One of the most common questions I have been asked over my 20 plus year career is how often do I need to train to get results? I think there is this belief by some that you need to live in the gym to get results and benefits from exercise. I explain it like this. Exercise is like a mountain. You have under training on one side and over training on the other. You want to get as close to the top of mountain as possible, optimal training. What is optimal training though? The point is more isn't necessarily better.
The optimal amount of training will vary by what program you are doing, your level of experience, your goals and your body. Some training programs call for more training frequency and more training volume (sets x reps) with training volume being the stressor for creating a training adaptation to get results. Other training programs call for less frequency and with less training volume but with intensity (heavier weight and lower reps) being the stressor for creating a training adaptation to get results. Your level of experience will factor in as well too. A beginner may do well with training less as a little bit will tend to do the trick in the beginning where as an advanced trainee may be able to handle more training as their body gets more conditioned and their fitness level improves over time. Your training and fitness goals will also factor in to how much training you need to do to get results. The more serious the goals the more often you will probably need to train. It's much like school. If you want to get an "A" you need to study more and work harder than if you just want to get a "C". Your body can also factor in to how much exercise is the right amount. Some people will get better results training more often and be able to recover quicker. Other people due to their health and maybe a medical condition may do better training less.
From my experience with clients over the years I feel like training 2 x a week is probably the minimum needed to get some type of results and benefits from training for general fitness goals with 3 x a week probably being more optimal.
For people with more serious training goals I feel like training 3 x a week is probably the minimum needed to get results with 4 to 5 x a week probably more optimal.
As far as time needed to be spent in the gym per workout or training session another question I get asked is, "How long do I need to train for? Do I need to spend 2 hours in the gym?" I have seen people get results in as little as 30 minutes per workout. I feel like 45 to 60 minute workouts are probably more optimal. I think workouts lasting longer than an hour are counter productive with 2 hour workouts being ridiculous. If you are able to train for more than an hour then you are probably not training very hard. It gets to a point of diminishing returns. The longer you train past about an hour or so the less returns you are getting from you workout. You want to think, stimulate but don't annihilate. If you want to get more work in and train for more than an hour you would be far better off splitting your workouts into 2 separate workouts with maybe one workout in the morning and the other in the afternoon or evening.
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