How Often Should You Work Out?

How often you should work out depends on several factors, like your activity level, age, fitness goals, and more. It's generally important to get 150 minutes of moderate aerobic (cardio) exercise per week. This is about 30 minutes per day, five days per week.

The best schedule for you is one you can consistently follow. You may opt for 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, which is 25 minutes per day, three days per week. The ideal workout plan also includes two days of strength training.

Physical Activity Guidelines

Staying physically active improves your fitness and lowers the risk of conditions like heart disease and obesity. How often you work out depends on your activity level and the time you have available. Start with a small goal if you are new to exercise. You could reduce your time sitting, like going for a walk before or after a meal.

Different types of physical activity include:

• Balance, which helps prevent falls
• Cardio, or aerobic or endurance exercise
• Flexibility, which increases agility and range of motion
• Strength training

How you schedule your workouts and what you do comes down to what you enjoy the most. Finding pleasure in your workout will keep you consistent and lead to results.

Cardiovascular Exercise

What you choose to do for cardio comes down to what you enjoy doing. Research has found that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and Tabata are some of the most effective cardio exercises.

HIIT, or circuit workouts, are intense, quick workouts. Tabata is a more intense version of HIIT you can do with or without weights. You work for 20 seconds, rest for 10, then repeat for eight total rounds. You can quickly work up a solid sweat in 25-30 minutes.

Other examples of cardio exercises include:

• Biking
• Doing yard work, such as pushing a lawn mower
• Jogging
• Playing sports like basketball and tennis
• Running
• Swimming or water aerobics
• Walking

Try intensifying your cardio workouts if you are working out three days per week. You might opt for a low-intensity cardio workout if you exercise for long periods. 

Strength Training

Strength training keeps your muscles strong. Aim for at least two days of strength training per week.

Examples of strength training include:

• Body-weight exercises, such as crunches, push-ups, sit-ups, and planks
• Gardening 
• Using resistance bands
• Weight lifting
• Yoga

Try incorporating different types of strength training exercises that work all major muscle groups, including:

• Abdomen
• Arms
• Back
• Chest
• Hips
• Legs
• Shoulders
  

How Much You Should Work Out for Your Goals

Incorporating cardio and strength training into your workout regimen can help you build strength and lose or maintain weight. Combining these workouts supports overall health. Here's how your workout frequency and intensity may vary depending on your goals.

General Health

It's important to do 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week. You might split this into five 30-minute workouts per week. You could also opt for 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.

Examples of weekly workouts include:

• Briskly walk for 30 minutes five days per week
• Jog or run for 25 minutes three days per week
• Do 30 minutes of walking and running intervals two or more days per week

Muscle Gain

Aim for two 30-minute workouts that target the entire body to gain muscle. You may include compound movements, or exercises that work multiple muscles at once. Examples include deadlifts, pull-ups, push-ups, and squats.

Add lower and upper body days if you have more time and want to build muscle. Lower body exercises include hinge exercises like deadlifts, lunges, and squats. Think about push and pull exercises on upper body days. Push moves include chest presses and push-ups, and pull moves include pull-ups and rows.

Try to increase the volume of your session as you get more fit. Increase the weight you use and the total repetitions you perform per exercise. Continuously progressing will help build lean muscle mass and strength.

Here's what a week of workouts may look like if you want to gain muscle:

Weight Loss

It's important to create a calorie deficit to lose weight. Physical activity helps burn calories, in addition to a balanced, reduced-calorie diet. You may need to increase the length of time or number of days you exercise to lose weight. Exercising 60 minutes daily, five times per week, may help you lose weight.

A 154-pound person may burn the following calories in 60 minutes:

• 280 calories briskly walking
• 330 calories dancing
• 510 calories swimming laps
• 590 calories jogging or running at a pace of five miles per hour

How many calories you burn in 60 minutes depends on several factors, such as the intensity of your exercise and weight. How many calories you must burn to create a calorie deficit also varies. Talk to a healthcare provider to create a weight-loss plan that works for you. 

A Quick Review

It's generally advised to exercise five days per week. How often you should work out can depend on your available time and fitness level. Aim for a mix of cardio and strength training during the week. You can mix up the type of workouts you do across alternating days or on the same days. 

Taking rest days is just as essential as exercise days. Catch up on sleep, hydrate, and lightly stretch or foam roll. Rest days help prepare your body for your next workout.