There are also plenty of cardio classes you can try. Some thrilling examples include indoor cycling, kickboxing, HIIT classes, dance cardio, running classes, rowing classes, and more.
Rest days: 2 times a week
Why: Taking a break allows your body to recover and rebuild, and gives it some time for post-workout muscle soreness to subside, so you can get back to your workouts refreshed and ready to battle it out.
There are several ways to work on a rest day. A rest day can involve active recovery, which means you don’t have to hit the gym or get in a serious sweat, but you do it anyway. Something.
« It’s not just about physical recovery, it’s also about mental recovery, » says Tamir. “Doing something you enjoy that is active is great for the mind…and it helps reduce residual fatigue.”
But sometimes the best day off is a day off. real rest. It’s perfectly normal to do nothing on your rest day. The most important thing is that you listen to what your body and your brain need. On some rest days, it might be a light stretching routine in the morning. Other days it might be binge watching Netflix on the couch. Both have a place in your weekly training plan!
How: Active recovery shouldn’t take much effort. Think: discreet and gentle movement. You can stretch, just go for a walk, or try a class, like restorative yoga. It is also acceptable, as mentioned, not to do anything physical on your rest day. If you choose active recovery, aim for 30 to 60 minutes of very light activity.
Where you place those rest days is up to you. If you do your workouts Monday through Friday, feel free to take the whole weekend, says Tamir. Or you can break them up by doing a strength day, a cardio day, then a rest day before resuming strength training. As SELF previously reported, the American Council on Exercise recommends taking at least one rest day every seven to 10 exercise days, but the timing and frequency of rest days is highly individualized, which is why it’s important to listen to what your body is telling you. then heed this advice.
Is two hours in the gym too much?
When it comes to exercise, more doesn’t always mean better. In general, a smart approach to training is « quality over quantity », Ava FaginCSCS, director of athletic performance at Cleveland State University, tells SELF.
« It’s entirely possible to get a good workout, or a good enough workout, to get the goals you want » without exercising for hours at a time, Fagin says. Of course, some people, like marathon runners, may actually need to spend several hours exercising at a time as part of their super specific training programs. But for the general population, spending two hours in the gym isn’t necessary, and in some cases it can even be counterproductive if you push yourself too far and overwork your muscles.
So how much time in the gym is ideal? In general, a weight training session should last 40 to 60 minutes, plus a foam rolling and a quick warm-up beforehand. As for cardio, American College of Sports Medicine recommends logging 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week. How you divide those 150 minutes will depend on the type of training you do, whether it’s longer, steady sessions; shorter HIIT workouts; or a mixture of both.
Is it bad to train every day?
Now, this might sound counterintuitive, but rest days are on the agenda for a reason: working out every day isn’t a good plan if you want to improve your long-term fitness.
Overtraining without giving your body the downtime it needs is like taking two steps forward, one step back, Fagin says. Eventually, taking that step back over and over again « causes a downward slope of progress just because you’re so tired, » she says.
According to AS.
Instead, follow the tips above for establishing weekly training plans that include work doses and rest doses. With this kind of balanced approach, you’ll reach your goals faster and with less risk of injury (and enjoy the process more!). That’s what we call a practice win.
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