How long it takes to see results from working out depends on your goals and fitness level. For example, research has shown that people who are previously inactive usually see cardio and muscle gain within two to four weeks. In contrast, it might take as long as four months to see significant fat loss. In the meantime, signs that you are getting fitter include feeling more rested, having an improved mood, and thinking more clearly.
Remember that the scale does not determine your fitness level. There are many other ways to gauge your progress. Read on to learn how long it takes to see results from working out and signs that you are getting fitter.
How Long Does It Take To Lose Weight—and Keep It Off?
It might take as long as three to four months to see significant results in cardio, muscle, and weight loss, depending on your goals and how fit you are. Cardio helps improve aerobic capacity, or the maximum amount of oxygen that's available during exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises 150 minutes of cardio per week, or 30 minutes per day, five days per week.
Resistance training can help build muscle mass and strength. You will likely make gains in strength more quickly than others if you are just starting out with exercise. The CDC advises resistance training two days per week.
Cardio and Muscle
A study published in 2018 reported that some people will see improvements in aerobic capacity and muscle gains in just two to four weeks. In contrast, researchers noted that your genetics, muscle fiber makeup, and the quality of your workouts affect your strength if you are well-conditioned. You might see improvements within eight to 12 weeks in that case.
Weight Loss
How long it takes to lose weight from working out depends on how often you exercise and your diet. You must burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.
Research has shown that doing more than the minimum recommended 150 minutes per week is essential for weight loss. A study published in 2017 found that exercise alone resulted in about 7% weight loss after about four months among overweight men and women. The participants performed seven to eight hours of endurance exercise weekly.
1. You Can Think Clearly
Physical activity helps support brain health and might prevent neurological diseases. Research has shown that many structural and chemical changes happen in the brain when you exercise. There's an increase in the volume of gray matter in your brain increases when you exercise. Gray matter is tissue in your brain that helps control your emotions, memory, and movements.
With exercise also comes chemical changes that increase blood flow to your brain. Regular physical activity also allows for more glucose (sugar) to enter, helping improve cognitive function. Glucose is your brain's primary source of energy. Increased energy helps improve your focus and memory and prevents cognitive decline with age.
Research has shown that exercise generally helps you get a better night's rest. There are mixed results regarding the type and timing of exercise. A review published in 2017 found that any type of exercise, from aerobic exercise to resistance training to tai chi and yoga, improves sleep quality.
Try using a sleep tracker device for a few weeks to measure your sleep quality. A sleep tracker can tell you how long it takes you to drift off and how long you spend in rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is the deepest stage of sleep, which is necessary to feel well-rested.
Keep in mind that exercising too close to bedtime might keep you up at night. Try scheduling your workout so that you are done at least three hours before your bedtime.
3. You Feel Stronger
Aerobic exercise strengthens your heart and lungs. Look at your resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate recovery (HRR) to tell if your heart and lungs are getting stronger. Your heart typically does not need to work as hard as rest, so a normal RHR is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). Your HRR is your peak heart rate during exercise minus your heart rate after you cool down.
People in better cardiovascular condition have lower heart rates during exercise. Their heart rates come down more quickly to their RHR than others. As your heart gets stronger, it can pump more blood out with each contraction, meaning it does not have to beat as quickly.
Your body shape may change due to losing fat and gaining muscle as your fitness improves. Focus on how your clothing feels instead of what the number says on the scale. Just keep in mind that clothing sizes often vary between brands.
Your pants may get looser in some areas, but you might fill them out in others. You might be losing fat in your abdominal area if your pants loosen up around your waist. Research has linked high amounts of abdominal fat have been correlated with higher disease risk.
In a study published in 2020, researchers found that exercise helps reduce both abdominal fat and waist circumference. The authors also noted that boosting either the amount or intensity of exercise can increase the amount of abdominal fat you burn.
5. Your Mood Improves
Research has shown that regular physical activity can result in improved mental health outcomes. In a review published in 2021, researchers found that exercise protects against anxiety and depression. For example, people with low or moderate fitness levels had a 47% and 23% greater risk of mental health concerns compared to highly fit people.
The authors noted that those benefits were dose-dependent, meaning they increased with more exercise. Both aerobic exercise and resistance training had positive impacts on mental health.
The number on the scale is not worth fixating on, but that does not mean weighing yourself is a complete waste of time. Some evidence suggests that stepping on the scale every day helps keep you on track toward weight loss.
In contrast, using the scale daily can be a bit over the top for many people. A study published in 2015 found that women who frequently weigh themselves had lower self-esteem, increased concern about their weight, and higher rates of depression than others.
Here are some tips for using a scale in a healthy way:
Consider the pros and cons: How does it make you feel when you step onto the scale? Frequently stepping on a scale may negatively affect mood and promote disordered eating behaviors and thoughts. Do not weigh yourself often if it compromises your mental health. Instead, focus on other aspects of your health.
Know that the scale only tells part of the story: The scale does not show fat loss or muscle gains. Find other ways to gauge your progress, especially ones that make you feel good and motivate you.
Only use it once per week: Any more than that can make you feel frustrated if you do not see any progress.
What Is Muscular Endurance—And How Can You Improve Yours?
A Quick Review
How long does it take to see results from working out? The answer depends on your goals—whether you are improving your cardio, gaining muscle, or losing weight—and your fitness level. For example, people who are new to working out will typically see cardio and muscle gain within two to four weeks. In contrast, significant fat loss might take around four months or longer.
There are several other immediate benefits of physical activity. You might notice that you are more rested, can think more clearly, and have an improved mood. Your body composition might change, making your clothes fit differently, even if the numbers on the scale do not change.
However, don't overlook the more subtle signs of progress, like sleeping better, better mood, better range of motion, less painful joints, and improved mental health.
You might notice that you are more rested, can think more clearly, and have an improved mood. Your body composition might change, making your clothes fit differently, even if the numbers on the scale do not change.
As a rough guide, you'll probably notice some initial changes in the first four to six weeks, but longer-term changes (what you're working toward) will often take around eight to 12 weeks. The good news is that you're likely to start feeling better quickly.
"A good starting point for most people is to aim for three to five hours of workouts per week to see results within roughly two to three months," says Leach.
Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise sends oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores.
"When performed appropriately, exercise can lead to physiological changes in about eight to 12 weeks for most people," Gagliardi says. "This does not mean that everyone will respond to exercise in the same way. Some people may see and feel results in less than eight to 12 weeks, and for others, it may take more time."
The first and probably most obvious sign of progress would be your strength gains. If you've been able to increase the weight that you can lift for the same amount of reps, do more reps with that weight, add an extra set, or decrease rest periods and reach the same workout volume, you're making progress.
What happens one week after commencing an exercise program? You start to experience both physiological and mental changes. On a cellular level mitochondria—mini power plants that produce energy—multiply, meaning that your body can produce more energy.
Entering the third month, your hard work will start paying off more noticeably. You'll witness changes in muscle tone, and your cardiovascular fitness will improve. The mirror will become your friend as you admire the developing contours of your body. Remember that progress is rarely linear.
Generally, aim to exercise five days per week. Still, the number of days you work out may vary depending on your available time and fitness level. Try doing a mix of cardio and strength training exercises during the week. You can mix up the type of workouts you do across alternating days or on the same days.
As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. If you want to lose weight, keep off lost weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to exercise more. Cutting down on sitting time is important, too.
In general, though, weight loss can be delineated into three stages: rapid weight loss, gradual weight loss, and maintenance. The length of each stage depends on the individual, Michelle Routhenstein, R.D., preventive cardiology dietitian says.
As you add muscle mass and lose fat, the reading on your bathroom scale may not change much, but your pants will be looser. That's a better mark of progress. Measured around, your waistline should be less than 35 inches if you're a woman or less than 40 inches if you're a man to reduce heart and diabetes risks.
How long does it take to lose stomach fat? Understanding that is crucial for setting realistic goals and maintaining motivation. Generally, a safe and sustainable rate of weight loss is about 1 to 2 pounds per week. This means that you can realistically expect to lose 4 to 8 pounds of body fat per month.
There is no quick fix to body fat. You will need at least four to eight weeks to notice toned muscles. For this, you will also need to follow the right strategy and do exercises for toned body. Your sex, diet, and metabolism also play a vital role in your progress.
Most of the improvements in strength and function are from more efficient nerve connections into the muscles, so that the firing patterns of your muscles is more selective and responsive. The blood vessels into the muscles have grown and become more efficient (angiogenesis).
Is 20 Minutes a Day Better Than Nothing? The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that adults should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 5 days per week OR engage in 20-minutes of vigorous activity 3 days per week.
Most often, measures of fitness involve these key areas: Aerobic fitness, which involves how well the heart uses oxygen. Muscle strength and endurance, which involve how hard and long muscles can work. Flexibility, which is how able joints are to move through their full range of motion.
“If all you do is walk briskly for 30 minutes, you've burned just 200 calories. Since 3,500 calories is a pound of fat, you'd need 17.5 days to lose one single pound. At most, you'd be losing two pounds a month.
That said, many healthy weight-loss guidelines say you should aim to lose one or two pounds per week (whether you have five or 50 pounds to lose), that means it could take anywhere from 10 to 20 weeks to lose 20 pounds.
How do you know if your body is toning? The signs of your muscle toning may be subtle initially, but they are there. The first sign is muscle soreness, which shows that your muscles are taking up the pressure. Increased mobility and endurance and weight loss are signs of muscle toning.
According to their Physical Activity Guidelines the CDC recommends vigorous exercise for 20 minutes, three times a week. If intense exercising is too much for you, the CDC also recommends moderate exercise sessions with a minimum of 30 minutes, five days a week for weight loss.
After a month of regular exercise, you will be noticing improvements to your strength and fitness. "You may be able to do more reps in weight training or slightly raise the load, or you're able to walk, jog or cycle a bit faster," Robergs says.
Those noticeable physical changes from exercise (be it muscle growth, fat loss, or a lower resting heart rate) depends on the person and their baseline level of fitness. "My [clients] generally see initial changes within four to six weeks, and actual results within eight to 12 weeks," Wilson explains.
As you gain muscle and lose fat, subtle but exciting changes happen to your physique. You might start to notice: Enhanced Muscle Definition: When you shed fat, the muscles you've been working hard to build become more visible. You might notice definitions in your arms, shoulders, abs, or legs that weren't there before.
And if you exercise regularly, over time you will gain even more fitness benefits. “At 6 to 8 weeks, you can definitely notice some changes,” said Logie, “and in 3 to 4 months you can do a pretty good overhaul to your health and fitness.” Strength-specific results take about the same amount of time.
Introduction: My name is Trent Wehner, I am a talented, brainy, zealous, light, funny, gleaming, attractive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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