your muscles time to rest after a tough workout. If this is your target after you have moved out of the beginner phase of your fitness journey, you should look at working all major muscle groups throughout the week, leaving rest days for certain ones, for example, on a Monday focus on upper body strength workouts, on a Tuesday let the upper body rest to hone in on lower body strength training, either take a rest day on a Wednesday, or do some cardio, and so on. It is crucial that you don’t overwork muscle groups if you are building muscle as growth takes place in the periods between workouts, while exhausting your muscles can lead to less visible growth, so overall, someone basing their workouts around strength training might be better off spending less days in the gym then others.
Cardio and Weight Loss

Firstly, we would recommend that no matter what your end goal is, you should mix cardio into your workouts, as a strong cardiovascular system can prevent many issues as life goes on. However, for a large number of people cardio is something they enjoy, and it is a fantastic way to lose weight as you burn a huge amount of calories. As mentioned above it is recommended that that people of all levels of fitness hit the 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week, with cardio being a perfect way to achieve a vigorous workout as you run, cycle, cross-train, swim or so on. All of this type of exercise gets your heart rate climbing, as well as burning fat, but once again it is important not to overtrain here, as we would recommend alternating the intensity of your cardio workouts throughout the week as well as adding in some strength training, meaning for those vigorous cardio workouts, leave some recovery time in between them with three or four days intense cardio being more than enough in a week.
Importance of Balance

Regardless of what category you fall into or what your fitness targets may be it is critically important to ensure that your workout regime is balanced. We recommend splitting your week between cardio and strength training exercises as both have brilliant benefits for your body as well as mind, but it can’t be understated the value of rest. This can be chilling out for a day or if you are someone who like to get their 10,000 steps a day or take a dip in the pool daily then active recovery days might be ideal for you as these are days you don’t have intense workouts rather you go on a light walk, perform some yoga, do some stretches in the pool, and so on. Hitting the gym every single day is simply unsustainable, leading to overtraining and ultimately setting you up for injury further down the road which will halt your progress, so ensure you spread your workouts around all muscle groups, while allowing time for your body to heal.
So How Often Should You Really Work Out?

To cut to the chase, there’s no one size fits all approach when it comes to how often everyone should work out, however, the key is to create a fitness routine that you can stick to and allows balance while increasing your fitness levels. For beginners, heading to the pool or gym one day a week to start with is better than doing nothing at all, or having more days with less intense workouts can be a good way to introduce yourself to a fitness routine before building up. Meanwhile, for people further along their journey it’s about balancing your schedule to allow for workouts of differing tempos as well as ensuring days of rest. Realistically, as mentioned above, you know the demands of your life as well as what your body can handle on any given day, so personalise your workout schedule to suit you, and don’t be afraid to get advice from fitness experts, as we are all different so to achieve our fitness goals will require different amounts of time or training,
How Aura Leisure Can Help

At Aura Leisure we have gym and swimming facilities to suit everyone, with members getting access to everything we have to offer. For those of you who want a helping hand along your fitness journey, our Fit for Life and Lean3 fitness programmes are personalised to allow you reach your goals. While whether you’re kicking off your fitness adventure looking for what you like or someone trying to fit in a quick workout into a busy schedule, our range of fitness classes cater for everyone. No matter what your fitness goals are or how many days you work out we’ve got something for you in order to keep your motivation high in order to build consistency in your workout routine and hit your peak.