How Many Exercises Per Workout You Should Do?

Exercise is good for health, that’s a no-brainer. But can I tell you a secret? Exercises sometimes can be not so good for you as well. You must be wondering, how? So, overdoing a workout can kill its beneficial effects and can cause serious health injuries. And if you do too little, even then you’ll see no difference. And I am sure you would never want your physical fitness routine to take you on this road. That’s why it is imperative to know what’s an ideal number of exercises per workout or per muscle group you should go for? There is a range for everyone, and this article will help you find your range.

How to decide on a number of exercises per workout?

To decide how many exercises per workout you need to perform, you first need to list out which muscle groups you are going to work out. Generally speaking, the exercises targeting upper, lower, and total body muscles are incorporated on a weekly basis to get or stay in shape. The training frequency of these workouts varies on the basis of your workout level. If you are a beginner, you’ll have to start slow and gradually increase the number of exercises and their sets. If you are an intermediate, you are already moving forward and can add a little intense workout routine. If you are a pro and are looking for muscle building or extra strength, then you can perform high-intensity exercises with maximum reps and sets.

Factors to be considered before deciding on workout routine

Before you jump into any exercise or workout routine, you should keep in mind the following factors to determine where you lie.

• Your ultimate fitness goals which describe best if you want to workout get fit only or to build extra muscles
• Your age and gender
• Your stamina against physical activities
• Your health condition. Check if you have any underlying medical condition

As soon as you decide where your goals and health condition lies, now you can decide how many exercises you need to perform per workout. There is no hard and fast rule about the number of exercises per workout, but if you are looking for a general answer, that mostly works, is 3-5 exercises per muscle group with 1-3 sets of each exercise including at least 10-12 reps. But this frequency varies depending on the intensity of the workout.

Now let’s see the optimal number of exercises per workout for each muscle group in the body.

1. The upper body workouts

If you are looking to increase the endurance or muscle mass of your upper body parts, like arms, shoulder, chest or abs-You can add 3 to 5 exercises targeting each muscle group of your upper body in your routine. Your routine should be divided over the span of a week with alternative days of rest. If you want to go intense, you can shorten the time of rest period. Some common upper body exercises include Push-ups, planks, bench presses, overhead tricep extension, and many more.

2. The lower body workouts

To train your lower body muscles, you might need to go the extra mile. The fat around the legs and hips is usually a tough one to lose. That’s why you can increase the number of exercises per muscle group in this regard. But if you are a beginner, then only pick 3 exercises per muscle group and with time increase their number. The most common lower body exercises are split squats, deadlifts, lunges, and jumping squats. You can also look out for more options according to each muscle group of the lower body, which you might want to specifically target.

3. The full body split

This workout aims at every muscle group of your body while strengthening your body overall and building muscles. That’s why if you are looking for overall fitness, then follow the routine of doing both upper and lower body exercises in a week with variations. You can follow this routine to get maximum results by doing a minimum number of exercises.

• Monday & Thursday – Dedicated to upper body workouts
• Tuesday & Friday – Workout on Lower body muscles
• Saturday- Cardio exercises
• Wednesday Sunday- Rest

Pro-Tip

Other than deciding a specific exercise number for every muscle group, you can perform compound exercises, 3-5 exercises per week. Compound exercises target all the muscle groups of your body simultaneously and do not fatigue you much.

Why shouldn’t you do more?

Going way beyond the normal exercise number can hamper your body and physical fitness. Other than that,

• It can cause muscle injuries
• It can hamper your athletic performance
• A single exercise will take up most of your time and will let you feel exhausted
• It can make you experience fatigue
• It can demotivate you and can make you depressed

Conclusion

Working out is the best gift you can give to your body. And if you know the frequency of workouts, that’ll be the cherry on top. Just remember, it’s your body, and there is no magic wand that can get it into shape. A suggested ideal number of workouts wouldn’t necessarily be ideal for you. Only you can decide by practicing again and again, what works best for you and how many exercises you should be doing.