How to find the right weekly routine for your goals

Working out more means more results…..right?

Wouldn’t it make sense?  The more you put into something, the more you get out of?  

Exercise can be sometimes compared to other activities that have this time = reward balance.  The more time you put in, the better you get.  

For example the more time you put into your career, the better position you can attain.  The more time you put into learning how to cook, the better meals you make.  (usually this stands true..)

However when a client asks me how many days they should work out - the answer is never “You should work out everyday!”

The frequency of your workouts are totally up to you, your goals, and mode of exercise.  

For example, can or should you go for a walk everyday?  Sure, I think going for a walk is most likely a good thing for you (barring any walking related injury!).

However, is it smart to lift weights, go for a run, or do a group class every single day?  Absolutely not.

What I want to talk about today for you is help you to decide what is best for  YOU.  Every single person is unique in their goals, and schedule.  For one person 2 days a week is amazing while for someone else they need 5 days of exercise.  

Let’s dive into who needs what to help you shut the door on what is expected of you for your workouts!

What’s your goal?

There’s no way to give an accurate gauge of how often someone should workout without first knowing what the goal is.  

Goals can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  We need specific parameters to determine what type of routine can get the best results, the fastest.

To keep this simple and to the point, I’m going to break up goals into 4 different groups. 

• Fat loss / General fitness

• Building muscle / strength

• Improving energy / longevity

• Getting back into it after a break

Fat loss / General fitness

For those looking to lose weight and generally feel healthier, the IDEAL amount of days per week will range from 3-5 sessions / week.

Those who have these goals need to focus on consistency, and not necessarily intensity.  

A sample workout routine can look something like this:

Day 1 : Full body strength training + 6-10 minutes of HIIT style training

Day 2: Going for a 30 minute brisk walk

Day 3: Full body strength training + 10 minutes of steady state

Day 4: Hiking, biking or doing some activity that you enjoy for 1 hour.

The key here is to focus on full body strength work while prioritizing getting movement in on a daily basis.  Going for walks and creating a consistent habit will have you feeling and looking better!

Building muscle / strength

The ideal amount of days here would fall between 3-6 sessions per week.  

The focus here needs to be on progressive overload while also allowing time to recover different muscle groups.

An example of a routine:

Day 1: Push day (Bench press / Shoulder press)

Day 2: Leg Day (Back Squat)

Day 3: Pull day (Chinups, Row’s)

Day 4: Leg Day (Deadlift, hamstring focus)

We need to make sure the quality of these movements are on point as the goal is to put on muscle.  You need to have enough volume to stimulate the adaption of growth to occur.

Improving energy / longevity

Ideal sessions per week is 2-4 per week.

The focus on this is to have exercise and fitness become part of your lifestyle.  Things like taking the stairs at work, going for a post dinner walk, prioritizing movement over the weekend for fun activities mixed with full body strength days.

A sample:

Day 1: Full body Circuit with a PUSH emphasis (bench, lunges, squats)

Day 2: Walk for 40 minutes

Day 3: Full body Circuit with  a PULL emphasis (deadlift, rows, pulldowns)

Day 4: Going swimming in the pool for 30 minutes

Getting back to it after a break

Ideal sessions per week is 2-3x per week.

Focus on building the habit of exercise and movement while listening to your body.  

A sample : 

Day 1: Full body circuit mixed with cardio circuit

Day 2: 30 minutes of steady state cardio

Day 3: Full body circuit mixed with cardio circuit

The key here is starting to identify as a person who works out.  Coming back after a break (or even starting for the first time) will be uncomfortable.  Set yourself up for success and focus on the small wins and not push too hard to do too much.

Quality over Quantity

As with most things in life - it’s better to have higher quality, than higher quantity.  

This bodes especially true for exercise.  

Take for example my made up person, Sally.  She has a goal of losing 10 lbs in the next 2 months to prepare for her son’s wedding.  She wants to look good in her dress but isn’t sure what to do for her exercise routine.

Which of these 2 paths would you think work best?

Path A has her working out 6x a week.  She thinks to herself…”Wow I only have 2 months, I need to go hard and make sure I am always doing something to improve and drop the weight”.

So she decides to go to a gym that has group classes.  Let’s say she goes to a gym similar to Orange theory.  A gym that has lots of HIIT style, high intensity classes.  She enjoys running but from time to time her knee will act up.  

She goes to 5 classes a week and then runs on the weekend on her own.  She takes Sunday completely off.

Path B has her working out 3x a week.  She thinks to herself “Wow I really don’t know what I should be doing, let me find a coach to guide me for the next 2 months”.

She decides to go to a coaching gym where she works 1on1 3 times a week.  She does a mix of strength training along with HIIT style finishers.  She uses the rowing machine (something she never has done before, but enjoys it because her knees don’t hurt).

Which one of these paths will lead her to the promised land?

I would be VERY surprised to see path A workout the way she wants it to.  6 days a week with a knee injury , coupled with 5 classes of HIIT style training will take a toll on her body.  Yes she’s getting more movement per week but at what cost?

Path B feels more sustainable to her.  She is guided and feels like she is doing the right things.  

Her weight might come off faster with path A during the first month, but burnout and injury might rear its head.  

What this really comes down to is this:

The body needs adequate rest in order to repair and grow itself.  Rest is key here and even though she feels she’s under the gun with only 2 months to spare - taking rest days revitalizes the body, allowing her to go hard every single time she’s in the gym.  

This intensity and progressive overload will reap so many benefits over the 6x a week workout plan.

This leads me to the next point….

What I recommend here at Forever Fit Method 

When people come to my gym I always start them off slowly so that they can prove both to themselves and to me that their body and schedule can allow for this new habit.  

The sweet spot here for most people is 3-4 days a week.  

No more , no less.  That’s how you get the best results possible.  

IF you are a parent who is busy running your kids around most days of the week - it's unrealistic to believe you can get in 6x a week of training.  

Results don’t come from short sprints of effort but rather the long term, consistent showing up for yourself.  

You don’t need to kill yourself in the gym, live in the gym and make sacrifices in all the other parts of your life.  It’s simply not necessary and is honestly something that will have you regretting the decision to prioritize exercise.  

Exercise and fitness need to be seen from the long-term perspective because that’s where true change lies.  

Recovery is equally important

I have always loved the idea of Yin and Yang.  In life there are always 2 opposing forces.  

• Good vs. evil,

• fast vs. slow,

• work vs. rest.

These dichotomies are inherent in our world.  This especially holds true for exercise.  You need that off switch.

Recovery is more than just taking days off - it’s about meaningful decisions such as hydration, sleep, and stress management.  

If you are super stressed and hitting the gym 6 times wondering why your body hasn’t changed it’s going to be because you are constantly in a stressed state!  Exercise is stressful and we need to recognize it as such.

No doubt exercise can relieve stress in your mind but it CREATES stress in your body.  Being sore, being tired…that all requires you to switch OFF and take a break.  

Sleep and water are the 2 most undervalued assets to your fitness goals.  IF you aren’t getting more than 5 hours of sleep a night - the exercise alone is not going to change your body.  

We are not machines where we can continue to input activity, waiting for that sweet outcome of body change.  We need to let the body heal, for stress to stabilize…and to just generally, take a break.  

Still not sure?   

I’m sure if you are reading this right now - I’m going to guess you aren’t a professional trainer who has the answer for how many days a week is ideal for yourself.  

You don’t need to have all the answers by yourself.

This right here is the power of coaching, and seeking guidance. We cut through the nonsense and approach you from where you are at.  If you have been running in circles working harder and harder in the gym with no real results…come talk to me.  

Stop by the gym, email me…I can help formulate a plan for you.

This stuff doesn’t need to cost you precious brain energy.  And it definitely shouldn’t be something that leads you to bang your head against the wall wishing for the right answer on what you should do, and when.

Stop wasting your time - our time on this earth is too damn precious to waste 6 days a week killing yourself in the gym.

Let’s talk.