When it comes to exercise, people like to find the shortcuts that quickly give the best results, for example in how often to exercise to get the best possible results. But it is not always in the number of passes that the shortcut is found!

It’s not saying that you have to train this many times a week to get the best results. Someone who trains three times a week can get better results than someone who trains five or six times a week, it all depends on how you train, how you eat and if you have time to recover. For someone who trains a lot, upwards of five or six times a week, the recovery will not be enough if you completely exhaust yourself every session. Then it becomes incredibly important to vary the training and effort from session to session and let some sessions be recovery sessions. If, on the other hand, you train two or three times a week, you can absolutely train hard every session and get a good effect from your training.
This applies both when you train fitness and strength, variety and an ever-increasing load on the body are essential for you to get any results at all. If you do the same workout day in and day out for a longer period, the body will eventually be so good at that particular workout that it doesn’t need to use as much energy to cope with it as when you started. In addition, the body will not need to build more muscle because the body can already lift what you lifted in the beginning. So what we’re talking about here is exercise that you do after you’ve changed and gotten ready to go in. Everyday exercise, like biking to work or going out for a walk, you can absolutely do every day to maintain good basic fitness and because it is good for your health.

How often should you train to build muscle?

Constantly doing different types of workouts, where you vary the training scheme (ie how many repetitions you should do with which weights) will challenge your body in a completely different way than if you always do the same. It takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours for the body to fully recover from a really tough workout, and if you allow it to recover, it will respond by getting stronger. If, on the other hand, you do another equally tough session too quickly, the recovery will not be enough and you will have no results. This does not mean that you should rest for 72 hours after a session, but you should run an easier session or a session with a different layout if you run it close to the inside. But it cannot be said that this is true for everyone either. If you are completely new to exercise, your body will respond to any form of exercise at first, even light exercise. But that effect doesn’t last long, so it’s just as well to start by putting in different tough sessions during the weeks and also putting in rest days.
How much should you exercise per week? Yes, it’s hard to say, but the best thing is to include several shorter sessions during the week, instead of trying to cram all strength training into one and the same session. For example, you can do a classic division of the body, where you do, for example, legs, chest and shoulders one session, back and stomach the second session and buttocks and arms the third. Then the muscles have time to recover because you are not training the same muscle group as often. You can of course also work the whole body during each session, but then one session should contain fewer repetitions with heavy weights and another more with lighter weights. Variation simply. With a good training plan with different heavy sessions and good variety in the plan, you can train six times a week and get great results! But for most people, especially if you are new to exercise, two or three strength sessions a week are enough. Then you can increase from there.

How often should you do cardio?

When it comes to cardio training, the same rules apply as for strength training – it’s important to vary. The variety is more important than thinking about how often you should exercise. If we take running as an example, it applies that you put in both long and slow sessions and short and fast ones during your training week. If we say you’re going to run three times a week, then you can do, for example, a high-intensity interval session, a session where you run for a short while at a pace that’s above what feels comfortable, and a longer recovery session.
There are lots of ways to vary your cardio training, you can change the length of the intervals, the layout of the interval sessions, run in terrain instead of on flat ground, do a different form of fitness than the one you are used to and so on.
If you are new to running, it is important not to go out too hard and not increase too quickly, neither intensity nor length of the sessions, because then the risk of injury is imminent. But just like when you strength train, you have to increase the load on your body all the time to get better and continue to get results from your training.
So how many times a week should I do cardio? Start with two or three sessions a week and supplement with one or two strength sessions. And then you can increase from there, if you want. And be sure to get at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio each day to maintain good health. Also, don’t forget that food plays an incredibly important role in your recovery. If you don’t eat well, varied and enough, you won’t get bigger muscles or better fitness.