I am in the process of losing weight (like all of us here). I have a easy question (I have not been able to find the answer here): how many times a week should one workout?

I know the more the better, but is there a minimum? Should you rotate (I know you are supposed to switch up muscle groups). Currently, I am working out 3x a week (W, R, F), and have a personal trainer one of those days.

Thanks ahead...

Actually "the more the better" is NOT the answer. Overtraining can be worse for you than undertraining.

When you're lifting weights and/or doing bodyweight exercises that stress your muscles, you should allow a full 48 hours between workouts to allow your muscles (and your nervous system) to recover. (Yes, you can alternate muscle groups to allow you to work out every day - say upper body one day and lower body the next, but if you're doing full body, compound exercises, you must give your body a break by taking a day off between.)

Cardio you can do every day, but you need to balance out the amount of cardio you're doing with the number of calories you're eating. You can burn too many calories and put your body into a form of "starvation mode" that way as well.

Somewhere between 3-5 times a week seems to be the average for most people who are successfully losing/maintaining weight.

in addition to what KaraCooks says, IF you do overworkout right away then your body will either:

1. plateau quickly. This means that your body has to adjust quickly to the sudden leap of activity and your body won't show physical results.
2. Injure yourself.

Also if you don't ease yourself in, you might get sick of it and fall off the wagon of working out. I've seen people go full gung-ho and then get tired of it within 3 weeks. They don't figure out a routine they enjoy and then quit

Read this sticky. It exists for good reason.

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weigh...t-lifting.html

Although 48 hours is ok, I believe 72 hours is much better for the average person. I say this because when you do a good biceps workout on monday, they probably won't be sore until tuesday or wednesday. And contrary to what some people say, yes they should be sore for at least a day. This is how you know that you tore the muscle down and it will regrow bigger with proper nutrition of course. So in the above example, I wouldn't work out the biceps again until thursday or friday. It depends on your body. You will develop a mind/muscle connection after a few months and you will know when and how often you can work the same muscle group.

First, anyone who has a day dedicated solely to bicep work is misguided.

Second, 48-72 hours is the general rule of thumb for recovery based on what we know about protein synthesis supercompensation.

Actually no, delayed onset muscle soreness is not an indicator of this.

Thanks all! I have read a lot of the stickies, but I missed this one I think. I will read it next.

My goal is 3x a week, and so far, only one week has happened with that. This week will only be 2x, but after that I hope to maintain the 3x. For me to go to the gym 3x last week alone was a great accomplishment (and I enjoyed it).

Easy there. Training biceps on monday is just an example. Everything I know about working out is from real world experience on my own body and from fellow bodybuilders. All I mean is don't workout the same gruop of muscles if they are still sore. You can show me all the scientific proof you want about delayed muscle soreness. If you don't experience delayed muscle soreness then you didn't do anything to the muscle is all I am trying to say.

Haha, breathe. Don't insert tone in my posts as so many are inclined to do. I'm "easy." Trust me. Just being factual.

Fair enough. This doesn't change the validity of my statement.

Cool.

Right.

And what I'm saying is this is false.

We know what contributes to hypertrophy and DOMS is not one of the required factors. There is plenty of data on this. And if you want to throw science out the window, as you seem inclined to do, anecdote speaks for itself. I train for a living. I get paid to help people lose fat and build muscle. Also, I personally have an above-average level of muscle mass myself.

The goal of my client's workouts as well as my own is not to induce soreness. That would be silly.

If you care to educate yourself a bit on the subject, you might enjoy reading one of the better pieces I've seen on the subject of DOMS. If not, suit yourself. No skin off my back.

Why Your Muscles Get Sore: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and Exercise | AmpedTraining.com | Matthew Perryman, CSCS

Just realize I don't consider *you* when I'm replying to posts. I don't know you and my reply has nothing to do with you. I only apply based on the information that's presented and my intentions are solely to maintain the integrity of information.

That is a HUGE load of horse hockey.

If you experience DOMS, then you're overworking. There's a difference between a nice stretchy "worked muscle" feeling and DOMS. DOMS is painful, usually worse the 2nd day, and often makes regular daily activities difficult. It can actually discourage new people from continuing with a reasonable exercise plan because they think they are going to be in pain all the time.

I think you need to do more research before you offer advice to people who are looking for genuine help.

Honestly all I can say is wow! Because I do not get paid to train people I don't know what I'm talking about? I need to do more research? I'm not a big arguing type of person but when what I have to say is said to be untrue it does make me think about my knowledge. There are hundreds of people who know me as someone who researches way to much. Research only goes so far. You could litterally research for 24 hours on one aspect of lifting weights for example and come up with 10 different "truths". I suppose if all scientific research were sanctioned by one governing body it would be more valid. There are just to many variables when it comes to the research. This is just my opinion and its way off the subject of this thread. Sorry, got carried away a little bit.

I never said that you don't know what you're talking about because you aren't a paid trainer.

You are wrong to be telling people that they have to experience pain to train properly. Flat out wrong. This is not a matter of opinion, any more than it's a matter of opinion that food has calories.

I think for me so far is two to three times a week depends on your tight schedule if you still have some time to work out. two to three times plus a 2hrs or 3hrs work out is already enough for it.