How Often Should You Workout?
Kayla Castle • June 1, 2021
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes/per week of moderate-intensity exercise. Or 75 minutes/ per week of vigorous/high-intensity exercise.
What is Moderate vs Vigorous Intensity?
Moderate-intensity exercise:
gets your heartbeat beating faster but you are still able to talk. From perspective 50-70% of your maximum heart rate. An example of a moderate-intensity exercise would be power walking.
Vigorous/high-intensity exercise: is your highest intensity about 70-85% of your maximum heart rate. An example of vigorous/high-intensity exercises would be sprinting and HITT workouts.
Your Weekly Schedule?
While creating a workout schedule is unique to the individual based on your goals and lifestyle. Here is a good starting point template that you can customize to your own specific goals.
If you’re a beginner, I recommend 2-3 workouts per week.
If you’re intermediate, I recommend 4-5 workouts per week.
If you’re advanced, I recommend 5-6 workouts per week.
That being said, fitness is cumulative meaning it matters just as much what you do out of the gym as it does in the gym.
A few simple tweaks can help increase your daily activity:
• Park your car further away when grocery shopping so you have to walk further to the store
• Take the stairs over the elevator/escalator
• Walk if feasible instead of taking the subway/bus/car
• Go for a 10-15-minute walk after dinner. Aids in digestion and helps reduce stress from the day.
• Get your family involved, take the kids to the park, do a couple’s workout or take your dog for a walk
What types of workout should I do if trying to lose weight?
This depends on what level of fitness you are at (beginner/intermediate/advanced) but a good foundation would be 50:50. If you workout 4x a week, have 2x workouts resistance-based and the other 2x workouts cardio-based.
Example weekly workout schedule:
Monday/Friday: cardio workouts
Tuesday/Thursday: resistance workouts
Wednesday/Sunday: rest
Saturday: active recovery (plan to do 1 active thing not based in the gym, such as playing in the park or going for a hike)
What even more?
Head over to the contact page to connect with me. Together we can create a workout schedule based on your needs and goals. With support and accountability, I am here to help you on your fitness journey!
Do you find looking at nutrition labels to be confusing and overwhelming? There is a lot of information there, with lots of numbers that add to the confusion. Let’s break down the top things to look out for on a nutrition label:
You know when you eat something sweet and then later in the day you start feeling sluggish and tired? That sugar crash feeling is from a sharp rise in blood sugar levels followed by a decline. Having consistent blood sugar levels provides us with a consistent energy boost. By structuring our meals in a balanced pattern, you will be less likely to experience a “sugar crash”.
"Your health and wellbeing should be your #1 priority, nothing else is more important" ~ Robert Cheeke
