This week, I had a “Zumba Beginner Recommendation” goal to work out 5 times. Today is the 5th time I should exercise this week, and it’s not looking good for the home team, meaning I’ll end up having exercised 4x this week, not 5.
Of course, being extremely competitive (especially when it comes to myself), my first and initial thought when I made the decision that I am going take a nap when Zach goes down for his nap today, instead of doing my Zumba, was that I failed the week in this area.
Rightfully so, the thought was fleeting. I went right into, “Hey, now wait a minute. I went from exercising ZERO times a week to exercising 4 times this week – that’s not a failure – that’s a success!” 🙂
So now I’m curious – how many times (on average) do YOU exercise a week? Is there generally a difference between what you shoot for and what you actually do?
I used to think that a good goal was to exercise 3x/week. With that being said, the Zumba beginners plan calls for 5x and they only go up from there. Is 3x/week outdated and not enough?
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one, because until today, I guess I haven’t really given it much thought.
Have a great weekend everyone!
All Jammed Up 
(Found you via the ‘exercise’ tag) Firstly, I think it’s amazing that you managed to up your exercise days from zero to four. Seriously, that’s quite a feat and you have every right to be proud of yourself. There are many more people out there who don’t exercise than there are people who do exercise, let alone four times a week!
I always heard that half an hour a day of (light to moderate) exercise is advisable to maintain a healthy lifestyle/weight. (Including activities like briskly walking, so you don’t need to go full on.) However, the owner of my gym says that in order to actually LOSE weight, people will need to exercise approximately an hour a day. So, 3x a week is not outdated necessarily, but it could be considered a bare minimum (depends on how many minutes and what kind of exercise you’re talking about).
I currently exercise only two hours a week due to the weather and time constraints, but usually I average three, four times a week. In the summer it’s so much easier because running and walking outside is so much nicer in the sun!
Thanks so much for the reply! Now that you mention it, 1/2 hour a day of “activity” is familiar to me too and sounds like a really good rule of thumb for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 🙂
I think everyone has their own opinion how much you should do it, but I think as long as you’re trying and moving somehow more than you were before you’re doing awesome! You can’t go from nothing to something and expect perfect Angie! I think you’re doing great 🙂
Thanks, Dani!
I agree – something is better than nothing, period. 🙂
Personally I exercise at the gym 5 or 6 times a week, mostly first thing in the morning. This has served me well for the last 14 months. In spite of all the ups and downs I’ve experienced, the diligent attendance to that part of the equation has helped. I also walk to work so if I’m working on Sundays I’ve actually exercised 7 days that week.
To do the same exercises 5 days a week would drive me nuts. But variety makes a huge difference. I’d do Zumba 3 days a week, and something else on the other days – like weights and a walk!
Keep on moving.
That’s a good point – even as much as I love Zumba now, it’s new and exciting, but probably won’t always be that way and I’ll need to find a way to mix it up. I think I just really need to get my butt outside and walk!!
Thanks so much for the reply!