This is an extremely common question, especially for those of you who are just starting out on your fitness journeys and are not sure how to get the best results. But even for the more experienced lifters, we believe that it is always a good idea to assess your current training program and find areas for improvement, so we hope you’ll find some helpful advice in this article.
So, how long should you be working out for? This seemingly simple question can be quite tricky to answer for one main reason: the length of your workout depends entirely on you. It depends on your goals, experience, age, available time, preferred workout methods, rest periods, and more.
With all these different variables playing an important role, its just not possible for us to give you one ideal time for your workout length. However, we’d love to give you some tips to help you find the workout length that best suits you and that will help you to achieve and surpass your goals.
When it comes to workout length, our 4 biggest pieces of advice are:
1. How long you workout will depend on your goal for that specific workout.
Whether its weight loss, endurance, or muscle building, your goal for each workout will influence the length. Some of the best calorie-torching workouts are quick 30-minute HIIT workouts. But if your goal is to improve your endurance, your workout could be anywhere from 60-90 minutes.
Think about what you want to achieve from each workout and plan your training session around that. At this stage, time is not the most important factor in getting the best workout. Plan your workouts around your goals and just keep in mind that the time will vary based on which goal you are striving towards on that given day.
2. Exercising at different intensities can help you to achieve better results overall.
Exercising with the goal of improving your muscle gains, your endurance, and your high-intensity cardio, will help you to become a more well-rounded athlete and may even help take your physique to new levels.
With the different intensities, comes varying workout lengths. As mentioned above, an endurance workout will likely need to be longer than a fat-burning workout. We suggest varying your workout lengths and methods to achieve optimal results.
3. Varying your workouts can help keep you interested long-term.
Sticking to the same 45-minute workout 5 days a week can get real boring, real fast. In order to make this a sustainable, long-term program for you, its important to do things that you enjoy and that keep you interested. This can include switching up your workout lengths.
4. The best length is the one that suits your lifestyle.
Your lifestyle and your goals will play a huge role in the length of your workouts. If you only have an hour between the end of your workday and when you have to pick up your kids from practice, you might have to fit in a 30-minute workout. If you’re an elite powerlifter, you know that you will need longer rest periods in order to perform at top effort for each set, so your workouts will naturally be longer.
Find what works for you, stick to it, and remember if all you have time for is a 10-minute walk, it's better than nothing at all.