How Many Times a Week Should You Workout (3 or 7) | How often should you lift weights & do cardio?

How many times a week should you workout to build muscle and burn fat? Is three days a week best or 7? How often should you lift weights and do cardio? If you're wondering how many days a week you should be training to get maximal results, watch this video.

Timestamps:
Working Out 7 days a Week: 0:24
Forward Momentum: 1:37
Muscle Groups: 2:08
Over-Reaching: 3:04
Rest Day or Week: 3:24
Strict Strength Gains: 3:42
Routine: 4:09
Split Training: 5:16
Hypertrophy: 5:40
Strength & Full Body: 5:55
Fat Loss: 6:06

How many times a week should you workout to achieve the fastest and best results possible? That's a question that I'm asked almost on a daily basis. Should I workout every single day should I only work out 3 times a week what's the best method? Well im today's video I'm going answer this question in a way that'll end this debate once and for all. Let's start by taking a look at the pros and cons of working out more frequently. Is there a benefit of working out 7 days a week? Most people would say no because you're not giving your body any time to recover and Recovery is when your muscles grow. However an instant benefit of working out everyday is the insane forward momentum that you're going to generate. People very rarely consider the impact of momentum on their Fitness routine. You guys have heard an object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an external force and the same thing vice versa an object at rest stays at rest again unless acted on by an external force. Well when you work out 7 days a week contrary to popular belief it's super easy to never miss workouts. The main reason why is because we're creatures of habit and another reason why is because you have to spend zero time debating about whether to work out that day or not. So you don't tax any willpower. It's just a set part of your day everyday you go to the gym and you get your workout in, no questions asked. It's just part of your routine, your habits that you engage in every single day. Believe it or not this can be super powerful I've done both working out 3 days a week and working out 7 days a week and believe it or not sometimes it was harder for me to make it to my 3 days a week then it was for me to make it to the gym every single day. And this is again attributed only to forward momentum. Momentum is something that's not really talked about enough and it's a shame because it really matters. To illustrate the power of momentum the reverse of working out everday would be not working out for let's say the last year. I think we can all agree that getting your butt back into the gym after not working out for a year is about a billion times harder then getting to the gym after not working out for a day. The reason for that is because of momentum. Another advantage of working out everyday is that you have the ability of hitting your muscle groups more frequently. So if you're trying to build muscle especially as a natural, to stimulate protein synthesis you're going to have to work out more frequently. The best results that I've gotten in regard to building muscle have always come from hitting each of my muscle groups twice a week. Whenever I would try to hit my muscle groups once a week my progress would slow down. With a split routine like chest and back on one day legs on the next day and then biceps triceps and shoulders on the third day you can just take a day off and repeat that for a second time within one week. This will cause your muscles to get twice the amount of stimulation allowing you to build muscle faster as a natural lifter. So working out more frequently like 6 days a week or even every day does have a lot of benefits but there are cons as well. If you work out everyday you're going to have a really tough time on the days that you're inevitably sore from one of your previous workouts. This could eventually lead to what's called over-reaching which is the precursor to overtraining. When you start over reaching and eventually when you over-train it's like hitting a wall. all your energy is gone and you start getting less and less returns even though you're putting in more and more work at the gym. That's why even if you are working out everyday you should plan an occasional rest day or even a full week of rest. Resting for a week could really do you a lot of good. You may be surprised when you come back even stronger because you let your body fully recover. Speaking of strength, working out more frequently is probably not the best strategy for strict strength gains. If you're trying to go more so for powerlifting strength gains... 3 days a week will probably be way better of a st...

[jakehands]

I like to give my muscles lots of rest so I work out once a year.

[electron]

I say listen to your muscles. If they're too sore to lift, then don't workout that day. Once the soreness has calm down, then go pump some more iron.

Give your muscles time to heal when needed. Once healed, continue to workout again. Rinse and repeat. Why complicate things. Everyone is different. Everyone heals at different rates. Listen to YOUR body. Not someone else's.

[crownedbycurls]

This is facts! I’m more so committed working out 7 days a week! If I miss one day it’s hard for me to go the next and I feel guilty for missing a day. But never let myself miss 2 days in a row in the risk of me not going back... of course I just started working out 3 weeks ago

[SaltedMovies]

When i workout 3 times a week i feel vert good, but dont look that impressive. But when i train 5-7 times a week, i feel tired, but look very good

[bxnkilla]

Everybody’s Body is different you do whatever works for you it’s as simple as that

[whatitdohomeynigguwh]

5 days a week weekend off works best for me. You have the forward momentum + rest

[firehazemusic]

Find the balance and recover your muscles! Its super important! I think 3 or 4 times per week is enough!

[ablanuza]

I once tried doing workouts everyday for months, i saw faster results but also ended up with an injury which took me about a month and a half to recover from. Now i only do 4x a week which seems to be the right balance for me since i haven't had any injury nor do i feel tired.

[chrisweidner]

59 year old here. It is all about intensity. As I have grown older, and remaining natural, I find that supersetting and really pushing it works best for me. Now, I teach 7 days a week so, for me training 2-3 times a week is when I feel my strongest while training.

[quantomic]

There are only three types of people who watched this video
- Those who are planning to start working out.
- Those who are trying to find an excuse to skip the gym
- Those who unwillingly took a rest day.

[MechHacks]

I do workout 6 days a week and trust me its an awesome feeling

[LeeEverett]

I train 6 days a week. From personal experience I did the 7 days a week training since each muscle group only needs 48 hours of recovery and it could easily be done. Well let me tell you, for your own mental health I say it isn't worth it.

I did it for 3 months straight and it eventually caught up to me. My body started breaking down, wasn't seeing the progress I wanted for as hard as I was training, and I started getting sick of the gym. I was getting mentally tired of going in there and wasn't getting as much joy out of my workouts. I had to take a straight week off to get my head right and went back to 6 days a week.

Guys and girls, don't go more than 6 days; it's critical for your sanity to take that 1 day off.

[iambored]

Should I workout 8 Days a week twice a day for two years and then rest for a year and cycle on and off that way?

[EvaSlayAllDay]

Put it this way: if you’re watching this video, you’re doing something right anyways. Lots of people are sedentary and don’t exercise. For a regular exerciser myself, the gym is more of a psychological victory going 6-7 days a week, even if I’m not overdoing it two of those days.

[helloyou.]

Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Push (upper)
Wednesday: Swim 🏊‍♂️
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Pull (upper)
Sat-Sun: No gym

Doing that for now. Agreed, going often feels easier. Weird but true.

[timman]

I go 6 days a week. Leg day should give your upper body a break

[alfonzo]

Monday-Friday, and use Saturday as a make up day if I miss a day during the week. Sundays I always rest no matter what :)

[kelleysauer]

A problem most people experience with frequent workouts such as 6 days a week is that progression slows after a certain point which discourages many people. The progress (progressive overload) can continue but at a slower rate. However, everyday workouts ultimately result in a strong base that protects from injury. For example, an adolescent who did a set of max number of pullups 6 days per week and also ran 3 - 4 - 5 miles per day would build a tremendous foundation that would allow great strength or endurance gains later. However, doing everyday workouts for those who begin exercising in their 20's or later is probably a recipe for disaster because the body is being strained much beyond its "normal", and tendons, ligaments, etc are not prepared for the strain. The child of 55 years ago who rode a bike 5 - 7 miles per day was not "working out". That child was getting to and from school and using the bike for errands or as transportation to friends. In the same way, Olympic swimmers put in mammoth distances every day in the pool, just as marathoners routinely run 10 or more miles per day. Those are daily workouts that result in high levels of fitness and muscular development for the muscles used. The key is that a person cannot train every day at their maximum, perhaps they can train at 50 - 75% or some other threshold that would vary per person.

[ronl]

I train 9 days a week. Whatever it takes.

[MrShijo]

This is my 5 day split
(Biceps and Triceps more Concentrated)
Monday : Shoulders + Triceps
Tuesday : Back + Biceps
Wednesday off
Thursday : Chest + Biceps
Friday : Triceps + abs
Saturday : Leg
Sunday off

After a month i shift this biceps and triceps concentrated split to chest and back concentrated or shoulder and legs concentrated; that is hitting them twice a week, so i rearrange the order)