How much to workout

[RockinRach]

How Long should you workout for because I usually go to the gym but I haven't been going in a couple days I've been doing sports instead and I'm about to do a home workout video how much workout should I be getting! Also can you gain weight if you don't workout as much for like a couple days I also feel like I'm not as motivated as I was couple days ago if you don't feel like working out what do you guys usually do to make yourself workout sorry I know that's a lot of questions I'm just not good at this yet I'm still new to it

[alexthecat]

@RockinRach the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, spread throughout the week. They also recommend at least two weight-training sessions per week.

This is intended to optimize health. For weight loss, exercise has much less effect than diet. Missing a day or two of exercise, here and there, will have very little effect on your weight loss. 

As for motivation, if you find something that you enjoy doing and an accountability buddy, it may become easier to build an exercise habit. And that's what it is... a habit. Once that habit becomes established, it's easier to stick with it. That may take several months or a year to happen. It's not something that can be rushed. 

[RockinRach]

Thank you 

[t.parker]

@RockinRach there are no rules about how much to workout but I would say "quality over quantity". Also, it's good to have some plan to follow. Going to the gym with no plan usually ends up with wandering from one machine to another without thinking about why you actually want to work out; what the goal is.

You mix motivation and dedication. Everyone is somehow motivated. One person may try to lose weight, another train for event and another may just want to get a beach body etc. This is motivation. What people often lack is the dedication which can quickly evaporate. One thing to stay dedicated is to find something that you like doing but do it every day and it may turn into the chore. Balance your workouts, keep things fresh and don't overcomplicate or get too obsessed either.

Weight gain depends on what you eat. You may stop working out at all and still lose weight if you sort out your diet. I am familiar with one exception when athletes retire or take longer break (for example, due to serious injury). The weight gain will still be caused by overeating but only because there is a sudden drop on energy expenditure (yet brain didn't get that message to eat less). But like I said, it's pretty much exclusively for athletes and even for them it will take time until weight starts adding up.

If I don't feel like working out then I simply don't. There are days body says no and it's good to listen to that. I follow structured program but always leave some room for flexibility. I train four sports and need to find time for family, too and to make it working the quality of training is more important than quantity. Cycling or swimming "empty miles" will do very little. Of course there are in my schedule long runs and rides but that is done once a week (usually, weekends very early morning) but shorter 30 to 50min structured workouts like running hill sprints or swimming the drills which address other areas of performance and technique are more important to me. I could work out 7 days a week but I need rest days to recover so I don't do it every single day (although, it means doing recovery workouts like very easy short run, it depends on level of fitness what is considered a recovery). Sometimes, I skip workout which I don't feel like doing and move it to different day, other times, I replace it with another workout (too cold to run outside so I will ride Zwift training instead etc.). On average, I train 8 to 10 hours a week and that includes running, cycling, swimming, rock climbing (this can add even more hours but rarely as I shifted my focus last year) and weights. I have also weeks with barely any training in and not gonna beat myself about it. Happens, we are only humans and there are sometimes circumstances stopping us from working out (or from any other things, that's just life). There are also days I have to kind of force myself but that is usually a case when I train for event and some workouts are just more important than others but once I get to the pool or on the road (or on Zwift) or into the gym something clicks and I'm in the workout mode instantly. However, I won't force myself if I feel unwell.

Work on developing a healthy relationship with working out and food and don't fall into obsession. If you trying to lose weight remember that it's marathon, not a sprint. Trying to get results quickly and getting obsessed about gym and workouts may badly backfire.

[RockinRach]

Thank you this was really helpful!! you do more workouts than I do I don't swim except if it's for fun all I do is go to the gym and do videos on youtube or walk it's not much 

[EdmundC]

There's a nice article on the BBC today - https://www.bbc.com/news/health-64790527 - it makes the point that regular walking is very healthy, something that we evolved doing.  And I remember as a young kid I used to walk around and climb trees all the time ...

It makes me think I should post this link - https://scholar.harvard.edu/exercised/home - it's a very helpful book titled EXERCISED: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding written by Daniel E. Lieberman that describes how we have evolved to be healthy and can still maintain our health these days.

[t.parker]

@RockinRach it doesn't matter if it's much. Quality over quantity always wins. I know people who work out a lot more than me. I see no reason to do as much unless I prepare for an event. It depends on the goal. If it's weight loss then mind that you can't out-exercise a bad diet (well... in some very individual cases you can but it's a different story that doesn't apply to the majority of people). It's more important to pick the right exercise routine for the job. Some sessions (depending on intensity, movement, and environment) may make you more hungry, while others will suppress hunger. For example, there is scientific evidence that feeling more hungry after swimming is tied to spending time in the lower-temperature medium (which affects metabolism). Most people experience feeling more hungry after swimming and that may lead to overeating. While doing steady-state easy cardio (like running or cycling) will often suppress hunger. Everything has its purpose and to get fitter you don't need to do a crazy amount of exercise but find something you like doing and do it at reasonable levels of effort matching your current goals. Doing a lot of exercises may also bring the effect of overcompensating. What I mean is thinking "I can eat more because I exercise". Yes, this is the right thinking for athletes. Athletes can and must eat more (yet not overeat). 

With the level of fitness, the perception of workouts also changes. What for me is a recovery or easy workout, for others, it may be a medium/hard intensity exercise. Yesterday, I went for a 14km easy run (which is part of my recovery runs after last weekend's race, still a bit sore left hamstring but improving), then one hour of swimming (also an easy relaxed pace, recovery with limited legs work, more gliding than actual swimming) and after that easy cooldown group cycling in Zwift + yoga/stretching (another hour). Almost 4 hours in total. Looks like a lot but with this intensity, it wasn't much of an effort (as an effort wasn't a purpose here). This is a recovery workout (very easy) as walking doesn't do much anymore with my level of fitness. I do strengthening/weights only 1-2 times a week + basic exercises (pullups, pushups, planks, squats lunges etc.), no need for heavy lifting (and due to age and risk of injury I'm siding more with low-weight-high-reps, and ideally bodyweight). Yet my goal isn't weight loss (it used to be a few years ago) but improving my performance in sports I love doing. I control my diet and (as my wife confirms) I eat pretty much all the time (it doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want and in any quantities).

Then, rewinding a few years back, it was a different story. Being obese, I started with a diet and gradually added exercise. First walking, then indoor cycling (low impact, could do it at a steady-easy pace for longer even watching TV). After a couple of weeks (my weight was going dramatically fast and this is because of a huge calorie deficit I was in - now I know it's not a good thing). When I lost enough weight, I started running (first run/walk, then leaning more towards running). All the cardio was there to support my weight loss but then I found rock climbing and got hooked on an actual sport (I was already quite fit). And then eventually, I signed up for a normal gym to support my climbing (mostly strengthening and callisthenics). So exercising grew on me kind of naturally. I never thought about whether I was exercising too much or not enough. The exercise was just there in the background when I was losing weight and then moved to the front when I got fit and started caring about my performance in sports - running further, cycling with more power, and climbing routes with higher grades. Exercise isn't anymore about calories (couldn't care less about that now, if I want to cut I do it with diet). Exercise is very important but when used as a weight loss tool, one must be careful to use it right.

[OliverBawlsak]

Wow @RockinRach I had the same situation when I was just like you. I often found myself looking in the mirror saying "why is my body so saggy" and "I'm looking quite elephantine" however I used it for motivation. I worked out for about 2 hours depending on the day of the week and what was for dinner. I transformed myself into a machine. I could bench press 315 in the first 3 months of my workout journey. All the boys would come up to me and compliment my physique this went straight to my head and I started roids (highly recommended for quick results). After roids I started to grow some hair everywhere but I was so consumed by getting absolutely massive this didn't matter. I started drinking whole chicken and punching holes in the drywall. This made me feel alive. 

[ShonKall]

Hi there. You need to create some kind of training plan and follow it. You don't have to be motivated every day. I mean, you have to do everything systematically so that you don't even think about motivation. You just do it and that's it. I've been in the sport for about 6 years and had different periods. The main thing is to start, try different approaches to training and nutrition. I have to say that at some point in my motivation and plateauing crisis, HGH (https://worldhgh.com/ ) saved me. If you don't want to do anything at all, try another sport. The main thing is not to stop and the results will come.