This week’s Q&A session answers the question: “How often should I workout in a week?”

I answered this question in a Facebook Live video this morning, but in case you missed my answer, you can check it out in the video below, watch it on YouTube, or read through my answer below!

How many workouts should I be performing in a week?

Obviously, this question can differ depending on your current activity level and your goals. That being said, the CDC recommends that you get 150 minutes of exercise in a week. This would equal out to 5 30-minute sessions, or 3 50-minute sessions a week.

I like to tell my clients that if you’re already active and you want to remain at your current physical fitness level, 2 workouts in a week is sort of the minimum. 3-5 workouts a week is really where I like to see most of my clients, especially if they want to start losing weight, building strength or both.

What kind of exercise should I focus on during that time?

When it comes down to planning what type of exercise you should be focusing on throughout the week, it will depend a bit on what results you are looking for. I usually like to see my clients working on strength at least 2 days a week (if not 3), with a mix of cardio and higher intensity interval training the rest of the week.

So if you’re working out 3 days a week, I would suggest that you focus on strength for 2 of those days, and hiit training or cardio the other day. If you’re working out 5 days a week, that could mean 3 days where you’re focusing on strength, 1 day of sprints or hiit training, and 1 day of slower paced, endurance focused cardio.

Consistency & Exercise Preferences

The bottom line really comes down to consistency. So if that means you can only fit 2 workouts in a week consistently, start there. That is totally okay and you can tell your friends I said so. Once you have established that pattern, you can build on that success. If you find you can consistently fit 5 workouts in a week, that’s great, too! Just make sure you are allowing yourself enough time for rest & recovery. You don’t want to burn yourself out, either.

It’s also super important to actually enjoy the type of exercise you are getting. So if you absolutely hate sprinting, and I make you do it 2 times a week, you are going to dread working out and most likely you won’t continue to do it in the long run. Find what you like and focus on that. You should enjoy your workouts, they shouldn’t be something you hate every time you go to do them.

I hope this helped! Let me know if you have any questions! You know where to find me if you do!

xoxo,

Zoe Lauryn

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