How long do you spend in the gym?

I primarily use the gym for the weight room...occasionally I will use the pool or pop in for a spin class. You don't have to spend tons of time in the gym to get results...what matters more is your programming and whether or not that programming is commensurate with your goals. In many cases, it's not a matter of not spending enough time in the gym for most people, but rather inadequate programming resulting in just spinning one's wheels...and often times not really have any particular goals so they don't even know where to start.

I would personally recommend looking around for a beginner lifting program...an off the shelf program is going to be a lot more efficient than just going in and doing whatever, particularly if one is inexperienced and doesn't really know how to program their own workout. These programs are fairly numerous and are typically 3x per week full body/mostly full body workouts which provide for hitting each muscle group 2-3x per week (which is optimal).

Different programs also target different objectives...weight training for results is a bit more complicated than just willy nilly going in and lifting some heavy things and putting them down. Some programs like Starting Strength for example are geared towards building and laying down a good foundation of functional strength to take into more intermediate and advanced programming...but there are beginner programs geared towards hypertrophy and physique development, as well as general fitness.

I am partial to free weights, so I've never really researched machine based programs, but I'm sure they're out there. One advantage of free weights is the you get more work on your stabilizer muscles of the muscle group whereas a machine tends to specifically isolate the primary muscle being worked. I've primarily used machines in the past for supplemental isolation work after my compounds. Another issue or potential issue that arises with machine work is being on a fixed path that may or may not be natural to your proper lifting path and this can sometimes increase the risk of injury and/or not allow you to compensate for an existing injury. For example, if I bench press I can't really do flat barbell bench or machine bench...due to an old right shoulder injury, that shoulder does not have the same mobility of movement as my left (which isn't great either from the same crash but lesser injury) and both of those exercises will leave my rotator cuff screaming. Instead I do dumbbell bench or more often than not I use an Olympic bar and a mortar and do standing single arm presses. With these I can better control the path of the movement as to not upset my shoulders.

At this point I'm doing a full body Kettlebell workout once per week and at home full body calisthenics 2x per week. I do these with my 13 year old son and we can't get to the gym in the evenings right now due to soccer practices and games and homework, but once the season is over we're going to start back to the gym 2x per week and 1x per week calisthenics.

I'm rarely in the gym for more than 60 minutes and my actual workout usually takes me about 45 minutes depending on if I have to wait for anything. I don't do any cardio in the gym save for the occasional spin class. I used to be very into endurance cycling, but these days most of my cardiovascular activity is afternoon walks during my lunch hour and I will get on my bike on my indoor trainer for some interval work with Zwift a couple evenings per week for about 30 minutes. On weekends I spend time mountain biking/trail riding, hiking, kayaking, etc for my regular exercise...basically physical outdoor recreation.

My week typically looks something like this:

Monday - Morning meditation; Walk at lunch (30-40 min); 30 minute intervals bike evening
Tuesday - Morning meditation; At home full body calisthenics workout; evening walk
Wednesday - Walk at lunch (30-40 min); Evening meditation (Buddhist Mediation Center)
Thursday - Morning meditation; Walk at lunch (30-40 min); At home full body calisthenics workout
Friday - Morning meditation; Walk at lunch
Saturday - Morning meditation; Full Body Kettlebell AM; whatever in the afternoon (right now busy with soccer games)
Sunday - Morning meditation; usually a trail ride mid morning or a hike if I feel like driving to the mountains...I like doing some kayaking in the summer

Humanhorn1337 wrote: »

Thank you both for the responses. I’ll look more into an actual program soon as well. Im not really looking to bulk or gain muscle o just want to lose and tone a little and my main goal is to be more heart healthy due to a *kitten* up aortic valve I have.

Not to worry, you're not going to really bulk up with a beginner program...they are more of a guidance thing and just help you be more efficient with what you're doing and give you a plan going in. Bulking up is a very deliberate thing with very deliberate programming (typically 5-6 days in the weight room) as well as a calorie surplus diet. Beginner programs don't really have enough volume to really bulk up, but they help maintain the muscle mass you have (a very good thing) as well as provide for increased functional strength and maintenance of that strength. My kettlebell work and calisthenics is really only enough for me to maintain where I'm at strength and muscle wise which is exactly my goal at 49 years old. My goals at this point are to be functionally and physically competent as I age as I've seen too many in my family just sort of whither up after 50 muscle wise and have difficulty doing pretty basic things in their 60s and beyond from lack of doing much of anything for decades.

Really, as long as you're doing something regularly, you're ahead of the game relative to a whole lot of people out there.

kraft024 wrote: »

I don't go to the gym either, but I spend 2+ hours on strength training with dumbbells every other day. I guess being at home gives me the time to wait the full 2 minutes rest between sets because I'm not at the gym and I'm not away from all my stuff. I can still do things around the house or work remotely or sit and play a game in between.

2+ hours? That sounds like a lot of junk volume happening.

For anybody not understanding the term, "junk volume" in this context means doing more than you actually need, for the sake of feeling like you accomplished more. Sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking, "if 3 sets are good, 5 sets are better!" But often you won't get the increased benefit you expect, and at times can actually LOWER the benefit of the day if you do too much. Whether it's too many sets of one exercise, or too many exercises hitting the same body part, or taking too long of a rest between sets, it can be at best a waste of time, and at worst actually harm your progress or increase your chances for injury.

You guys have a lot of exercise myths in your thinking, I believe. Full 2-3 minutes rest between sets is optimal. Check the link and rid yourself of your myths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujRwf1HdNjk&t=3974s

kraft024 wrote: »

You guys have a lot of exercise myths in your thinking, I believe. Full 2-3 minutes rest between sets is optimal. Check the link and rid yourself of your myths.

Your link is broken. It's a 90 min video, the time stamp you have has nothing to do with this, and there's nothing in the contents list that point to what this is about.

2-3 mins is not optimal. It depends on the exercise, and other factors. There isn't a one rest time fits all answer here.

There's a world of difference between a heavy deadlift or squat, and a bicep curl or calf raise. The former needs a few minutes of rest, the latter needs a minute or less.

Watch this 10 min vid from Dr. Mike at Renaissance. Great explanations here. To sum up, you're ready to hit the next set after this checklist:

1) Am I out of breath?
2) Do you feel strong and prepared to work the muscle hard?
3) Is another muscle group going to limit me without more rest?
4) Can I hit at least 5 quality reps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FZf6nv_aGg