Are you just average?

Amanda82691

Curious as what your average lenth in a work out is? I had a gym membership for a while and would spend 60-80minutes there each time but since I gave up the gym and worked out a home they have been more like 20-40 minutes. I am curious as to how long you guys work out ans do you think you can work out at home or in less time and still be as effective as a long session or a gym session? What are you favtors for a bomb workout? Spill!!

RECowgill

My average is 3x a week for 1 hour each. Sometimes a bit more or less, sometimes 2 or 4x a week. I only work out at the gym because I want the equipment.

Long gym sessions are one of the greatest myths and misinformation about getting good exercise. More gym time does not equal better results. Better results come from effective gym time (could be 30mins), proper rest and diet. Rest and diet are more important than what a person does for exercise. This is a difficult balance for a lot of people to calibrate, but people who aren't seeing results are just as likely to be working out too much as not working out enough.

jemhh

Shortest workout is 40 minutes from warm up to stretching. Longest is 75. In part, the length depends on where I am. My dumbbells at home are handles and plates and I think that all the unscrewing of the locks and plate moving and rescrewing the locks adds too much time to the process. At the gym I can just grab whatever set I need and go.

SideSteel

This is really going to vary so heavily from person to person and it's largely goal and experience dependent.

You would first have to define what you determine to be "effective" for a workout.


I train 3 to 4 days per week and my training takes 90 to 120 minutes. However, my training as of the past few months has been strength/performance based training. I take very long rest times (5 minutes in some circumstances) and on most days I'm doing 5+ sets per exercise, doing some video for form monitoring/etc.

SingingSingleTracker

Long gym sessions are one of the greatest myths and misinformation about getting good exercise. More gym time does not equal better results. Better results come from effective gym time (could be 30mins), proper rest and diet. Rest and diet are more important than what a person does for exercise. This is a difficult balance for a lot of people to calibrate, but people who aren't seeing results are just as likely to be working out too much as not working out enough.

I agree in terms of the weight work at the gym, rest, recovery and nutrition.

To the OP...

Yes, you can structure your workouts to get a lot of bang for your buck simply by increasing the intensity. The balance of intensity and duration is how one builds a training plan. In other words, if your focus is solely on the duration being less, then I assume when you ask about our "bomb workout" suggestions you mean shorter, but higher intensity sessions.

I'm usually good for up to 45 minutes at the gym (or the home basement gym). If I divide it up to do upper body one day and lower body another day - then a 30-35 minute session is all I need. Adjusting the duration between sets, lifts, etc... can shorten or lengthen the session. The only time I will stretch it to 60 minutes is if I am doing a full body session on one day, and even then I feel like the last 15 minutes are starting to be "diminishing return" minutes.

The session time also depends on what you are training for, or if a particular sport - what adaptations are required for it. If doing endurance training for running, cycling, swimming - obviously the number of hours and structured training phases will dictate how many minutes per day and hours per week are needed to reach your goals. An endurance athlete would think nothing of a 3-6 hour session on one day. ;-)

In terms of cardio work for me - I barely get warmed up in 30 minutes. ;-) But endurace cycling is an entirely different ball of wax and demands a lot of hours on the bike depending on what phase of training one is in. I was on the bike for 60 hours and 800 miles last month which was my "peak" month for the year due to a couple of "A" races plus a week long cycling event. This month will be more "average" for me tapering back down to 25-27 hours and 450-500 miles. However, just like the weight work where at a certain point it can turn into diminishing returns, I really try to avoid doing any "junk miles" (diminishing returns) with a good focus on rest, recovery, and nutrition between it all.

What are your goals in terms of the shorter home sessions vs. a longer gym session? Simply to save time and get more bang for your buck in a shorter amount of time? Caloric burn? Lose weight? Maintain weight? Gain weight? Building for an event? Just working out to stay healthy? There are plenty of workout plans available that have done all of the leg work for you in terms of structuring your training weeks and have the proper amount of rest and recovery built into the plan. All one needs to do is follow the daily plan without worrying about any of the micro and macro elements as a coach or trainer has developed the overall arch of the training plan for you. You might want to consult or even purchase such a plan so you don't have to worry about getting the duration and intensity balance correct by guessing.

wyattj99

Long gym sessions are one of the greatest myths and misinformation about getting good exercise. More gym time does not equal better results. Better results come from effective gym time (could be 30 mins), proper rest and diet. Rest and diet are more important than what a person does for exercise.

That right there is what I do and I only go to the gym as well for their equipment

lisalsd1

45-60 minutes weights 3x a week plus a little walking (20-30 minutes) after

50-60 minutes of cardio 1-2 days per week

The gym daycare will allow kids to stay for 2 hours....I usually run right up to the limit after working out plus a shower.

beardedwarriortx

I try to work out 5-6 times a week. I usually do 6-90 minutes of lifting and 15-30 mins of running or elliptical. I am a single widowed father and work full time so the demands on my time affect my work out. My kids needs always come first. Your going to find most ppl have a varied work out schedule.

cheesevixen_staci

Every other day 18 minutes of core strength training, and 1-2 times a week 30-120 minutes of walking/swimming.

JazzFischer1989

I try to work out 2-3 days a week for at least 60-90 minutes. 90 minute workout is usually when I go biking.