How many times should I train per week?

Depending on your fitness goals the amount you train per week will vary. When clients come to me with goals such as be healthy/general fitness with no specific component of fitness they want to improve, I recommend working out every day. These training sessions may consist of 3 weightlifting sessions and 4 cardiovascular workouts. The cardiovascular workouts can be as simple as a 15-30 minute cycle to work and back. To make it more fun download the 'Strava' app and see how long it takes you and your top speed. Try to beat your score every ride.

Toning and Health Goals

​Increase Muscle Mass Goals

When clients have more specific goals such as increase muscle mass il recommend they start with 3 days of total body weightlifting sessions to get the body conditioned. Following this, workouts are split into muscle groups. A split can be simple like upper body one day and lower body the next. Continuing in complexity a 3 day split consist of push (chest, shoulders & triceps), pull (back & biceps) and Legs. The training split can be taken further into 4 day and even 5 day splits. However, nutrition must be excellent to ensure the body is getting the correct amount of nurishment and recovery.

In Conclusion

For someone who wants to feel healthy and look toned but not take it to an extreme, 3.5 hours per week with good nutritional habits will get you to your goal. Workouts can be split into 3 1 hour sessions or 7 30 minute sessions. For people trying to increase muscle mass eventually you'll want to build to 5 days a week weightlifting.