What does a one-hour workout look like?

finallyfitcanuck

Hi!

I keep hearing over and over in fitness books, articles, etc that 2-3 one hour strength training sessions are all you need to do in a week.

My question is: what does that mean, exactly? Does the 1 hour include warmup, cardio, stretching, etc? Or is that one hour of strength alone?

What does your time in the gym look like, and how much time, in total, do you spend, warmup to cool down?

CipherZero

It depends on the lifting program you're using. Starting Strength was quick for the first month or so at 30 minutes a session. Towards the end it was going about ninety minutes.

I've moved on from SS and on an intermediate program; some sessions run ninety minutes or so, some run only a half-hour.

It takes as long as it takes.

shadow2soul

I'm usually workout for 60-90 mins now. 3 days lifting and 2 days cardio with abs.

Lifting usually takes me 75-90 mins.
Cardio with abs; I aim for 60 mins, but sometimes go up to 75 mins.

jasonallenross

I am generally in the gym for my "lunch hour" at my company's fitness center. Some days that's a strict hour because of work commitments or meetings. Other times, it's more like an hour and fifteen because I do extra, have to wait on something (shower, equipment, etc), or sometimes one of my coworkers talks to me about something.

I've found with weight days, it's best to go during off-peak periods if you possibly can work it out. You can get through the workout and won't have to wait on equipment or give the stink eye to the people having social hour sitting on the equipment you need to get on next

jemhh

For me it's 10 minutes on the treadmill to warm up, 5 minutes of stretching, and 45 minutes of lifting. The lifting usually breaks down to 15 minutes on my main compound lift, 10 each on two secondary compound lifts, and 10 on supersetted isolation exercises. I don't do a cool down. I just finish and go take a shower.

thelittlecharacter

When articles say one should perform 2-3 hour long strength sessions weekly, it's only a suggestion for maintaining good health and fitness for the average person. However, that number will vary for each individual. For example, a very active person must train more than 2-3 days to maintain their health and strength.
If you're looking at strength training, an hour long workout could contain anywhere between 15-25 exercises with super sets, single sets, or both. My warm ups only last around ten minutes. They include mostly dynamic stretches, plyometrics, static stretches, and body weight exercises. My cool downs take half the time with just holding stretches for the muscles used during the main workout.

finallyfitcanuck

@jemhh That's the kind of breakdown I was looking for - thanks!

@thelittlecharacter Thanks to you too!