When It Comes to Working Out, Three Is the Magic Number

I take a total-body ab class with a group of women on Mondays and Wednesdays that is off the chain. We sweat, push, heave and lift like Olympic pros. It’s hard work, but it’s fun. We have a great trainer, the music’s uplifting and our attitudes are generally optimistic. It was only a matter of time before we started whining to the trainer that two days a week just wasn’t cutting it. Everyone needs at least three days a week of exercise (especially when it’s this fun) to really start to see results! Come on!

So we finally got our wish. The trainer agreed to train us on Fridays, and we all showed up eager to shake things up. He made it extra hard on us since we were so gung-ho to add days, but we didn’t care. We happily nicknamed ourselves the Friday Freaks and went about our sprints, chest presses and rope workouts with vigor. Cindy mastered pulling ropes with kettle bells tied to the ends, Diane rocked the squats, and Jackie tore UP the ab workouts.

I’m glad we pushed for that third day. The following Monday I wasn’t struggling quite as much as I had in the past (hooray for improving my fitness!), and I noticed a beautiful thing with the girls: We were somehow closer…more like war buddies reuniting. We’d been through the fitness trenches together (even though we asked for it, the additional workout class was challenging!) and lived to happily work out another day. I can’t wait to see if the third day helps the other ladies see better results.

How many days a week do you work out? —Tish