How Many Times a Week Should You Go to the Gym?

I've always been a fan of the gym. I see it as a place where I can go and unwind after a hard days work, or just buy up a little time when I'm bored with nothing else to do. I like the fact that it keeps me fit and healthy (I've never been too into sport) and I can go whenever I please.

A lot of my friends however go to the gym a lot more regularly then me, going at least three to four times per week. While I go on average twice a week, after a discussion with a friend recently I can see the benefit of going more often. His argument was this:

The more often you go to the gym, the more accustomed to it your body will become. While it sounds like working out that often would make you too tired for everyday life, it actually does the opposite. Once you're used to the intense work outs, everything else seems a lot easier. You breeze through life with minimal physical effort, as you never come up against anything equal to that which you encounter in the gym. But that gym work out becomes standard to you, so even that isn't effort any more.

While I agree with his theory and believe that could be the case, I'm still not sure I'll be using the gym more often. While I like the sound of "breezing through life", I also like the idea of using the gym when I want to, rather then on a schedule. I'm also not sure if I'd have the time to go as many as four times a week.

So how often should you be using the gym? Well I'd say it's down to your personal preference, but if you want to "breeze through life with minimum effort" then you're looking at three to four times a week.