The answer to this question really does depend on your goals. Do you want to lose weight? Is increasing muscle your aim? Are you planning to lead a more active lifestyle?
We do fully understand that taking out a gym membership can be a big commitment, so our friendly teams at our Bracknell, Langley and Slough gyms have given their expert advice about how often you should be working out to meet your goals. Spoiler alert, you don’t need to spend hours in a gym every day!
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WORK OUT TO LOSE WEIGHT?
If your goal is to lose weight, medical and nutritional experts suggest that aiming to lose one or two pounds per week is ideal. This ensures that you have an achievable goal, your body doesn’t go into ‘shock’ by losing too much weight quickly, and it means you are more likely to maintain a healthy weight. This can be achieved through regular exercise and nutritious eating.
Work with your gym team to design a programme that combines cardio exercises and strength training. A cardio workout is a vigorous activity that increases your heart rate, and can include using equipment, such as treadmills, rowing machines, and steppers, or taking part in aerobic classes, such as spinning or HIIT. Whereas, strength training includes weights and resistance bands.
We suggest you gradually build up the number of times you visit the gym to four or five times per week, with sessions for cardio and strength lasting for around 30 minutes each.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WORK OUT TO BUILD MUSCLE?
When aiming to enhance muscle, focus on strength training increasing resistance and weights as you get stronger. If you’re new to strength training, our team suggests visiting the gym two or three days a week for beginners, raising to four or five days as you gain experience and muscle strengthens – each workout should last between 20 and 30 minutes.
When taking part in any form of exercise, it’s important to determine a programme that works for you and gives your body time to recover. This could be visiting the gym every week day, then having Saturday and Sunday off, or three days on, then one day off, etc.
Our team is happy to help you create a strength training programme by giving advice on the number of reps for each exercise and when to work on the lower body, the upper body or full body.
HOW CAN A GYM MEMBERSHIP HELP ME INCREASE MY FITNESS LEVEL?
Any form of exercise is good, especially if you have previously been fairly inactive. Taking the plunge and taking out a gym membership is a great thing to do, and the Absolutely Fitness trainers will be extremely welcoming and help you to make a positive lifestyle change.
The government’s physical activity guidelines suggest that adults should undertake 150 minutes of moderate activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity every week. A gym membership could easily help you to reach and smash this target. Have a read of our blog for some top tips on how to make the most out of a gym membership to learn more about the benefits.
Generally, spending 30 minutes in the gym a few times a week will definitely increase your fitness levels. However, it’s important not to jump straight in and push your body to the extreme, as this could do more damage than good by causing an injury. Instead, start slowly and listen to your body – you will know when it’s time to spend an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill or increase the weight of the kettlebells you are using.
If you’re looking to make a change by kick-starting a new fitness programme or joining a new gym, the teams at our Slough, Bracknell and Langley gyms will be happy to show you around – just click book a tour.
