Elite athletes train almost ten to 14 times per week, clocking up a lot of hours on the field as well as in the gym. However for the rest of us, getting into shape does not necessarily mean such an arduous exercise regime.
How frequently you should train depends on a lot of different factors – such as your training goals, the intensity of your exercise in addition to any history of injury you may have. The kind of training you do can also determine how often you need to exercise.
Exercise Stresses Different Systems In Our Body
This stress causes fatigue however also leads to “adaptations” (improvements) that are specific to the stress we’ve experienced. For example, while resistance training (such as weight lifting) helps us build muscular strength, it’s less likely to improve our cardiovascular fitness as it puts more stress on our skeletal muscles than it does our heart.
However improvements only take place with a combination of recovery and repetition. If we don’t repeat the training stress, improvements will be lost. We also need to give our body sufficient time – but not too much time – between training sessions to recover and “adapt”. In short, the key to improving fitness is to train consistently, which means striking a balance between exercising and recovering enough.
To complicate matters, some body systems take longer to recover than others. For example, exercise that stresses the body’s nervous system – such as sprinting, high-intensity interval training, or very heavy resistance training – will take longer to recover from than a lower-intensity session – such as a gentle jog that primarily stresses the heart and lungs.
How Quickly Do You Want To See Results?
Knowing how frequently you need to strength train – as well as do cardiovascular exercise to lose weight – is dependent on how fast you want to see results. The overall recommendation is to lose no more than 1 to 2 kilograms per week. That being said, many people seek programmes which are designed for quicker weight loss.
In the most basic of terms, you’ll need to burn more calories than you take in order to lose weight. Dieting has shown to be an efficient method of losing weight, however in order to maintain weight loss, you really do need to exercise.
The amount of weight which you lose is dependent on the amount of exercise that you’re willing to commit to and how carefully you stick to your diet. If you really would like to see significant results that reflect on the scale and go on to make headway over time, you need to commit to exercising at least four to five days every single week.
However keep in mind that you’ll build up to this. To start off, you might only want to do between two and three days per week and very slowly get up to exercising five days. Plan your workouts to include a blend of:
- Cardio,
- Resistance Training,
- Core Work, as well as
- Stretching.
For maximum results, an exercise programme should consist of cardiovascular as well as strength training exercise. When you lift weights, you’ll increase your lean muscle mass. This gives you the great opportunity to boost your metabolism and burn calories at a higher rate, even when you’re not working out.
Cardiovascular exercise isn’t just essential in maintaining good heart health. Cardio exercise can:
- Burn calories,
- Boost your mood, as well as
- Decrease stress.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
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