How much exercise?

Bolty

Full Member
Hi all,I would really appreciate some advice. I have started exercising for the first time in my life. I completed 30 day shred last week and I'm now trying out some other Jillian Michaels DVDs.My question is how often should I exercise? Should I take rest days?If I take a day off I find I lose enthusiasm, but have read that you should allow your body to recover.Would it be ok to exercise everyday if I do different routines?Thanks for reading, hope you can help me.
 
OK, I'll bite.

How often you should exercise depends to a large degree on your current level of fitness. Beginners need rest days. The Couch to 5K programme for people who want to start running, for example, suggests three days of exercise per week, with four rest days. As you get fitter, you can exercise more frequently, up to 5 or maybe 6. If you really want to do something every day, then a couple of your days need to be something different, and/or lighter, from your main exercise. This helps avoid overuse of any particular muscle group. If you normally run - then swim. If you normally cycle, then get on a rowing machine, or just go for a brisk walk.

One golden rule is that if you are doing strength/resistance training, you should not work the same muscle group on 2 consecutive days. When you strength train, you actually damage the muscle fibres, and they need time to repair. The harder you train, the more rest you need. Rest is just as much part of your programme as your workout.

If you are looking for the best bang for your buck in terms of getting results from your training, then you need strength training first, followed by some intermittent high intensity intervals of cardio, followed, if you must, by some steady state cardio.

Good luck, and don't hurt yourself out there,
Barbara
 
Hi, thanks for your reply. Really helpful and now I can have rest day and know it as important as my exercise days without feeling guilty:)
 
When I started I did the following

Odd days: Running 1 hour
Even days: Yoga

From there as I got better and better I started to lift weights and then started to take jujitsu. I guess because of yoga it helped me a ton because I was able to stretch so well. Then I started P90X which kicked my butt during the early days but now it's just a piece of cake.
 
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