How Often Should I Workout - Learn How Often You Should Be Working Out
Many beginners that are new to the world of bodybuilding or the gym often ask the following question. How often should I workout to build muscle? Even experienced athletes have some difficulty answering this question fully. Read on to discover how often you should really be working out to add quality lean muscle to your frame.
How often you workout largely depends on your goals and what you are trying to achieve. If your goal is to put on muscle (which it should be) then you should be working each muscle group once per week. Yes you heard it correctly, workout each muscle group once a week. This workout needs to be of a high enough intensity to put your muscle under adequate stress and force it to rebuild and grow stronger for your next workout session.
For this to happen I would recommend completing 3 sets of 3 exercises for the desired muscle group you are focusing on, lifting a weight which you are comfortable with but also find challenging. There are some exceptions to this rule however. Some people believe it or not have the ability to recover quicker from workouts. This is mainly down to their bodies genetics which is why so many bodybuilders/athletes can train the way they do and this also has a bearing on how they look. Now don’t get me wrong, to build muscle you need to work hard in the gym, be dedicated, determined and most of all be patient. But, genetics go a long way in determining how much muscle you can build and also how fast you can build this muscle.
If you do find yourself lucky enough to have good genetics, it is possible to work each muscle group more than once a week. Remember, just because one person can work a muscle group more than once a week and get results, doesn’t mean that this is going to be the same for you or for anybody else. Each person’s body is different and will react differently to the type of training and stimulus that is applied to it. It’s also important to remember the intensity that you work at during your workouts. For example, if you’re working at a low intensity during your chest workout (for example just completing 2 or 3 sets of one exercise), you are probably going to be able to work your chest again after one or two days as the muscle would not have been sufficiently worked and broken down during your actual workout. This brings me to my next point.
If your goal isn’t to build muscle but to lose weight and maintain what muscle you have by participating in some kind of weight training then this question may be addressed slightly differently. Therefore, you may be wondering the following: how often should I workout if im looking to lose weight? This is simple to answer as you can workout the exact same way you would when looking to put on muscle. The only difference here is that you will not see the results you would whilst looking to put on muscle as your body will constantly be in a calorie deficit. As you should know by now your body needs more calories to build muscle so only a limited amount will be built when you are dieting. If however you are bored of dedicating each muscle group into its own workout every week then as an alternative, you could choose to complete 3 full body workouts a week. Full body workouts hit each muscle group in the body and are usually done using one main exercise for each major muscle group. For example, for chest you would do 3 sets of the bench press and for biceps you would perform 3 sets of bicep curls.
You’re probably thinking that this cannot be right as I have previously recommended working each muscle group only once a week. This is totally different and let me explain why. The first thing to recognize here is that if your looking to lose weight your main goal is not to build muscle but to actually maintain it as much as possible. In other words, you have a totally different goal or objective. Secondly, you will not be lifting extremely heavy weights. Instead you will be lifting weight that feels comfortable to lift but with more repetitions, less exercises, shorter sets and shorter breaks. You will also be alternating between muscle groups to make your workout more aerobic.
A typical full body workout could consist of say 3 sets of bicep curls, 3 sets of bench press, 3 sets of Squats, 3 sets of barbell rows and finally 3 sets of shoulder/military presses. To make the workout more aerobic and aid weight loss, you should complete each exercise with limited rest between sets and exercises. Since you will be only working a muscle group hard for 3 sets you should be able to go straight into the next exercise as you will be working a completely different muscle group. The exercises can be changed around each week if needed to add variety and help progress.
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