Help! How many times a week should I be working out?! We hear you, loud and clear, because we get asked this, a lot. So, ever the helpful little beings, we decided to put it all down in one article, so here goes! 

How often you can workout each week will depend on three things:

1. Your current fitness level - if you’re a complete beginner, you won’t be used to exercise yet, so you’re best to start off gently and at your own pace. 
2. Your goals - goals are important for keeping us focussed and motivated, and how often we need to exercise will vary - if our goal is to lose a certain amount of weight by a certain time, we’ll need to work out fewer times each week and to a lesser intensity than if we’re training for an ultra marathon…
3. Your time - busy lives often mean that exercise takes a back seat so if you’re here looking for advice, you’re amazing, you’ve already taken the first step to working out how much time you need to devote to working out! We’re not here to demand anything of you, only support and encouragement. 

All of that said, there are some general guidelines that the NHS recommend for adults between the ages of 19 and 64. The NHS says that adults should do some kind of physical activity each day. That could mean walking to the paper shop or simply moving around to take regular breaks from working, sitting or lying down. 

But ideally, the NHS guidelines for adults are at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise or at least 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. In addition to that, we should aim for strengthening exercise at least twice a week. 

This should be spread over at least three days a week, and it’s perfectly ok to do more than this - even every day, but don’t forget the importance of rest days. The guidelines change for elderly or disabled adults and pregnant women. The NHS has its full guidelines here. 

But what exactly is moderate or vigorous exercise and strengthening exercise? Here’s a few ideas:

• Moderate intensity exercise - brisk walking, cycling and dancing (which we love!) 
• Vigorous intensity exercise - running, singles tennis and high intensity interval training or HIIT (which we also love!) 
• Strength training - lifting weights or working out against your own body weight such as during squats, lunges and our amazing resistance based workouts. 

At Own Your Goals, you’ll notice that we recommend completing one of our workouts at least three times a week, with at least one rest day and the other days filled with flexibility and stretching exercises such as yoga if you can. 

There are no hard and fast rules, as we’re all unique with unique fitness levels, goals and time constraints. But we hope this article serves as a guide - exercise using OYG at least three times a week, and you’ll be reaping the rewards soon enough. 

And if you don't manage that every week, remember to be kind to yourself, next week is a brand new week. You’ve got this.