How often do you need to exercise to get in shape?

• Author: WALLA!
• Published date: 11 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

This is more than a workout a day, and most days they work out twice. But for ordinary people, who don't train for international competitions, but just want to get in shape or keep fit, such a hectic training schedule is unnecessary. Most of us can settle for much less training - but how much less?

Is two workouts a week enough? Three? And what if someone can only cram one workout into their weekly schedule, is it effective at all?

The frequency of training doesn't stand on its own and is influenced by other factors: What's the purpose of the exercise? How intense do you want to work out? Do you have a history of injuries?

The type of training or sport you do also affects how often you need to practice to get the best results.

Exercise creates stress and strain on some body systems, which makes you feel tired, yet it can also make the body stronger, depending on the type of stress that the training produces. For example, resistance training (weight training, for instance) helps the body build muscle strength, but is less conducive for cardio-pulmonary endurance, because it focuses on the skeletal muscles and not the heart.

But to even see specific benefits of each workout, rest is required. You'll have a hard time seeing a physiological improvement from working out if you don't rest enough. Also, if we don't take breaks to recover the physical loads in regular and frequent training, improvement won't last. So, the body should be given time to rest between workouts … but not too much time.

In short: the key to improving physical fitness is to train at regular intervals which will find the right balance between frequency of training and the required recovery time.

Sounds simple, yet here's where things start to get complicated. Some body systems take longer to recover than others. For example, activities which strain the body's nervous system such as running sprints, HIIT training, or very heavy weight training will require a longer recovery time than lower-intensity activities like light running, which mainly involves the heart and lungs.

This means that the number of your weekly workouts and the differences between them may be higher or lower than you think is worthwhile, and should also be determined depending on the type of activity you do and the movements you perform during them.

Endurance training

When training in endurance sports (long runs, cycling, etc.) regularly exercising at low intensity is more effective because this teaches the body to...