Cardio 7 Days A Week: Is Working Out Every Single Day Safe?

The Proper Workout Plan

Physical activity is essential for optimal health. If your goal is to shed a couple of excess fat pounds, grow muscle mass, or simply stay toned, you need to exercise regularly. According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to build muscle, an average adult should workout 2 and more days a week.

Since there are so many various workouts, you are sure to find something that would personally work the best for you.You can do some weight training if you want to get buffed, try yoga if you need to tone your body and clear your mind, or opt for cardio such as rowing if you want to strengthen your muscles and burn more calories.

If you have chosen a cardio workout, you need to plan your workouts properly before jumping into training. You should consider the duration, intensity, and frequency of your physical activity. To do so, you need to find out whether doing cardio every day for the entire week is safe.

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Should You Do Cardio Every Day?

So, is cardio 7 days a week bad or good? It depends on your goals, fitness level, and the intensity of your training. You see, light cardio, such as dancing, a slow walk, yard work, vacuuming, and others, can be performed every day. High-intensity cardio exercises, for example, burpees, exert more muscles and require more rest between workouts. If you don’t rest properly, you increase the risk of injury, as was shown by the 1977 research. The authors of the study recommend that you reduce the number of activity days to avoid any injuries, especially, if you are a beginner.

According to the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM), your training intensity should reach about 60-85% of your maximum heart rate. Your workouts should last up to an hour and can be performed not more than 5 times a week.

If you notice the reduction in your physical performance, you always feel tired, find it hard to fall asleep, suffer from muscle soreness, irritability, and loss of motivation, then perhaps you are overtraining. In such a case, you need to cut your activity intensity or frequency and implement more rest days into your workout routine.

The Importance Of Rest Days

As you may know, each workout plan consists of activity days and rest days. The latter is essential if you want your body to recover properly. But that is not all there is to it. Here are the main benefits of rest days:

• Prevents muscle soreness. Rest days allow your muscles to replace glycogen that was burned during a workout, which prevents muscle soreness.
• Promotes muscle recovery. Exercise creates micro-tears in your muscles, which are repaired later on when you rest. This makes your muscles grow and strengthens them.
• Lowers the risk of injury. When you are tired, your performance quality drops, which may lead to an injury. Resting refills you with energy, reducing the risk of injury.
• Boosts physical performance. As was mentioned above, proper rest provides for better physical performance.
• Improves sleep quality. Working out increases the levels of energy-boosting hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, which makes it difficult for you to fall asleep. Rest helps normalize your hormone levels and thus promotes better sleep.

How To Plan Your Cardio Rest Days?

Now, although tiredness, muscle soreness, moodiness, bad performance, and poor sleep are all indicators that you need a rest day, it is better to plan your rest beforehand than to do it when you have already started to experience all the above-listed. So, how do you plan it? Light cardio usually doesn’t require long resting periods. It is safe to perform it every day, as long as your doctor approves it.

If you perform a higher intensity cardio training, then rest days are crucial for you. Experts recommend taking a rest day every 3-5 days. The higher the intensity, the more frequent your rest days should be.

If you are a fan of running, then your approach to resting days should be slightly different. Beginners should avoid running more than 3 days a week.

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Conclusion

Cardio is a great type of exercise, which can help you strengthen your body, grow muscles, trim a couple of inches of excess fat, boost your cardiovascular health, improve your endurance and make you feel good. However, everything is good in moderation. Overdoing high-intensity cardio can lead to muscle soreness, constant tiredness, problems with sleep, bad physical performance, and others. To avoid such problems, you need to have a rest day every 3-5 days. This will provide for proper recovery and tackle all the above-listed issues. Before planning your workout, please, consult with a health professional.

DISCLAIMER:

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!