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How much and how frequently must one exercise? The answer to this is as relative as what your reason is for exercising. Hopefully, your honest and consistent response is for overall fitness, and not just because you want to get away with wearing a two-piece suit during a summer beach outing with friends.

Weight loss and health. Some come to a radical decision to cut down on or cut out cholesterol, sugar or carbs from meals because of undesirable health conditions. And in most cases, physicians recommend some form of light exercise to complement this new diet such as walking, swimming, golf, yoga, Tai-Chi, etc. Regularity of the exercise is best consulted with one's doctor.

General Fitness. Most young females would probably find themselves wanting to be active and physically fit to have enough energy to do daily tasks such as school work, office work, and house work. In addition to this, of course, is enough energy to attend to their social life. The key is to maintain a regular exercise regimen by choosing an activity that can conveniently be included in your week’s schedule. Ideally, it should allow you to sweat out the toxins in your body and raise your heart rate which can be achieved with a minimum of 30-45 minutes worth of physical activity. And most especially, it should be enjoyable for you! This last condition is usually what determines if you will be motivated enough to engage in your chosen activity as scheduled. One and a half hours of badminton, tennis, frisbee or flag football twice a week is a good start. In elementary through tertiary education, Physical Education was scheduled twice a week. Hopefully this is enough practice and reinforcement to make you stick to at least two workouts a week. Soon, you’ll be asking for more and making time for exercise three to four times a week. And what’s great about playing a sport is that it’s also a social activity you can do with family, friends, and colleagues at the office.

‘Maintain a regular exercise regimen by choosing an activity that can conveniently be included in your week's schedule’

Competition. If you're an athlete preparing for a sporting event or race, however, exercise is taken a bit more seriously. College varsity players as well as national athletes are known to train every day, oftentimes even twice or thrice a day.

So, unless you'll be representing the Philippines in the August Beijing Olympics or in the October Asian Beach Games, I’d recommend exercising with general fitness as the end in mind. While a sedentary lifestyle is not at all ideal, don’t overdo your exercise and re-evaluate the expression: "No pain, no gain."

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