How Long Should I Work Out For?

This is one of the most commonly asked questions in relation to fitness.

Is a short 15-minute session on the way to work enough to produce great results? Or do you need a long, hard, 2-hour session working every muscle to the extreme? The answer to both of these, is most simply, no.

Before we get into the technicalities and science behind a workout length, let’s consider what your time in the gym might actually involve. OK, so there are some people who’ll turn up ready in their workout gear, headphones in with a playlist ready, and jump straight onto the cross-trainer for a 30-minute workout. If that’s the case, then sure, that’s a 30-minute burst of calorie-burning exercise!

However, for the majority of us, there is probably at least a little bit of procrastination involved…

-Chatting to your friends and personal trainer?

-Getting changed into your gym gear?

-Searching for the weights you need, or waiting for someone else to finish with them?

-Waiting for equipment to become free to use?

-Making small talk with a random stranger at the water fountain about the weather?

The list goes on, but you get my point, the proportion of time spent exercising in the gym will greatly vary from person to person.  This we cannot control, and by no means are we suggesting the gym can’t also be a place to catch up with friends and have a chat! However, our main aim is to help you get fit, so let’s focus on that!

How long should I do cardio?

Whatever your fitness goals, you’ll most certainly have heard the term ‘cardio’ used more than often. Whether you want to get fit, lose weight, or just stay healthy, cardio is an essential part of your workout routine. The countless benefits of cardio include:

• Fat burning
• Heart strength
• Reduce the risk of disease, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
• Better mental health
• Improvements in sleep

You don’t necessarily have to perform a long workout to get the benefits from cardio. A short 5-minute walk can boost your mood and lower blood pressure. So if you’re focusing on strength/ weights training, then including a short warm up cardio session can go a long way for your health.

Guidelines suggest that a cardio session should be anywhere between 20 and 60 minutes, in order to be healthy, lose weight and get fit. It really depends on your existing fitness level and experience. If you haven’t exercised a lot before, then a 60-minute cardio workout is not very realistic. 20 minutes is a good starting point, and from there you can gradually build up.

The recommendations also vary, depending on your exercise goals…

• For health, moderate intensity cardio for 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week is the advised level. 20 minutes of more intense exercise, 3 days per week can provide similar benefits.
• If you’re looking to lose weight, then the necessary volume of activity rises to between 3 ½ and 5 hours of cardio activity, with varied intensity, per week.

How long should a workout be to build muscle?

Building muscle is all about lifting the heaviest weights possible? Surely, the longer the time you spend in the gym lifting weights, the better?

Surprisingly, neither of these are true. For today we’ll focus on the time spent in the gym but do also remember that there’s no point lifting weights that are too heavy as they’ll likely damage your muscles, and risk further injury.

The main hormone (a chemical in the body) that is involved in muscle growth is testosterone. It stimulates the body to build new muscle fibres, particularly after a good weights session. It is important that testosterone levels in the body are elevated following a workout, in order to stimulate the muscle growth you’re looking to achieve.

Evidence suggests that long muscle workouts cause testosterone levels to decrease, which means the post-workout recovery will be less effective. An intense weight-training workout of 45-60 minutes provides the best balance between thoroughly exercising your muscles while leaving testosterone at a good post-workout level.

45-60 minutes is also an optimal time for using blood glucose (sugar) to fuel your activity. With this time, mental energy and attention will also remain strong, providing motivation and concentration to ensure good form and maximal effort.

Remember, every person, and their body is unique!

There’s obviously going to be variations in the amount of exercise needed, as our bodies all function differently. Have a discussion with your personal trainer, to get the best advice, tailored to your unique needs.

As mentioned, the durations discussed here are simply guidelines. If you’re going to the gym for a shorter amount of time, then don’t get yourself down! Every minute of exercise you perform has its benefits, so if you can, set yourself small goals to work gradually towards the advised amounts!

We wish you the very greatest success for your fitness goals. Contact us today if you’re interested in joining a personal training gym in Hertfordshire!