How many times a week you should work out – to avoid suffering from burnout
|Published
‘How many times a week should I work out’ is a key question that follows any renewed commitment to getting in shape (often sparked by an unfortunate glimpse in the mirror). New gym gear is invested in. Trainers are dusted off. Gym membership pins retrieved from the depths of your email inbox.
It happens more than any of us like to admit.
Before you know it, you’re hitting the gym hard, maybe even pounding pavements on your off days to up your calorie crunch. Best of all, you’re starting to notice an effect.
Then it all comes crashing down. Despite the best of intentions, it’s difficult to not only find time for all this exercise, but to avoid burning out. Whether through injury, a lapse in your diet plan, or a blip in morale, overdoing it at the start is the number one reason why most training plans fail.
So, we ask the question again: how many times a week should you work out? In your quest to get buff, how much is too much?
Burnout – be warned
If you’re returning to the gym after time off, you’ll be more likely to feel aches and pains as you push your body into action. Do not ignore these warning signs.
“A lot of people chase the sensation of aching from the gym, and think that when this feeling fades we are magically rested enough to go again, but this is the shortcut to burning out,” explains PT Robert Utley, Greater London PT of the Year 2019 for anyone wondering.
“When you exert yourself you recruit your muscular system and your central nervous system,” Utley continues. “The latter is effectively our processing chip. Just like a computer, when we overload our nervous system we can crash, leading to massive changes in mood, fatigue, and an inability to perform. The only way to reset the system is rest.”
Why rest is so important
If you’re making gains it’s tempting to go full steam ahead. But even if you feel fine, burnout could be building beneath the surface and regular rest is the only thing that will prevent this.
“Taking a week away from the gym, often referred to as a ‘de-load week’, can prevent burnout and increase motivation, long term commitment and provide much needed rest and recovery,” explains Steven Dick, director of The Fitness Group.
Worried a de-load week will ruin your progress? Dick points to research that found taking a week off can actually improve your gains upon your return. “A week off can help your body to support growth and repair in your muscles, as well as providing you with a mental break from your existing routine,” he explains.
Dick says you should aim to schedule a week off every 10 weeks, depending on factors like your age and the intensity of your work programme. Utley prefers to schedule rest every 8 to 12 weeks, with a minimum of one day every week of complete rest. Of course, it’s always advisable to listen to your body.
“A week off during the first 12 months even as a beginner will not cause any significant impact on your results longer term,” says Dick. “If the week off helps you to rejuvenate your motivation and recover, take it.”
How often should I train to bulk up?
When it comes to adding mass, most PTs agree that progressive overload is the way to go. That is, adding more and more load to your muscles thereby forcing them to grow to manage the strain. As any gym-goer knows, delayed muscle soreness (DOMs) is an unfortunate byproduct of hefting heavy weights.
Because DOMs can take up to three days to kick in post-workout, Dick recommends “three rest days per week as a beginner, with a maximum of four gym days per week to give your body time to rest and recuperate between sessions.” Advice backed up by the journal Sports Medicine.
How often should I train to lose weight?
If your focus is weight loss then the rules are slightly different. “There is no predetermined perfect number of rest days or gym days that will result in weight loss,” Dick explains, pointing to calorie control as the most efficient way to lose fat.
“Of course, attending the gym four times a week is going to have a greater impact if your goal is to lose weight,” he says, adding that strength training can help weight loss, and that it’s vital to consume enough protein to support your workouts.
How frequently should I train cardio?
Cardio comes in all shapes and sizes. Running, for instance, is much higher impact than a Peloton session. But trail running is also less impactful than treadmill or road running. So really, how often you train cardio depends on your fitness goals, ability, and any preexisting injuries.
“If you are training for a marathon, the number of rest days will depend on your experience,” says Dick. “If you are new to running, or just returning from time out, you should aim for two to three runs per week.
As you progress you can build up the number of runs you do per week to four or five days per week. Importantly at each stage you can supplement your runs with strength training and time to stretch.”
For intermediate to advanced runners, Dick recommends three to four runs per week plus one to two gym sessions to work on strength and support in the legs.
Of course, the distance and speed will depend on your fitness level, and you may have to ask whether one long, intense session is equal to two or more shorter, easier sessions.
The importance of mixing things up
Going all out with a single type of training gets pretty old, pretty quickly. Even if you don’t get injured, boredom will become the enemy of your training.
Adding in mobility sessions, or sessions doing sports like squash, bouldering or swimming can help reinvigorate your fitness goals alongside your normal gym routine.
Burnout happens to the professionals, too: after 20 years in the gym, Utley has begun practicing Krav Maga as a way of keeping things fresh.
“I have no choice but to be in a gym all day, but I didn’t enjoy it and to be honest my intensity was a joke and wasn’t sustainable,” he says.
“Adding in different variations of exercise can support you to maintain a higher level of excitement and motivation over the long term,” says Dick.
“Returning to the weight room after a couple of days off where you have remained active playing squash one day and cycling on the other day can allow you to get excited about the gym again!”
Dick adds that alongside mobility and stretching exercises, a rest week is a vital opportunity to check in on your nutrition and sleep. And, “If you simply need to get to the gym during your week off, ensure you drop the intensity by around 50 percent,” he advises. By cutting your sets in half, you’ll scratch that itch, without putting too much strain on yourself.
But, if you can, remember that often the best thing for body and mind is to sit back and put your feet up for a week.
[Via GQ UK]