Three days a week of strength training, plus walking on most other days, is enough for most men over 30. Five days sounds impressive, but a plan you can keep beats a plan that ends in week three with you on the couch eating chips and denial.
Want it laid out? The 4-week restart plan does exactly this.
What do the official guidelines say?
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening on at least two days. That is it. Not seven days. Not two-a-days. Not a sunrise cold plunge.
Two or three strength sessions and a daily walk meet the guidelines on a normal week with a normal job.
Is three days really enough?
For most beginners and returners, yes. Three full-body sessions with a rest day between each gives your muscles time to recover and grow. Strength usually goes up for weeks on this plan.
A sample week:
- Monday: Strength, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Tuesday: Walk.
- Wednesday: Strength.
- Thursday: Walk or an easy jog.
- Friday: Strength.
- Weekend: Long walk, play with the kids, rest.
That is a full week of training with two days off. Your couch will survive.
Should you train more as you get fitter?
Maybe later. After a few months of consistent training you can add a fourth day or split the workouts up. But don't rush it. Most men who quit do so because they started at five days and burned out by week three, not because three days was too easy.
If your lifts are still going up and you are recovering well, you are doing enough. If you are sore, tired and grumpy, you may be doing too much. More in why recovery takes longer after 30.
What if you can only manage two days?
Then do two. Two sessions a week still meets the strength guideline, and it is infinitely better than zero. Use 20-minute workouts for busy dads if time is the problem. Aim to build up to three when life allows.
What about the other days?
Walk. Walking is cheap, easy to recover from and surprisingly useful. Build up to 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day over time, which a 2022 Lancet Public Health study linked with the biggest benefits for people under 60. See whether walking is enough to lose weight.
The bottom line
Work out three days a week, walk the rest, and treat rest days like part of the plan, because they are. Consistency over months is what builds a body, not heroics over a fortnight. Nobody ever got fit in a weekend, though plenty have got injured trying.
Start the restart plan, book your three days and stick to them.
Go train, FATBOY. Then go home, shower and let the rest day do its job.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a health condition or haven't exercised in a long time, check with your doctor first.
- training schedule
- beginners