Half an hour at the gym - is that enough?

jadedone

**I just noticed you are doing 30 minutes in the gym and a 30 minute walk. That's great. You definitely have time for 20 minutes of weights. You can get a lot done in 20 minutes of weights. Especially since you can get your cardio burst in later!

MyNewZen

Time in the gym is pretty irrelevant, so long as you are burning more calories then you are eating you will lose weight.

Personally though I would not bother with a 30 minute work out if you are just doing a "bit of this and a bit of that"

You have allocated 10 minutes to weights AND core... to excursive ONE muscle group properly its going to take about 3~4 minutes at the least for example: 3 sets of say 10 reps with 2x1 minutes rest in-between...

I'm in the gym 2~3 times a week my workouts look something like this:

15 minutes bike
1 hour compound lifts (Deadlifts, squats, big cable exercises)
15 minutes bike
1 hour isolation lifts (arms, shoulders, abs etc.)
15 minutes bike.

tigersword

If you're doing a half hour walk each day, you should spend all your gym time on weights. 30 minutes of heavy weight training is fine, check out Starting Strength or Stronglifts 5x5, both are beginning weight training programs that really shouldnt take more than 30 minutes or so per workout to start out. As you progress you'll probably want to spend more time at the gym, but 30 minutes is a good place to start.

travellernikki

I think it depends on how much you get your heart rate up. If you feel you are giving 100% then it may well be worth it.

Maybe you can mix in a long session on one of your days off too. Invite friends/family and go to zumba or something to mix it up!

lesle1

It's a start. You won't lose much at first and it will be really slow. I started out really slow and realized after several months it wasn't doing it for me. I had to up my time to 60 minutes. Once I started spending more time on working out the better I felt. As I started feeling better the more I wanted to work out. I didn't want to spend more than 60 minutes working out so I had to try harder to get that good feeling. Sooo I went from walking to adding some slow jogging here and there, still trying to fit in in that hour. Before I knew it I was addicted to running and can run 6 miles in 54 minutes. Seems 6 miles is my favorite distance. : )

betsydake

I certainly can't tell you if that's "enough" or not - but I've recently switched from doing a lot of cardio to doing more weight training. Cardio is still *part* of my workout, but weights are more of it. I'm going 3-4 days a week and working on both machines and freeweights for 3 days (with a dynamic warmup rather than on a treadmill or elliptical) and a day doing cardio for 45 minutes - 1 hour doing interval training (Cardio Coach).

I've still got a long way to go, but I do know that I need to build up more muscle - both for the look of toned muscle, but also because years of yo-yo strict dieting caused me to lose a lot of muscle. Now I have to regain that muscle - and the more muscle tissue I regain, the more calorie burning tissue I have :-).

So for "gym" days, that's my plan - and I'm also planning on doing a Zumba class just because I want to - it looks fun :-) and I like to ride my bike, so when I can get out on my local bike path for fun, I'll do that. My idea is that on "off gym" days, I'll just be more active than sitting around on the sofa :-D.

virtuess1

i spend 30 minutes at the gym 4 times a week. i work out for an hour 2 times a week. it works for me, however i do the treadmill for 30 minutes. i also work in the mornings from six and six thirty.

lupus2401

Its more about the intensity rather than duration. But that doesnt mean that 10-20 mins are enough.
I'd say that 45 mins to 1 hour is good.

geneslilwifey

My doctor said that 30 minutes 3 times a week is all I needed. Although I try to do it everyday plus a little extra through out the day like cleaning! it all counts. I have lost almost 20 pounds and just started. So i guess it all depends on the person.

UrbanRunner81

honestly I think it is more about what you eat if you want to lose weight. 30 minutes at the gym is fine. Some days that is all I do. Sometimes I am there for an hour.
Deficit is already built into your calories, so exercising and eating back your calories is a bonus. Lift weights and do some cardio. You don't have to spend hours upon hours at the gym.

itgeekwoman

No one can answer your question without knowing what your diet looks like.

THIS^^

CaseRat

My god, so much misinformation in this thread

Half an hour is plenty if you train at high intensity. Look into High-intensity interval training (or HIIT)
Either that, or working out with weights, doing supersets or making it a quick circuit.

It's better than nothing even if it's low-moderate intensity, doing what you're doing.
Diet is the most important thing when it comes to weight loss, anyway.

sandylion

I think that it's probably not enough time to look like a model or a pro-athlete, but any time you add more exercise and don't add more food, you are going to loose weight. You can only do what you can do, and should not feel discouraged because you're not going hard-core enough. I don't spend any time at the gym and try to go for 5 walks a week varying between 20 minutes and an hour, and I've lost about 18lbs. If you want to get 'ripped', half an hour 3xweek probably isn't going to cut it, but to just loose some weight and try to be fitter, think you will see results.

wbgolden

I've lost 45 pounds and am stronger than ever. I did it 30 minutes at a time.

sumeetn

Depends on how you structure your workout. You could make it work, especially as you are gaining fitness in the early stages.

1. Circuit training is your friend, do not stop at all. Warm up for 3 minutes on a cardio machine. Go straight to the weights, do one set, move directly to the next machine (or exercise with free weights). Do your all of your 1st sets. Rest for 30-60 seconds. Do set 2 back to back. Do set 3 (if time allows). Do a 2 minute sprint on the cardio machine and stretch. Your gym may also have a 30 minute circuit setup to use.
2. Do intervals on your walk. Don't go at the same speed. Go normal speed. Then go fast for a minute or 2. Slow down again and repeat for your entire workout
3. Reclaim 10 minutes here and there for some exercises. There are loads of 10-15 minute workouts available on youtube/online etc. Try blogilates.
4. Have a plan for every workout so you don't waste time thinking about what to do while you are at the gym

I don't spend much time at the gym. Around 45 minutes 3 to 4 days a week. My goal is to be as efficient as possible with my time. Circuit training and intervals are pretty much the best way to do this.

sound advise

therealangd

Here's my .02.

If that is a schedule that you can maintain for the rest of your life, then it is perfect. I don't think you need to workout 5 days a week at the gym, 30 minute walks at lunch and then find a sport for the weekends. You can, but I suspect going from 0 to 180 is going to burn you out. The goal here is to be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I could be wrong, but I suspect your goals are not to become a ripped fitness model or train for a triathalon.

If you are getting in 30 minute walks at lunchtime, then the gym time I would spend doing weights.

nz_deevaa

You could do StrongLifts 5x5 in 30mins at the gym, do that 3 times a week plus your walking and you'll be golden.

3laine75

if you really have only 30mins for the gym, i'd just do a really quick warm up then weights for the whole time you're there.

tmauck4472

When I first started I did between 15 and 20 minutes on the treadmill and that was that....something is better than nothing and you can walk a mile and a half in 30 minutes. Keep in mind you need your heart rate to stay up for 20 minutes to make the best workout. So 20 on the treadmill or something like that is real good. I now do (for the most part) 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bike, I love the bike. One day soon I will try to add something else to the routine

BerryH

You don't need to do ANY exercise to lose weight, you just need a calorie deficit! Exercise helps by giving you more of a deficit, which you can chose to eat back so you have more energy for the next workout, feel less hungry and are more likely to stick with it.

Your work-out sounds perfect for a beginner, and to be honest even as a gym veteran, I often do very similar. Yes, you could work out harder in the same time (running instead of walking, lifting heavy, doing HIIT for gym cardio) or workout longer.

BUT as I say to any post asking, "What's the best exercise?" it's what you love and can stick with. If you find it gets dull or easy, just change it up a bit.

Hope that helps :flowerforyou: