Quality or Quantity of Exercise: Which is More Important?

When it comes to what makes a fitness routine good, quality and quantity of exercise are both very important factors that come into play. Of course, as one might expect, quality exercise will always be better than a half-hearted workout. And some quantity of exercise is important to maintain general consistency that produces real and long-lasting results.

How each of these factors fit into your routine will depend on your specific fitness goals. Let’s dig a little deeper to see what this means for you!

Why Quality Exercise is Important

To me, quality exercise means a few things. First, quality exercise is moving well. It’s taking care to exercise with proper form. Your form is important because if you exercise through broken movement patterns, you’re at a higher risk of injury. Maybe the more appealing reason you should care about your exercise form is you’ll see faster and better results from your program that you may never see with improper form.

Second, quality exercise is putting your best effort into your workouts. We all have those lazy days where we think we can get away with having one foot in and one foot out of our workout session. We’re present, but we’re not giving it our all. What a waste of time! Only you can be accountable for the energy you put into your sessions. Respect your time, and make it count!

Last but not least, it’s choosing the right exercises and activities to reach your goals. If you want to run a marathon, but all you do is lift heavy weights in the gym - good on you and all for putting that time in at the gym, but at the end of the day it’s not training with your goal in mind. If you want to run a marathon, you train by running and lots of it. It’s about training smarter, and a quality fitness routine takes this into account.

Carefully observe your fitness routine. Are you lacking in any of the above-mentioned areas? It’s totally okay if you are. Just keep it real with yourself! You know if it’s time to make some changes, and if you do rest assured those changes will be well worth the results you see from your program.

Why Quantity of Exercise is Important

While I’m huge on exercise quality and think it’s wildly important, I can’t deny that exercise quantity has an important place in your exercise routine. Regardless of your fitness goals, consistency is essential to seeing results. Without consistency, progress is difficult if not impossible. Making sure you have regular workout sessions scheduled to build on your fitness will ensure those results keep racking up.

Frequency on the other hand will be entirely unique to your fitness goals. For example, if your goal is to maintain strength for overall health, you should be weightlifting at least 1-2 times a week. However, if your goal is to make significant strength gains, or increase your muscle mass you may be looking at upwards of 3-5 strength training sessions a week. Similarly, someone who is working out to maintain health may work out with less frequency or effort as someone who is trying to lose weight, or is training for a race or competition.

How are you doing with your exercise quantity? Are you working out with enough consistency and frequency? If not, now’s as good of a time as any to change up your routine!

Is Quantity or Quality Exercise Better?

The burning question! As you’ve learned from my breakdown above both quality and quantity of exercise are important. Without quality in your exercise routine you may not even be doing the working in the right direction to make your fitness goals a reality. But without quantity you may not be working out enough or with the consistency needed to see results.

To put your best foot forward in your exercise routine, both quantity and quality of exercise are needed! Make sure both of these elements are in check in your fitness routine for best results.