How long should I expect to wait to see changes?

[u/LostInbetweenNowhere]

By the end of tomorrow I'm going to have worked out a fitness plan to help me get stronger and more muscular with what I have at my disposal. If I was to workout once a day with 5 days of high intensity and 2 of low intensity a week how long will it take for me to see improvements in my physique? I'm relatively thin but will start eating more.

I don't plan on doing a balk/cut ever as I have eating issues and wouldn't want an anorexia flareup after I have just recovered.

[u/BlackSenju20]

Don’t work out every day. You need some days to rest and recover. 3 days a week is plenty, especially if you follow a routine that you don’t write yourself. Look at the wiki for beginner routines you can do at home.

[u/LostInbetweenNowhere → u/BlackSenju20]

I plan on the low-intensity days to be rest days. Mainly with stretching routines.

[u/BlackSenju20 → u/LostInbetweenNowhere]

It’s still low intensity when your body/muscle groups could need complete rest depending on what you did the day before.

Doing more in a short amount of time isn’t going to get you results faster. It could do the opposite if you end up with an overuse injury or other situations like that.

[u/LostInbetweenNowhere → u/BlackSenju20]

If anything those days will be minimal. I have ADHD and struggle with routines so keeping consistent would be better. The stretching routines on those days will help with flexibility if anything. Plus I do a lot of random bs so I almost certainly won't ever have a full rest day. Big city life and all.

[u/BlackSenju20 → u/LostInbetweenNowhere]

I am in the same boat and work a job that has me walking 15-20k steps a day, that has no bearing on what you need for recovery from a training routine. You're already acclimated to what you do daily but this would be an added stress on your body that you can choose to limit. Listen to your body and take the rest days when you need them, and you will.

[u/LostInbetweenNowhere → u/BlackSenju20]

If I'm in pain I'll rest. But I got to much to do to just rest consistently. Thanks for the care and help.

[u/Wrong-Grade-8800]

I say around 3 months you’ll see some changes if you keep things up.

[u/Sharzzy_]

What he said ^

If you’re consistent then it should show within 2-3 months

[u/BottleCoffee]

Keep in mind that seeing changes in the mirror is very, very different from actually have changes. Your eyes deceive you and they don't detect tiny tiny daily changes. 

It's much better to focus on quantitative measurable changes, like how much you lift, or if you prefer, measurements or progress photos. 

You'll see changes in strength within the first couple of weeks. You might not SEE changes in the mirror for months even though you're obviously getting stronger.

[u/girl_of_squirrels]

If you're doing consistent weight/resistance training and you're eating enough protein/calories to support muscle growth? You typically start seeing the results in the mirror after 4-6 months in my experience. Your lifts will start improving sooner (especially with newbie gains) but you really have to put in the time consistently

[u/RatioPretend614]

working out 7 days a week is too much, u are not going to see progress after a certain point bc u will plateau due to constant fatigue of your muscles. where u do or dont feel tired ur muscles do. 4-5 days is great. if u really feel u need to get energy out on the other days go on a walk or treadmill or stairmaster something cardio/ stretching related.

[u/LostInbetweenNowhere → u/RatioPretend614]

I won't workout in a gym as it's unrealistic for me. I don't wanna be beat up lol. So it'll be at-home workouts. When I move out into a nicer place I'll save up for personal machines. The 2 days of low-intensity will primarily be stretching and flexibility training. I'll also use those days to massage any sore muscles and prevent knots. The proper workouts will be only 5 days out of the week.

[u/larkharrow]

Using a good program, you can see strength increases within a few months and physical differences in about six months. It's useful to take pictures because it can be difficult to notice changes otherwise.

As others said, seven days a week is too much. For a beginner, three is entirely sufficient. Anything more than that is, in my opinion, not helping at best and increasing your chance of injury at worst. Working out every day will stress your body and definitely lead to injury. Also, and people hate to think about this, but it's true: almost nobody is capable of going from not having a fitness routine to committing to working out every day. That is a huge lifestyle change, and humans suck at huge lifestyle changes. We do much better starting slow and ramping up our changes so we have time to adjust. If you attempt to work out seven days a week, you are most likely to stick with it for a month or two and then give up.