The age-old question: how many days per week is best to work out. Learn the ideal routine for beginners, intermediate, & advanced fitness enthusiasts.

When you hit the gym, y>ou want to hit it hard and get the results fast. The more you change up your routine, the better, stronger and bigger your body is going to look in less time. Combine these elements with the right diet and supplements, and you'll be seeing the best results in no time at all. There are three top muscle building workout styles depending on the level you are at with your workout. Let's have a look.

1. Beginner – This is a 3 day workout routine where each day you've worked out is followed by a day of rest. After the third workout day, 2 full days of rest are recommended to let your body properly heal. Rest is just as important as the workout itself is. Every time you go to work out on those 3 days, do a full body workout. Work every muscle in a 45 minute to 1 hour set. This type of routine will help you get used to the different exercises and perfect the way to do them properly and safely. The beginner routine is good because you don't need as much recovery time and can trigger the muscles more often with less weight. Healing time is significantly reduced during this period. Finally, with a routine like this, you will see major gains in a short amount of time because your body is not used to this type of rigorous activity. Complete this routine for 3 months then move to intermediate routine.

2. Intermediate – This is a 4 day split and a little more intense than the beginner's routine. Although there are many variations on this 4 day split, commonly you will do one upper body routine one day, a lower body routine the next and then rest. Repeat the cycle once. Again, you can take 2 days off after the second 2 days, so that your body has more time to heal itself. After moving from the beginner to intermediate routine, your body will need more time to heal itself, but you can add another day of workout in there. Complete this routine for 6-18 months before moving up to the advanced routine.

3. Advanced – This 5 day split is the most intense and rigorous training program that you will put your body through. The reason the best way to go is a five day split is because you focus on different muscle groups on different days and then have a 2 day rest on the weekend. Working out 7 days a week will not improve your gains more. Rest is important. It becomes a lot tougher at this point to see gains, as they come at a much slower rate. With this routine, you will need to focus on 1 – 2 muscle groups per day. Be sure to switch up the days you exercise each muscle group for each 5 day split. You don't want your body getting too comfortable, or it won't grow as fast.

Start from the beginning, working your way up this routine and you will be shirtless at the beach in no time at all. You'll look better, feel better and become a better you.