Maddie Believe it or not, there is such thing as working out TOO MUCH. So here’s exactly how often you should lift weights for the best results.
Hey lifters! Here I’ll be providing a good general estimate for how often you should lift weights depending on your experience level: beginner, intermediate, or advanced.
We’ll also go over a few common workout splits that you can try based on your experience in the gym. You don’t have to workout every day to see success. In fact, overtraining is a real thing and should be avoided.
This post is all about how often you should lift weights for women.
*Note: This post includes several Amazon affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link (at no extra cost to you). Please read full disclosure here. Also, I am not a doctor or dietician. I am a personal trainer and powerlifting coach. It’s always best to speak with your doctor before making any changes to your diet and/or lifestyle.
Here’s exactly how often you should lift weights:
*All of what we discuss below applies to at-home workouts as well.
What we’ll cover…
After reading this post, don’t forget to check out…
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“How often should I lift weights as a beginner?”
When addressing the answer to the question “how often should I lift weights as a beginner,” you’ll want to consider the fact that new gym-goers don’t need very high-frequency strength training workouts.
If you are just starting with weight training, there is no reason to lift weights more than two or three times per week, as you will make strength gains super fast even with lower frequency workouts.
I know of so many people who try to lift 5+ times a week when just getting into the gym, and it becomes so overwhelming it causes the individual to quit altogether.
Don’t let this be you!
Structuring your workouts
I suggest doing all full-body workouts as a beginner. And I would include lots of compound exercises if your main focus is losing weight.
If you’re already fairly lean, I still recommend that you perform some compound movements, but you’ll also want to take advantage of isolation exercises to build a more “toned” physique.
Isolation exercises are those that target a singular muscle group such as bicep curls. They don’t burn as many calories as compound exercises do, but doing them will help you build a more toned physique.
We have some great resources below that specifically address workout routines and how exactly you should structure yours for the best results.
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“How often should I lift weights as an intermediate lifter?”
As our bodies become more accustomed to the stimulus placed upon our muscles, we have to increase our number of training days to continue making solid progress.
Intermediate lifters should aim to lift weights three or four times per week.
Structuring your workouts
If you decide to lift four times a week, I would move from a full-body training split to a divided muscle group split.
You can do this in a few different ways: split up upper and lower body workouts or divide up specific and similar muscle groups.
I’ll give you several examples below!
General upper & lower body split
| DAY | SPLIT |
| MONDAY | LOWER BODY |
| TUESDAY | UPPER BODY |
| THURSDAY | LOWER BODY |
| FRIDAY | UPPER BODY |
“Bodybuilding” split
| DAY | SPLIT |
| MONDAY | QUADS, HAMSTRINGS, GLUTES, CALVES |
| WEDNESDAY | CHEST, TRICEPS, SHOULDERS |
| FRIDAY | QUADS, HAMSTRINGS, GLUTES, CALVES |
| SUNDAY | BACK, BICEPS, CORE |
With both styles of workout splits, you should aim to hit all major muscles in the body: quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes, core, back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest.
The second split is just a bit more structured and tells you exactly which upper or lower body muscles to hit on which day.
When you advance, you’ll want to make sure you work all muscle groups at least twice in any given week (see below).
It may be tempting to only train the muscles you want to or those that you think you need to, but really you should always try to maintain a balanced split and work every muscle in the body.
“How often should I lift weights as an advanced lifter?”
When a lifter becomes advanced, the individual should lift five to six times per week to keep making progress.
However, the person needs to allow their body AT LEAST one full day of rest throughout the week.
Structuring your workouts
An advanced lifter’s split may look similar to the one above, but the lifter should try to hit every muscle group two or more times in one week. It’s easier to think of this split in terms of push, pull, and legs.
Push exercises hit the chest, triceps, and shoulders, whereas pull exercises put the greatest emphasis on your back and biceps.
The leg days should target your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
Many lifters following a PPL split also like to do core during their leg day, but realistically, you could do core on whatever day(s) you desire.
Here is an example push/pull/legs split for advanced lifters:
Push, pull, legs split
| DAY | SPLIT |
| MONDAY | PUSH |
| TUESDAY | PULL |
| WEDNESDAY | LEGS (ABS) |
| THURSDAY | PUSH |
| FRIDAY | PULL |
| SATURDAY | LEGS (ABS) |
The push, pull, legs split is a simple, yet super effective way of splitting up your strength workouts throughout the week.
Here I’ll provide a few example exercises under each category:
PUSH – CHEST, TRICEPS & SHOULDERS
- Bench press
- Overhead press
- Push press
- Overhead tricep extension
- Dips
- Pec deck
PULL – BACK & BICEPS
- Barbell rows
- Lat pulldowns
- Pull (chin) ups
- Bicep curls
- Barbell shrugs
- Cable face pulls
LEGS
- Squats
- Deadlifts
- You can also choose to do these on your pull day if you don’t want to do squats and deadlifts together on the same day
- Hip thrusts
- Calf raises
- Glute-ham raises
- Front squats
- Split squats
The Lift Log
Effectively track your workouts with this awesome gym journal by Boldstrive!
Why shouldn’t we lift weights every day?
To put it simply, our bodies NEED time to recover from our strength workouts. If we never gave our bodies any time to rest, they’d never have any time to grow.
And for that reason, weight training every day is neither safe nor effective.
There’s actually a name for working out too much: overtraining.
Overtraining syndrome
Overtraining happens when a lifter doesn’t allow his/her body enough rest to recover from his/her workouts.
A few symptoms of overtraining syndrome are…
- A plateau or decline in progress
- Perceived exertion during usual normal or even “easy” workouts
- Excessive sweating/overheating
- Unusually sore or stiff muscles
- Reoccurring injuries
There are other symptoms too, but the ones listed above are some of the most common.
Recovering from overtraining just involves resting. Allow your body the time it needs to return back to normal.
You can prevent overtraining syndrome by giving yourself deload weeks, especially if you have frequent and intense workouts.
As a powerlifter myself, I take a deload week every 8-10 weeks to give my body and central nervous system a much-needed break.
Deloads are most appropriate for intermediate and advanced lifters, as beginners generally don’t train with extremely high volume and intensity, therefore a deload isn’t necessary in their case.
The takeaway
How often you should lift weights really comes down to you and your experience level.
Untrained people can work out much less and see awesome results, while trained people need to work out more to continue making progress.
Beginner lifters should start by strength training 2-3x per week for the best results. They are best off doing full-body workouts.
Intermediate lifters should aim to work out 3-4x per week. They can choose to follow full body workouts or to split up their workouts among specific, similar muscle groups.
And finally, advanced lifters can train up to 6x per week. They should allow themselves at least one day a week for proper muscle recovery.
Intermediate and advanced lifters need to watch out for overtraining syndrome. If an athlete doesn’t give his/her body enough time to rest, they may begin to suffer from overtraining.
Overtraining can be avoided by taking deload weeks, and it can also be treated if necessary.
