How Many Times a Week Should I Workout?

How Often Do I Need To Workout?

Any time anyone reaches out to me and says they are considering personal training with me, we always sit down for a free consultation. As long as I’ve been an Austin personal trainer, this has been the policy. A consultation is not just free, but it’s mandatory to train with me, and for several reasons. The first point of having a consultation, is so that I can assess what imbalances the potential client has, and construct a rehabilitative plan. Additionally, it’s very important that I have a chance to learn what their medical history looks like. Lastly, but certainly not least, a consultation allows me the opportunity to answer any and all of their questions from my approach, to my fees, etc, that the potential client may have. Within the consultation, one question people will invariably ask me, is the how many times a week should I workout?

As I’ve pointed out many, many times, not a lot of things are universal when it comes to the health and fitness world. The reason we hire a personal trainer, is because we are looking for just that. A PERSONAL trainer. Not someone that hands out a generic 3 sets of 10 reps 3 times per week program like we see all too often.

Are you wondering how many times a week should I workout? How often should you workout with your personal trainer? The answer, of course, varies depending upon the individual, their medical history, goals, limitations, and budgets. It would be foolish to say that everyone needs to work with a personal trainer 3 times per week. Some clients do, and some don’t. I have clients who are professional golfers on the PGA tour and they see me 2 or 3 times per week. I also have a housewife who’s a real enthusiast, who sees me 5 times per week. There are plenty of people who only see me once per week as well. In fact, there a few people that prefer to work out on their own, and make an appointment with me every 2 or 3 weeks for a checkup as well as to plot the next course for their evolving fitness regimens. The point is, it varies as much as the people themselves do.

Generally speaking, if you are looking to gain muscle tissue, whether for some gentle toning, or to bulk up with as many hypertrophy gains imaginable, you would want to work out those body parts at least once per week. A point worthy of consideration, no matter what your goals, is that there will be significant overlap of certain muscles throughout the week so proper planning is important. For example, if you do a back workout on Tuesday, and arms on Friday, you have hit your biceps twice that week as working back uses an enormous amount of biceps. If you worked chest and or delts prior to Friday, you are getting your second triceps workout of the week on Friday. Realizing this is important for the timing aspect of things. You want to be sure to give a little time between the overlapping workouts thus allowing your body time to recover and grow.

How many times a week should I workout with my personal trainer depends upon a variety of things. Firstly, why are you seeing a personal trainer, and furthermore, what can you afford and what do you really need? If you simply need motivating, I suggest you find that from within. Personal trainers make for expensive cheerleaders, and often times ineffective ones, if the client isn’t truly motivated in the first place. On the other hand, if you are rehabilitating an injury and working on stabilizing that area through corrective flexibility, as I call it, all the while adding muscle to the area for further stabilization, you might consider seeing your trainer a minimum of once per week, depending upon the depth and severity of the situation. Professional athletes, or those aspiring to be such, obviously need to make more appointments than most. Sport specific training is very detail oriented, just as any real personal training is, but the level of intensity is not even remotely negotiable when there are potentially contracts worth millions of dollars on the line.

Ultimately, it’s up to you how often you workout, and how often you workout with a personal trainer, if at all. You certainly want to do it a sufficient amount of times per week in order to achieve results, but not so many times that you burn yourself out mentally, and it’s not even close to being enjoyable anymore. I would advise anyone,however, regardless of their motivations to see a trainer, if that’s something they are considering, to shy away from those in the industry who force you into contracts, packages, and the like. Pay as you go with guaranteed results is the way to go until you’ve ascertained that this fitness professional is truly is as advertised. No matter what, have fun and enjoy your fitness journey and the rewards of your hard work.