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Okay, now you have a good idea about what strength training equipment you'll need. Now we'll answer a few questions like:
- How many days a week should I work out?
- How many sets and repetitions of each exercise should I do?
- When should I change my workout routine?
These are all very good questions. Let's take a look at the first one now:
How many days a week should I work out?
There isn't a straight forward simple answer to this question. It really all comes down to two basic questions:
- How many days a week can you realistically devote to lifting weights?
- How much improvement would you like to receive from your weight lifting program?
Before we address these two questions, allow me to say that lifting weights once a week really isn't enough. On the other hand, four or five times a week is probably a little too much (especially for a beginning strength trainer).
What's left? 2 or 3 times a week.
As you can probably guess, 2 times a week is good but 3 times a week is a lot better.
This is assuming that you plan to train every body part during every workout. Some people prefer to train 1 or 2 body parts a day. There are good and bad points about working out this way:
The good thing is that since you're only training 1 or 2 body parts (for example your chest and triceps) you can really do a lot of exercises for each body part.
The bad thing about it is that if you train 2 body parts per work out, since there are 6 major body parts (chest, back, triceps, biceps, shoulders, and legs), even if you work out 3 days each week you'll only be able to train each body part once a week.
This is why I usually recommend training every body part in every workout. This way you'll be able to train every body part at least two or three times each week, giving you the most bang for the buck.
Now, lets get back to the issue of how many days per week to work out. If you have the time and you really want to see some major changes in your body, I definitely recommend that you train 3 times a week.
That being said, if you really aren't sure about the time available or if you're a beginner at strength training, start out at days times per week.
This will give you an opportunity to ease into your weight lifting routine. Once you're comfortable in your routine, and you discover that you have time to add an extra day, then consider adding a third day each week.
Now, let's move on to the strength training routine itself...
<< Part 5 Part 7 >>
About the author:
Kevin Valluzzi is the owner of A&B Fitness, an in-home personal training company
located in northern New Jersey. He holds a degree in Exercise Physiology and is
certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health & Fitness
Instructor.
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