The question about the recommended frequency of exercise comes up a lot in the fitness world. Some clients ask me how often they should exercise weekly, yet others want to know if it is alright to work out every day of the week. The response to both inquiries is dependent on many factors including goals, diet, extent of workout, physical condition, and underlaying health factors that may prevent daily exercise such as chronic conditions. Furthermore, some other factors that must be considered include overtraining, pattern overload and recovery.

CDC Physical Activity Recommendations

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults should have 150-minutes of moderate physical activity each week, as well as two days of muscle strengthening activity (CDC, 2022). A great example would be 30-minutes of brisk walking daily for five days, and two days of weight lifting. However, it can be broken down into smaller chunks as well. For instance, doing three 10-minute walks daily for five days would be an alternative way to get your minutes in. On the other hand, if the workouts are more of vigorous nature, then the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend doing 75 minutes of vigorous activity weekly and two days of muscle strengthening activity (CDC, 2022). Vigorous activity includes exercises such as running or attending a spinning class.

Following those guidelines is a great way to start an exercise regimen. Nevertheless, factors such as overtraining, pattern overload, and recovery should be examined even within those recommendations. The fact of the matter is that it is easy to forget to implement a recovery day, which can have a negative effect on your body and mind.

Consequences of Overtraining

My personal and professional opinion is that individuals should strive to be active every day. Now, when I say strive to be active daily, I do not mean performing strenuous exercises daily. What I mean is that light walking should be incorporated into the daily routine. Performing strenuous exercises daily is too much stress on the body. This stress is also known as overtraining syndrome (OTS) or pattern overload.

Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)

Overtraining syndrome occurs due to excessive exercise frequency and lack of recovery, which can lead to recurring illnesses, loss of sleep, moodiness, injuries, and decreased performance (McGill & Montel, 2017). This is why you may feel sluggish on the third day of strenuous exercise. I have had personal experience with overtraining, and I recall feeling sluggish and moody if I exercised more vigorously for 3 days in a row. Unfortunately, the only cure to those dreadful feelings was a day away from the gym. After doing some research on recovery, I started to do a light walk and some light stretching after two days of vigorous activity. This did wonders and upon my return to the gym, I was able to have some powerful workouts.

Pattern Overload

Pattern overload is a repetitive stress injury that occurs as a result of repetitious movements (McGill & Montel, 2017). For instance, running daily, performing bicep curls daily or several days in a row would be some examples of pattern overload. Some activities such as golfing and playing tennis are known to lead to pattern overload as the same body parts are utilized frequently.

Importance of Recovery

This is why recovery days are so important because they give your ligaments and muscles a break. Recovery is also necessary for the muscles to heal. Now, you do not need to be on bed rest, but you do need to have some light exercise days in between your vigorous exercise days. For instance, you could have 2 days where you exercise hard and then follow up with a recovery day during which you go on a light 30-minute walk. Then, you finish off with 3 more strenuous exercise days and close out your week with a recovery day.

Example:

Sunday (Recovery)	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday (Recovery)	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
30-min. light walk	30-min. moderate cardiovascular activity	30-min. moderate cardiovascular activity	30-min. light walk	30-min. moderate cardiovascular activity	30-min. moderate cardiovascular activity	30-min. moderate cardiovascular activity
30-min. yoga/ stretch	30-min. weightlifting	30-min. weightlifting	30-min. yoga/ stretch	30-min. weightlifting	30-min. weightlifting	30-min. weightlifting

This is only an example. The exact duration of the exercises is dependent on various factors such as physical condition, health condition, and overall goals. Therefore, you should first discuss these factors with your personal trainer or health coach.

My Personal Exercise Recommendations

I do not recommend strenuous exercises to be performed daily because if your body is unable to recover, you may suffer an injury that could potentially put you on bed rest. In my younger years I felt that I needed to hit the gym daily and it was great while it lasted. However, injuries were occurring frequently and the more I got injured, the longer it took to recover. One of my injuries was a strained and inflamed lower back that resulted from long-distance running. I was running 3 miles daily Monday through Friday, and then 10 miles every Saturday and Sunday. I felt so accomplished until a month into it when my back started to hurt so bad that I was unable to get out of bed.

Consequently, my daily running resulted in being unable to work out for a few weeks to the point where I ended up out of shape. When I returned to the gym, I had to start from scratch. Therefore, you do not want to overdo it, but you also do not want to spend a lot of time being inactive. Both come with consequences. If you do too much, you end up injured. On the other hand, if you do too little, you risk becoming deconditioned and gaining weight. Therefore, moderation is key.

Moderation is Key

In order to achieve moderation, you must explore your goals and determine what you are trying to do. You can ask yourself questions such as “Am I trying to lose weight?” and “Why am I exercising?” Both of these questions will be a great start when you meet with your personal trainer. Also, you will want to find out what type of precautions you should take if you have any pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or a heart condition, as these must be considered before starting a workout plan.

These topics should be brought up during your meeting with your personal trainer. If you have not worked out in a while, and if you do have a health condition, you should see your primary care physician first to get an exercise clearance. Personal trainers and health coaches will require this before they are able to create an exercise plan for you.

Therefore, before you overtrain or end up injured, take some time and evaluate what moderation would look like for you. Ask yourself questions that will lead you to answers that are unique to your situation.

Questions to Consider When Determining Exercise Frequency

• What are your goals?
• Are any health conditions limiting you?
• Have you been feeling sluggish?
• How do you feel after a recovery day?
• Do you find yourself injured frequently?

Conclusion

These are just a few questions that will help to lead you in the right direction. You can also refer to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which will provide you with a brief overview. Remember, your body needs rest in order to perform at its best during your next workout. You also want to make sure that you are consuming the proper nutrition for your exercise routine. For more information on nutrition please visit my nutrition section where I offer some great tips.

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2022). How much physical activity do adults need? https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm

McGill, E. A., & Montel, I.N. (2017). NASM essentials of personal fitness training. (5^th Edition). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Copyright (2024) ImprovingMindfully All Rights Reserved