How Long Should You Workout For?
Are you wondering how long you should workout for? I answer exactly that within this article!
To be straight up… the answer depends. BUT, I will be providing information for you to understand why a workout length depends on a variety of factors. This will allow you to think about how long YOUR workouts should be for YOU!
What Can You Commit To?
We don’t have infinite time in a day. You may have heard the expression, a one-hour workout is only 4% of your day… get it done! While I do like this mindset, by the time you factor in sleeping, your job, family/other commitments… the percents get used up pretty quickly.
I am of the opinion that everyone has the time to get in some form of a workout at least a few times a week. If you can’t, then it simply means it isn’t a priority for you.
However, we do have time constraints and most individuals do not have hours upon hours to workout in a day. So, we need to see when we can fit workouts in and how long of a workout makes sense during these times.
For example, will it be a half an hour circuit workout on your lunch break or an hour and a half strength training session in the evening after you have got a good meal in you?
The thing with this is… there is no right answer. That is because getting something in is better than not doing anything at all. Of course, you want the session length to be relative to your goal. So if conditioning is your goal, maybe the 30-minute circuit/conditioning workout is best. However, if your goal is to gain strength, maybe the hour and a half strength training session is ideal.
Either way, something is better than nothing in almost all circumstances!
What Do We Need?
After we figure out when we can get workouts in, it’s time to think about how much work we need. A generic example of work could be the minutes we spend doing some cardio or the total volume we move in a session. This is assuming it is quality and effective work!
If you are more of a beginner, you likely don’t need and probably shouldn’t be performing hour and a half sessions. If you’re more experienced, maybe an hour and a half strength training session makes sense for you.
This is because beginners make progress much easier than more advanced trainees as they are more primed to respond and adapt to the training stimulus.
If your goal is to just maintain muscle mass, maybe your sessions only need to be a quick 45 minutes.
Are you training 3 times a week or 5? Let’s assume the goals are the same, if you can only train 3 times week, longer sessions probably make sense. If you’re training 5 times a week with the same goal, you can likely spread that workload out over those extra 2 days and your sessions won’t be quite as long.
How Do I Apply This?
As you can tell, all this stuff depends on two primary things. How long do I have to spend on my training sessions/what is sustainable and how much work is optimal for my goal/how should I spread this work out over the number of times I workout in a week?
There is wayyyyyy too much to cover when it comes to individual needs for a variety of goals to fit into this one article… unless you want to read another 10,000 words, lol.
So… I have been told 16-year-olds think simply and I am 16, so allow me to simplify it – What can you stick to? What is optimal for your goals? Combine the two to the best of your abilities.
And remember… something is better than nothing in almost all circumstances!
That’s All!
Well, everyone… that’s the article! I hope you enjoyed and I am confident this information has been able to give you some insight into how long training sessions should be.
My goal was to give you applicable information that can benefit you… not just some blanket statement of ___ amount of time is how long you should be training for. That makes sense because as most things in fitness go, it depends!
Do you have any questions or comments about the information within this article? Leave em in the comment section and I would be happy to respond!
Here are some other articles that may be beneficial for your knowledge!
How to Create a Workout Program
Until Next Time,
Kohl Johnson
Please refer to my liability disclaimer to ensure you know who is responsible for the use of this information after reading.
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