One of my top priorities when I began exercising, since my schedule is so tight, was figuring out how to get the most benefit from the amount of time I put in. I started out doing dumb things, like skimping on stretching. I wanted to burn more calories! I soon figured out that you pay a big price in pain and stiffness if you don’t stretch, and you may be too sore to exercise the next time. Experts say that the secret to exercising efficiently is to know what you’re doing. That’s why it’s so important to work with a class, a trainer, or a video when you start.

I’m a very driven person. Once I committed myself to exercising, I wanted to go all out and see some results! But I finally got it through my head that exercising seven days a week accomplishes less than working out four days does. Resting is sometimes called the other half of the workout. It’s during rest and recovery that you actually get the results as your body responds to the stress you’ve put on it. If you can’t stand to sit still, try “active rest”: doing something like walking, that keeps you moving but is easier on your body than your regular workout.

So what is the right amount of exercise? To get what’s called the aerobic training effect—a stronger heart that can pump more blood, and muscles that can make better use of the oxygen they get—you can follow a number of general guidelines. For example, the American College of Sports Medicine suggests three to five aerobic exercise sessions each week, with each session lasting fifteen to sixty minutes, supplemented by a strength training program.

Experts now believe that for the average person who’s not an elite athlete in training, accumulated time is just as good as condensed time. That means if it’s hard for you to put in sixty minutes three times a week, go for six thirty-minute workouts.

Is it better still if you put in four sixty-minute sessions a week? If you’re training on a deadline—say, for a marathon or a mountain climb—it’s probably worth it. For the ordinary exerciser, when you’re looking for results over six months or a year, “The results will be the same—they’ll just take longer to accumulate,” says Pat Manocchia. He is well aware of our culture’s desire for immediate gratification:

Unfortunately... we’re time-fixated. We want it now! People come to me and say, “I have to shoot a movie in four weeks. What can I do?” Well, nothing. What we want to do is make fitness a lifestyle.

It depends on where you start. But for the average person, making that lifestyle change takes six months, minimum.

I had a guy come to me who was a very successful businessman, very motivated. He said, “I have to come in five times a week. I really want it!” I said, “No, you can’t. You have to come in three times a week.”

Why? I knew that ultimately this guy would end up averaging four times a week, but because he’d wanted to come in five times a week, he would feel defeated. He’d feel that he didn’t accomplish his goal. He would have been depressed, and after six months he would have stopped coming. If he does it three times a week, he’ll see the results—and see them relatively quickly—and he’ll be much more likely to stay with it. The idea is to make activity part of your life.

Source: HEALTHY LIVING by Joan Lunden & Laura Morton