Sometimes, you feel guilty for taking a rest day; the next week, you feel guilty for not taking a rest day. Exercising regularly has many benefits for our health and exercise performance, but as with most things, too much (or too little) of anything can have negative effects. So, how do you know you’re doing it right?
It’s important to know what works best for your goals, whether they’re getting stronger, building muscle, or improving cardio fitness, before you can figure out how often you should go to the gym. You need to put together a schedule that fits around you and your goals, along with something that isn’t putting a strain on your health.
In this article, we’ll answer how often you should go to the gym, with expert advice from Gymshark Lifting Club Manager, Samantha Cubbins, who has a BSc in Sports Coaching Science and over 20 years industry experience. We’ll answer the impact of working out every day, if there’s any benefit to it, and the best approach to take if you do want to workout every day–because, let’s face it, for some of us, the term “rest day” just doesn’t fit our vocab..
How Often Should I Go to the Gym?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to how often you should go to the gym. To put it simply, how often you go to the gym depends on your goals, such as building muscle, losing weight, or exercising more frequently, as well as your health and lifestyle. What The Guidelines Say:
The US Department of Health states that adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week, along with at least 2 days of muscle-strengthening activities [1].
What Research Says: Strength Training
Building strength training requires a slightly higher frequency, with a minimum of three days per week for strength gains and an ideal of five days. When measuring bicep strength, a 2023 study found that strength training three days per week was superior to two days per week [2]. The group that trained only two days a week for four weeks saw no significant strength changes. On the other hand, the group that trained three days a week saw an increase in both concentric and eccentric bicep strength, indicating that training more frequently was more effective at building strength. Previous research from the same researchers found that those exercising five days a week had greater strength improvements (by more than 10%) compared to the group that only trained 3 days a week [3].
The Evidence: Cardiovascular Fitness There is no set number of days you should exercise cardio, but some research suggests that longer workouts are better. Where long sessions aren’t possible, short bursts of exercise (or ‘exercise snacks’) are also effective [4,5].
Research has also found that working out more than the recommended weekly total led to lower cases of cardiovascular disease and lower mortality [6].
In Summation: How many days a week you workout will depend on your training split, ensuring you are still allowing enough time for muscle groups to rest and recovery between sessions. The optimal days a week to workout for strength training is anywhere between 3 to 5 days, but cardiovascular training can be done in short or long sessions, as long as you are meeting the recommended weekly minutes.
When I’m just starting out, how often should I go to the gym? If you’re just starting off, 3 days a week of strength training and 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise might sound like a lot! Starting off with a smaller goal, however, such as heading to the gym around two days a week, can be a more realistic way to start.
A good balance is always key. Studies have shown that a combination of cardio and weight training can actually help you to live healthier and longer [7]. But determining your goals will help you decide how much time you need to commit:
For Muscle Building
As a beginner, you’ll likely want to focus on full body sessions, making sure you are ‘hitting all the major muscle groups, posterior chain and core’, says Samantha. Ideally, you want to do this at least twice a week, as studies prove this is the training frequency required to maximize muscle growth [9].
To accomplish this, I typically focus a beginner’s program on essential compound lifts like the squat, deadlift, push-up, pull-up, and hollow hold. Starting out, I would always prioritize bodyweight movements over weighted exercises, then equipment such as kettlebells and dumbbells to ensure the client is moving safely before moving to the barbell.
Even training twice a week, you should see progress thanks to a phenomenon called ‘newbie gains’, which refers to the rapid muscle growth that beginners experience when they first start going to the gym. Research supports this, with a study on male strength and non-strength athletes finding that untrained individuals gained over five times as much strength over a 21-week period in comparison to those with well-established training histories [8].
for losing weight You must burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight. Nutrition plays a big part in this, but increasing your daily activity will also help.
You might think that cardio is king when it comes to losing weight, but a combination of cardio and resistance training is best. While alternating higher-intensity cardio days with longer steady-state sessions (like walking, jogging, or cycling) will help you burn calories while still allowing your body to recover, research has shown that HIIT is more effective for weight loss than steady state. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, weight training can help you build muscle as well. A study at Stanford Health supports this, concluding that having more lean muscle mass can elevate your resting metabolic rate, leading to the continuous burning of calories (even when resting) [10]. Building muscle also contributes to a leaner, more toned physique.
