How Often Should You Workout To Lose Weight?

Knowing how often you should work out can be challenging, especially if you've never taken part in regular exercise. You have to factor in your current weight, lifestyle, eating habits and health condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has organized general activity guidelines for all adults to improve their health and quality of life.

Aerobic

Aerobic exercise should make up the bulk of your exercise routine when trying to lose weight. This is because aerobic exercise is where you burn the most calories. The CDC recommends that all adults strive for at least 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise each week. Moderately intense exercises include activities such as biking, light hiking, brisk walking and using exercise machines such as ellipticals and stair steppers at a moderate pace.

Strength Training

Strength training also plays a critical role in your exercise routine. Focus on each of the major muscle groups such as the legs, back, hips, abdominals, arms, shoulders and chest muscles. Strength training can be achieved in three ways. First, through body resistance exercises such as pushups, situps and pullups. Second, with the use of weight machines that target specific muscle groups. Third, using free weights like kettle balls, dumbbells or barbells. The CDC recommends you aim to include strength training in your exercise routine at least twice a week.

Time

If you're healthy enough to push a little harder, the CDC recommends increasing your exercise time to 300 minutes a week -- or about an hour a day, five days a week. This allows you to burn even more calories, as well as increases the beneficial health effects on your heart and lungs. If you are unable to fit an hour of exercise into your schedule, consider splitting your exercise sessions in half, with 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening to obtain the same results.

Intensity

If 300 minutes is difficult to fit into your schedule each week, you can increase your intensity level to get better results. For example, instead of a brisk walk on the treadmill, alternate walking with jogging or running to increase your calorie-burning potential. Other examples include increasing the resistance level on your elliptical or stationary bike, or increasing the amount of weight during strength training.

Safety

When starting a new exercise routine, it's important to talk to your doctor to ensure your plan fits your individual health needs and limitations. Although the CDC has set out guidelines to help you determine how much exercise to include into your schedule, it is more important to mold these guidelines to your abilities. If your health limits you to where you cannot reach 150 minutes of exercise a week, perform what you comfortably can -- and then work toward increasing your exercise each week. If at any point during exercise you feel light-headed, dizzy, nauseated or experience pain of any kind, reduce your intensity level or stop exercising until the symptoms subside. If these symptoms continue, see your doctor.