How Long Should My Workouts Be?

If you want to get physically fit, lose weight, or gain muscle, how long should your workouts be?

The answer will all depend on who is asking and what the person’s exact goals are. But here are some general guidelines.

The average person who wants to improve general fitness and health can accomplish a great deal in 60 minutes. This is a nice block of time that allows for a solid warmup, specifically programmed work, and a cooldown. But that does not mean you can only train in 60-minute blocks. And keep in mind that you usually will not spend all 60 minutes “working.”

Some focused people who warm up quickly and move fast find that about half an hour gives them all the time they need. A few people use even less time, but they are rare. And some people will train for 60-120 minutes or more—think about a runner who is preparing for a half-marathon, for example.

Your style of training will also affect workout length. Endurance training often takes more time. And if you are trying to build great strength, it can take a long time to warm up to very heavy loads and then perform five or more work sets with five minutes of rest in between each set. High-intensity workouts are often much shorter (more on that below).

Whatever you are trying to accomplish, the key is to ensure you warm up sufficiently, then do just enough work to make your body respond.

If you do not do enough work, you will not get any results. Think about lifting a fork 10 times: it won’t have any effect on your body. But lifting a 40-lb. dumbbell 10 times might.

On the other side of the coin, if you do too much work, your body will be so tired that it will not recover properly, and you will have to take additional rest days. Imagine running a marathon: you probably would not run for two hours the day after.

If you do the right amount of work in the right time frame, you will challenge your body without beating it up. It will respond to the exercise by adapting and changing. You will gain muscle, lose weight, improve endurance, and so on.

It can be hard for an inexperienced person to know exactly how much to do and how much time to spend in the gym. Some people are inclined to do way too much, and others tend to take it so easy that they do not get results.

How Does Intensity Affect Workout Length?

It is important to note that workout length is not the only factor to consider. Intensity is important, as well. Think of the fork again. Even if you lift that fork for 40 minutes straight, your body won’t change very much. But if you lift a heavy load eight times in 25 or 30 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, and repeat that cycle two more times, you can expect your body to respond.

Another example: a fit person might walk for 90 minutes without many benefits. But if you pushed the same person to run five kilometers as fast as possible, he or she could expect improvements in aerobic conditioning.

It is not always about how long or how much you work. Progress is made by working at the correct intensity for the correct amount of time, then resting appropriately.

So do not judge your workouts only by the clock. We have seen four-minute workouts that packed an incredible punch and two-hour workouts that were not very effective at all.