If I Work Out 5 Days a Week, Will I Lose Weight?
If You're Working Out 5 Days a Week to Lose Weight, Here's What Experts Want You to Know
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When people start a workout program, they want to come out of the gate in a sprint, but what happens is they can't maintain that sprint, and they eventually give up and stop the program altogether, said Williford. "Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint." To be consistent with weight loss, she said you have to maintain whatever level of activity you started doing to lose that weight, and if you hit a plateau, sometimes you have to increase the exercise activity to get through it.
But that doesn't mean you have to work out five days a week. McGreer doesn't think it's necessary to commit to five days a week to make significant goals. He added, "if an individual can commit to three hour-long sessions of well-planned and moderately intense effort, significant gains can be made in just a couple months." You want to start a routine that you both enjoy and that's sustainable over time.
Exercise has amazing benefits for overall health from mental health to heart health. However, "it is actually more effective for weight maintenance rather than weight loss," said Dr. Huether.