“Train the body, don’t drain the body” is an expression sometimes heard in Personal Training circles.
When you exercise you should be adding energy and life to your body and not taking it away.
Frequently I get asked “How often should I workout?”
How often you exercise, fundamentally, depends on how long it takes you to recover from your previous workout.
Recovery from exercise varies from one person to the next.
Here are some factors that will lengthen your exercise recovery:
* Age – the older you are the longer it takes for you to heal from exercise
* Nutrition – if you eat and drink badly then your body lacks vital nutrients to recover
* Intensity – hard prolonged exercise will take longer than short bursts of exercise
* Occupation – if you have a very physical job then recovery will take longer
If you are constantly feeling tired, falling sick, feel demotivated or getting injured then you need to look at your exercise program.
Remember, if exercise is taking away from your health and not improving it then you need to make some changes.
One of the biggest mistakes I discover is people trying to work the body too hard. More is not always better.
I have found that shorter but more intense workouts enable the body to recover quicker, produce a lot less stress on the hormonal system and are more fun to perform.
You can perform a short bodyweight or kettlebell workout in 10 minutes and be fresh and ready to go again the next day!
You will need to add variety to your workouts to keep challenging your body and to avoid overuse injuries but ultimately shorter workouts are kinder to your body.
However, if you have a specific fatloss, strength building goal and timeframe then this needs to play a part too.
I’ve always said that less more frequently is the recipe for success in the beginning and that the magic number is 3 and I still stand by this.
However, if you are not recovering well then
Stay mobile, eat well, keep stress levels down and you have the recipe for a beautiful healthy body.
Take care,
Greg
