How Often Should I Exercise?

There’s a big misconception that to be healthy we need to live at the gym. While this is a great choice for a lot of fitness enthusiasts, not everyone is as crazy in love with working out. So if you don’t love to exercise but, you want the benefits, what’s the minimum you can get away with each week?

There are many benefits to working out, from losing weight, relieving stress, and alleviating health conditions. These same benefits can play a role in deciding the length and the type of workouts you should be doing.

There are several factors that play into choosing a fitness plan.

1. Your current fitness level.

2. Your time commitment.

3. Your state of health.

4. The results you are hoping to get.

The World Health Organization recommends 150 minutes of activity for adults 18-65 years of age. This is a guideline set for the average healthy adult. It is not meant to be taken as a minimum or maximum. You may need less or more depending on the factors mentioned above.

Can’t Run To Save Your Life??? Then you’ll probably not want to go run a 5k Monday morning.

A huge part of deciding on a plan is having it fit your current fitness level. There are plans that are specifically designed for people who are already conditioned to working out regularly. Don’t let that scare you, there are also plans that are designed for beginners. Most workout videos assign a person to be used as an example of what to do if you are not ready to go at the intensity of the trainer, and they usually also have a person going at a greater intensity for those that are ready to go harder.

It’s important to always go at your own pace. Always focus on perfecting your form, rather than trying to keep up. After a while, the steps will get easier and you’ll be able to go faster. If in the beginning, you can only go steady for 5 minutes at a time, that is okay, take a break, and then keep going!

Everyone Says They Don’t Have Time! Unless it’s for a Netflix binge.

Let’s be honest, we have time for what we want to have time for and if we really want to work on our health, we can spare 10 minutes to an hour a few times a week. There are programs that fit practically any time schedule. Some programs promise results with just 10 minutes a day and some are a full hour several times a week. Can you spare 30 minutes a day for your health? You need to ask yourself what type of commitment you are willing to make.

If you are a healthy adult, most of the decisions you make regarding a fitness regime are based on what you are willing to do but if you are a dealing with any health conditions then you have more to consider. As a rule of thumb, talk to your doctor first, before starting any fitness plan.

The recommended amount of time working out above is set for just general health. If your aim is to lose weight, build muscle, or run a marathon, then the amount of time you need to workout is going to be higher and the intensity will differ.

This is where having a coach to help you make these decisions can make a huge difference.

So how much do you need to workout?

The reason there are a million answers out there is because the answer is different for each person.

The first step is deciding that you want to work on your health and with that decision comes the commitment to make it work!

If you need help, contact me and we can choose the perfect plan for you!