How Often Should I Exercise?
“How often should I exercise?”
It’s one of the questions I get asked all the time.
And, slightly annoyingly, the answer is…
It depends. 😂
Your goals, current fitness level, training experience, lifestyle and recovery all matter. Someone completely new to exercise doesn’t need the same weekly routine as someone who has been training consistently for ten years.
First of all: you don’t need to train every day
More exercise isn’t automatically better.
Your body needs enough training to create a reason to adapt — but it also needs time to recover from it.
If you train hard every single day, constantly feel exhausted and your performance is going backwards, adding another workout probably isn’t the answer.
Consistency beats trying to destroy yourself for two weeks and then giving up.
If you’re new to exercise
For most beginners, 2–3 structured workouts per week is a fantastic place to start.
That gives you enough training to improve strength and fitness while still allowing plenty of recovery between sessions.
You can then build other activity around those workouts:
Walking
Cycling
Swimming
Playing sport
Gardening
Generally moving more during the day
Exercise doesn’t only count when you're wearing gym clothes and holding a dumbbell.
What about general health?
UK physical activity guidelines recommend adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, alongside strengthening activities on at least two days per week.
That doesn’t mean you need to suddenly find two and a half spare hours and spend them on a treadmill.
A brisk 30-minute walk five times a week gets you to 150 minutes.
Then add a couple of resistance-training sessions and you’ve already built a very solid week of exercise.
If you want to build strength or muscle
For most people, I’d usually want to see 2–4 resistance-training sessions per week, depending on experience, goals and how much time they realistically have available.
Two good sessions every week will beat four sessions that constantly get cancelled.
With a properly designed programme, you can train each major muscle group regularly, progressively increase what you’re asking your body to do and give yourself enough recovery to actually adapt.
Because remember: you stimulate progress during training. You recover and adapt afterwards.
What if your goal is weight loss?
This is where people sometimes make the mistake of thinking: “I want to lose weight, therefore I need to exercise every day.”
You don't.
Exercise is incredibly useful, but trying to burn yourself into a calorie deficit with endless workouts usually isn't a particularly enjoyable or sustainable strategy.
I’d much rather see someone:
Strength train consistently
Get plenty of daily movement
Include some cardiovascular exercise
Eat appropriately for their goal
Sleep properly
Recover well
…and actually be able to maintain it.
Rest days don't mean sitting completely still
A rest day from structured training doesn’t necessarily mean lying on the sofa trying not to move a muscle. 😂
Walking, gentle cycling, mobility work or simply being active with your family can all be perfectly appropriate.
There’s a big difference between resting from hard training and being inactive.
So, how often should you exercise?
For a lot of people, a very sensible starting point would look something like:
2–3 strength-training sessions per week
Regular walking and general daily movement
1–3 cardiovascular sessions or other activities you enjoy
That could mean you’re physically active most days without doing a hard workout every day.
And if you're currently doing nothing? Don't look at those numbers and think you've already failed.
Start with one workout.
Start walking more.
Then build from there.
Going from doing very little to doing something regularly can make a huge difference.
The best exercise routine is the one you can actually maintain
There’s no prize for having the most complicated training schedule.
Your programme needs to fit around your work, family, recovery and everything else going on in your life.
Some people thrive training five times per week. Someone else might make fantastic progress training twice.
The important questions are:
Are you consistent?
Are you gradually progressing?
Are you recovering properly?
And can you imagine still doing this six months from now?
If the answer is yes, you're probably on the right track.
If you're not sure how often you should be training, or what your week should actually look like, that's exactly the sort of thing we can work out together.
I offer a free 30-minute consultation at my private personal training studio in Sevenoaks Weald, where we can discuss your goals, your current routine and the best way forward for you.
Enjoyed this? There's more coming. 💪
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