Losing weight is never easy, especially in the beginning when you finally get motivated and expect to see results fast. People think that exercising every day will get them to desired results much faster, but in reality, it would lead to exhaustion and it might even be harmful to your body.
It is very important to rest and let muscles grow and then start another session when you are rested and full of energy. Also, it is not recommended to skip too much or workout irregularly, this will also slow down your progress immensely.
As with all things in life, it is important to find a balance, devise a workout plan that suits your body and daily tasks and stick to it with discipline.
In order to find out how often you need to exercise to lose weight, we had a chat with guys over at World Gym who were more than willing to share their experience to help everyone in need.
How often do you need to exercise?
You can’t find a universal answer here. We are all individuals with different body types, metabolisms, physical readiness, lifestyles, everyday obligations, and not everyone have exactly the same amount of time to dedicate to gym visits. Either way, workout methods are also not set in stone, you can very easily set a unique programme that works perfectly for you and follow it regularly.
If you are a beginner and are looking to see results early on, it is recommended to workout both strength and cardio and thus cover all important aspects for efficient results. For example two days cardio, one day rest, two days strength, one day rest, and repeat.
It is also wrong to push yourself too hard in the beginning and overdo it just to seemingly speed up the process. This might lead to injury and exhaustion which would definitely slow down your progress, or even make you quit in anger or disappointment.
As I stated above, beginnings are always hard and that’s why it is important to start properly and by-the-book in order to, first and foremost, adjust your body to regular physical activity, and more importantly, see good results for the time and effort you invested.
When it comes to a duration of a single session you really shouldn’t cross the 90 minutes mark, there is no need to put your body at risk.
Depending on your lifestyle you should exercise between 30 and 90 minutes. When you start it is best to have a few shorter sessions often than one big session once per week. If possible, hire a personal trainer as guided training can get you better results and make sure you don’t injure yourself.
When can you expect results?
This is probably the most asked question when people start going to the gym. Not everyone will have the same results over a period of time. There are many factors that come into the equation, for example: how many hours per week you put in, how intensive your workout is, are you getting enough rest, are you eating properly and regularly?
All of these questions are best answered by a professional trainer and a nutritionist who can help you create an individual workout regime and diet to get the most out of your hard work.
Overall, you should try and adjust your way of life to regular training, but of course, not too drastically so that your aspects of life have to suffer. Results will show if you are working out correctly and if you stick to your ‘’prescribed’’ schedule. The motivation to continue will grow simultaneously with your visible weight loss and from that, you can only move forward.
