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How many times should you train each week?

We are often asked by clients “how many times do I need to train each week to benefit from it”.

You can understand that this is a very broad question that is asked by most people but applies differently to everyone. Last week we wrote about the difference between Training & Exercise. We have also written about the Australian Guidelines for physical activity. Both of which cover how much activity you should be aiming for on a weekly basis to improve and maintain a healthy level of fitness.

As for the question of how many times you need to exercise each week for it to be beneficial; the short answer is as much as you can, consistently. For some of you that may be 4 times per week, for others it may only be once. But if you are currently doing zero exercise, adding at least one exercise session into your week is going to be very beneficial.

I know that seems like a really obvious point to be making too but the problem we commonly see is that people sometimes assume that only training once a week isn’t worth it. They feel like unless they can do it 3-4 times per week or even everyday then it won’t be doing any good and not worth the effort. So for those of you that think that, I’m telling you otherwise. Once a week will always be better than nothing. Do more when you can, but only when you can.

However if you are chasing a specific result then this will be a different story. You’ll have to take into account what the goal is, the time frame you have to achieve it and the type of training you’ll be doing; amongst other things. This may require you to do a certain amount of sessions but more on that later.

If you have questions about how much training you should do for a specific goal then please reach out, we’d love to help.

Nathan Spring