Trainer Tuesdays

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

How Often should I Workout?

Justin Traft: This will be different for everyone. Why is that you ask? Everyone has different goals in mind that they want to achieve. You'll get your best results with either 3 or 4 total weight training workouts per week. Doing different muscle groups if training on back-to-back days. Also, make sure to add cardio in at least 3 times per week. That also comes with sound nutritional choices when planning meals and snacks. Now, if you have the goal of doing something extreme like compete for a figure show or bodybuilding show; or training for something like a marathon or maybe you want to do a warrior dash, then obviously you want to be training as much as 5 days per week. Give your body a day of rest to recover and build muscle.***DONT OVER DO IT*** It’s really a matter of how much time are you committing to your workouts? Or, are you using work and a busy life as a excuse not to. Its important that you listen to your body as well when it comes to working out. Understand that you will be sore… it’s a part of working out. Just because you’re sore still two days later after a workout does mean you shouldn't get in the gym and workout. It means your working hard like you should to meet your goals and/or exceed them. Now, if there is discomfort in joints or muscles not usually felt, then you should lay off. Also, make sure to stretch before and after working out to keep limber and loose. As far as goals go, if you keep coming up short on your goals you need to reassess what you are doing in all three phases of your fitness. Keep in mind working out and being healthy is a lifestyle-- you just don't decide to workout whenever you want and expect to get result if you’re not doing your part to make sure you put your best foot forward. Always keep track of your results and keep a log to track which days you are doing each muscle group or cardio exercise and for how long. 

Adam Teplitz: Your training frequency ( how many times you workout during the week) all depends on your fitness goals. In general, the maximum amount would be 6 days. You always want to leave at least one day for complete rest and recovery.
If your main goal is fat loss and cutting, focus on working out 3 to 4 times per week. Fat loss workout programs involve total body training, large movements, and a lot of energy expenditure to kick start the metabolism. You should include a day of rest or light cardio in between each workout.
If your goal is to increase muscle and size, there are a couple different ways you can go. Your muscles need to receive a sufficient amount of training and stimulus to promote growth. You can do a split by training each muscle   group once per week, or the more optimal route would be training each muscle group twice per week. An example of this would be upper body on Monday, lower on Tuesday, rest on Wednesday, upper body again on Thursday, lower on Friday, and rest on Saturday and Sunday.
The general population and beginners should aim for 3 total body weight training workouts per week. An example would be total body on Monday, rest on Tuesday, total body on Wednesday, rest on Thursday, total body on Friday and then rest on Saturdayand Sunday.
It is important to not go overboard by over training. Rest is just as important to your results as time spent in the gym.