2-3 hours in weight room

Amandamccl
Amandamccl Posts: 380
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
All my buddies tell me I should be
spending at least 2-3 hours in the weight
room a day. I only have enough time to
spend about an hour working out and I
was wondering if I am missing out on
progress because of this.

Replies

  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
    How many days a week are they talking about? That sounds excessive.
  • lulusmom
    lulusmom Posts: 71
    Absolutely not. An hour in the weightroom is more than enough to make spectacular progress. In fact, I was maintaining 16% bodyfat with 30 minutes of weightlifting 5 days per week (combined with cardio and super clean eating). 2-3 hours is ridiculous IMO.
  • SoldierDad
    SoldierDad Posts: 1,602
    All my buddies tell me I should be
    spending at least 2-3 hours in the weight
    room a day. I only have enough time to
    spend about an hour working out and I
    was wondering if I am missing out on
    progress because of this.

    Unless your a competeing body builder that is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over training and not needed.
  • sophjakesmom
    sophjakesmom Posts: 904 Member
    I think that would be too much. I worked with a trainer for 10 weeks, and his plan had me doing 3 hour-long weight training days, 30 minutes of cardio on those days, and 2 additional days of cardio with about 45-60 mins of effort. I have lost about 30 lbs following that program. I am not working with him any more, but I am doing 3 body pump classes a week and 2 spin classes and some additional 30-40 mins runs. That has worked well for me and I have been pleased with my steady progress. I would not stress if you are giving it the time you can give it. Every bit of additional exercise helps, even if it is just taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Hang in there and when the well meaning friends offer that suggestion, just smile and say "thanks for the tip!"

    :flowerforyou:
  • suzukigurl
    suzukigurl Posts: 90
    I started out with an hour and depending on what you are doing makes a big difference. I do a lot of cardio on the treadmill. I noticed I burn more calories when I increase the incline and walk about 3-3.5 mph. I now do an hour on cardio and half hour on weights, not sure if this helps but I wish you luck and success in your progress!! Oh and one thing I live by at the gym, GO HARD OR GO HOME!
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    Target an hour tops. Do your thing and get out. You're not getting any added benefit for staying in there for hours.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Wow! No way! I get a full total body workout 3 x's a week at an hour each, trust me that's enough, the other three days I do 45-60 minutes of cardio and have lost 60 lbs to date.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    if you're spending 2 to 3 hours doing weight training, you're either being a very social gym goer, or you're doing something wrong, IMHO. My routines are 35 to 50 minutes (plus a little warm up and/or cool down) I can't think of a routine that would be longer than an hour and a half, I'm sure there's something out there, but I don't know of it.
  • bjshields
    bjshields Posts: 677 Member
    Wow! Who in the world could keep up that schedule? I am doing ChaLEAN Extreme, which is a weightlifting-based program. She has you doing HEAVY weights (whatever that is for you) for approx. 35 minutes 3X a week; then we do intense cardio intervals 3X a week. It is a great program. I have not lost a ton of weight (and I'm still working out the kinks in my diet, which I believe is more likely to help me lose pounds), but things are fitting that haven't fit for a long time, and that muffin top is a mini muffin top now. I am also starting to see definition in my arms, which I have NEVER seen up top (that cut between the shoulders & biceps).

    Good luck to you in finding a program you love!:smile:
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    2-3 hours a day is ridiculous. I'm sure people think that they really are doing something at the gym for two hours when actually they spent an hour talking in the parking lot and smoking their last cigarette, but you can get the job done in an hour.
  • carl1738
    carl1738 Posts: 444 Member
    All my buddies tell me I should be
    spending at least 2-3 hours in the weight
    room a day. I only have enough time to
    spend about an hour working out and I
    was wondering if I am missing out on
    progress because of this.
    Not a chance! You shouldn't spend more than an hour at a time doing strength training. Unless you're taking steroids, you'll actually be doing more harm than good. If you're working your muscles hard enough, one hour is plenty!
  • hot_yoga_lover
    hot_yoga_lover Posts: 23
    My husband does about twenty minutes 4 times a week, doing just two or three muscle groups per da (like chest, abs and back one day, then arms, shulders and legs, then repeats) and just does 3 or 4 exercises per muscle group each time, so he works his whole body out really well twice a week. And he's very fit. :) But he's a guy; I think a girl should be fine with an hour maybe twice a week doing her whole body both times.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    My husband does about twenty minutes 4 times a week, doing just two or three muscle groups per da (like chest, abs and back one day, then arms, shulders and legs, then repeats) and just does 3 or 4 exercises per muscle group each time, so he works his whole body out really well twice a week. And he's very fit. :) But he's a guy; I think a girl should be fine with an hour maybe twice a week doing her whole body both times.

    being a guy has very little to do with it. Other than being able to build larger volumes easier. In fact, some studies show that women can recover faster than men. The amount of time per day and per week in the gym doesn't need be different for guys than women. 2 times a week is fine if you are just looking to keep definition or doing full body each day. But yes, generally you want to work a muscle group ever third day to receive maximum results without overtaxing your body. there are alternate theories out there, and other time schedules for specificity but for general overall muscular conditioning, every 3rd day is fine.
  • Furrytreats
    Furrytreats Posts: 132 Member
    I was working out with a dead serious trainer last year and our sessions usually lasted that long. However, you aren't lifting that whole time. She was all about heavy weights, gain weight, gain muscle so she worked them to their fullest potential. We'd usually do 8 sets (depending on the exercise), but you'd have to rest 10 sometimes 15 minutes in between each set. Longer for heavy squats and deadlifts. So that might be the sort of thing he's talking about. And that's not for people looking to make their body's look great, it's for those looking to compete in weightlifting competitions. As for regular people trying to get tight and nice, I think that's not necessary.
  • whittlecj
    whittlecj Posts: 10
    I believe that would be over-training. Here is a video blog about the subject that I found useful.

    http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/preventing-overtraining-paleo-diet-and-training-q-and-a
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