3 days a week or 5 days a week?

[Rachel]

What is best for working out? Should I do 3 days a week, or 5 days a week for my workouts? I plan to workout for one hour a day for 3 days or 5 days. I just don't know what I want to do yet. I'm leaning on 5 as that would probably be best, but 3 sounds better haha. But I originally thought of doing an hour workout every day, but decided not to. Instead I want to do either 5 days or 3, which do you think I should do? 

[Sophia]

From my understanding, 3 days a week was suggested for years but has since become outdated since a lot of us have stationary jobs where we don't move for hours at a time. Now they say even working out 5 days a week doesn't cut it unless you are really putting the work in. I think being more active in general is far more important then having a workout routine. Most people work out 30 minutes to an hour 3 to 6 days a week whereas being more active throughout the day will amount to far more calories burned.

[Mila]

I thinking working out daily is the best solution for weight management and health. You don't have to join a gym or use exercise equipment though, you can just be more active like Sophia said. I think the entire concept of exercise is silly. Wouldn't it make more sense to do something you enjoy or use your time to get things done that benefit you (gardening for example) vs spending an hour running on a treadmill like a gerbil? 

[James]

I am a 6 day a week work out guy. That was not a option so I voted for 5 days a week. Sometimes I can get 7 but that 7th day is typically just going through the motions. Consistency is the most important thing. 

3 days a week is considering the minimum to build fitness. 

Just remember every work out does not need to kick your ass. In my training I keep a majority of my efforts down in endurance/tempo based cardio and sprinkle in lactate and anaerobic activity very lightly. 

The most important thing is to build your workout schedule and stick with the plan you laid out for yourself. 

[Quinten]

I'd say 5 days a week, because we all need a little rest during the weekend. I like to workout every day though if I can. Sometimes I workout every day, but will often take a day or two off during the weekend. But other than that, M-F is mostly when I workout. 

If you're overweight or obese, you will probably want to workout M-F at least. You could also start with 3 days and then move up to 4 and 5 and so on.