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Wednesday, 15 February 2012 04:24

How often should you exercise

How often should you train? You get all sorts of conflicting information these days about when to train and how often to train. "Training frequency", "adequate recovery", and other such buzzwords abound; and it makes it hard for the newbie who has just embarked on a training program to figure out how much is "enough".

For instance, you may have a person thinking "Rahul advertises 15 minutes programs", so 15 minutes is enough, and not a second more. Or "My second aunt told me to train if you feel like it  and not worry about how much or when and so thats what I'm going to do". Or "Bubba down the road trains for two hours daily, and he's got HUGE arms! THAT is how long you should be training for - TWO hours daily!".

And it's true - it may sound humorous, but it's true.

So, how much IS enough? Only YOU can decide that. Only you know what level your at with regard to your training, and what your goals are - and you need to tailor your program to suit those goals.

I advocate daily training; as well as taking optimal rest. This means that you train hard daily - but you do NOT do so to exhaustion - to the point that you can barely move the next day. This may mean training for 15 minutes daily, or it may mean 30 minutes. It may mean training every second day while undergoing "active recovery" on the rest days.

We were always told to exercise daily when we were young for optimal health. This is sage advice; "wisdom" that has been passed down through the ages, but it holds true today as well - and will apply to generations to come as well. The old-times all emphasized DAILY activity. You might workout once on  Monday, twice on Tuesday - and then take a rest on Wednesday and walk for a mile or so - and so forth. This way, you do SOMETHING daily while not overloading your system to the point of no-recovery.

And now for one last thing: How often do I train?

Well, usually once a day - I train hard for about 30 minutes, or 40 minutes MAX (including warm ups). I may train twice a day if I feel like it, or if I'm trying out something new that I want to get better at. I've had periods before where I've broken down my workout into morning and evening segments. And on my rest days, I usually walk at least a couple of kilometers. Nothing back breaking, but I've found it helps me recover better. It also means I'm not lazing around and idling on my rest days - I'm "doing something", even if that something isn't something too taxing.

And as I've said so many times before, thats where it all starts. Do something, and that something turns into something more, and you go from there. And this applies to all facets of your life - not just training.

OK, that's the tip for the day. Gotta go get MY own walk in for the day!

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: If you're serious about your training, grab a copy of Fast and Furious Fitness TODAY. You'll never wonder about this question again!