How Long Are Your Workouts?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
Usually 2 hours. Sometimes only 1 or 1.5.

Now that is when using AAS. I try to cut it to 1 hr to 1.5 when not.

It’s true that there’s been a finding, or findings, that T levels are lower at a timepoint 1 hour into a workout. However myself I don’t see why that is intrinsically important (and it’s certainly not when using androgens.) The most likely thing, IMO, is increased rate of sulfation, which is reversible, causing momentarily lower levels but not necessarily lower area-under-the-curve for the day.

The latter measurement is what I’d want to see before figuring there was any importance to it.

Also, the effects of the androgen receptor are not fast-acting. It takes days actually inbetween activation and the end-product proteins being produced. So momentarily being low is not intrinsically important.

Where I do think there is a real effect is that without the right nutrition, the body runs out of gas in extended workouts, unless they are rather lazy.

As to why my workouts are so long, it’s partly because of fairly high volume, and because while there will usually be some things that involve brief rest periods for hypertrophy reasons, there will also be parts of the workout that have ample rest between sets. And because these days I have to warm up and ramp more than I used to, which takes time.

You’re just not going to do Smolov for a given exercise, and also train a substantial amount of the rest of the body, and get out of the gym in 45 minutes, for example. Not happening.

I’m not saying that there aren’t valid and effective workouts in the 45 minute range. There certainly are. But what I’m doing, for me personally, takes longer. I have also certainly done the faster approach in the past.[/quote]

Wow Bill you basically took the words right out of my mouth, granted it looks alot better when you write it. 1.5-2 on, 1.15-1.5 off. I am a guy who needs more volume to grow. If I feel after my 4th set like I didnt get enough, I will play it by ear and do another set too. I make sure my muscles are broken down to the max before I leave. I have been known to workout and be walking out the door and come back and superset set something because I could still walk or lift my arms up. Thats just me though.

22

I’m usually in the 1:15 - 1:30 range, and I also take waxy maize + bcca’s peri-workout to help extend energy throughout the workout.

23

45-90 minutes. Maybe 2 hours if I’m throwing in some core work and cardio. Who cares if I burn out while I’m doing cardio! As long as I’m firing on all cylinders during my lifting I see no problem going at that long.

24

No more than 90 minutes

25

Honestly right now(for the next three weeks) my workouts can go up to 2 1/2 hours. theres a rest point about 1/2 way to 3/4ths in where i throw down a muscle milk and then a preworkout like fast twitch or monster pump. but thats only because im doing Prime The Pump and the workouts are designed to be 4 weeks of brutal, possibly overtraining, workouts that shock your body into growth. not many people have tried prime the pump, but a couple guys and i try to throw it in once or twice a year just to really switch up our workouts. each time we see obvious increases in body composure and strength. it somehow even boosts our 40 times and vertical leaps. the only lift it doesnt seam to increase is our cleans and snatches.

26

Usually an hour to an hour and 45 min.

There’s too much shit I want to do at the gym :confused:

27

Usually about an hour give or take, leg day is a bit shorter, because that’s how long what I do takes.

28

When trainig upper body, I prefer doing two short (45-50 mins) sessions a day. Lower body days take about 90 mins, because of rest between sets and between exercises (5-10 mins after last set of DL or SQ, before entering asssistance work).

29

Anyone notice a personal difference between going “hard and fast” or letting yourself recover between sets? Not some shit you just read on Pubmed, but actual real life blood and iron experience?

I know when I was pushing it under 45 minutes, I started taking on a lot of nagging injuries, and my weights weren’t progressing. I was burning out faster, and hated my workouts. Fat loss sped up, noted, but I’m not trying to lose fat right now!

Once I started taking my time, resting between heavy sets, it came to about an hour twenty, and the weights started going up in leaps and bounds. I also felt a better “spike” of energy afterwards, like I was glad I went to the gym. Maybe that’s some androgen rebound bullshit, whatever.

-Sab

30

Im normally in there 1 hour to an hour and a half. When i was doing DC i was out of there like 40 minutes tops

31

1 hour to 1 hour and 30 min. I don’t do a lot of volume, but I like a lot of rest in between my sets.

32

If lifting kind of slow, and doing mobility pre, cardio post, and then foam rolling post post… sometime 2 hours spent in the gym. Lifting itself is an hour, sometimes less. But I’m a noob and am not doing anything right.

33

I really think the relavant issue is the rise in cortisol levels after about an hour, rather than the transient drop (if any) in androgen levels. Having said that, many factors could affect cortisol levels: such as, state of rest, cabohydrate/protein intake before and during the workout, intensity level of workout, etc. However, the research does seem to strongly indicate a significant rise in cortisol levels after about 1 hour (AAS have a strong effect on lowering/blocking cortisol levels, in general, allowing for longer more productive workouts).

Crowbar

34

45 minutes minimal…90-120 minutes tops.

35

Hour and a half or a little more but not quite 2 hours. No AAS. I’m suprised by some of the shorter durations. How frequently are the 45 minute guys training a week?

36

I plan my sessions to be about an hour, but depending on how hard they are, rest times, plausibility of supersets of exercises, and such, they range from 45min to 75min. Lately they’ve been on the low end, just grazing 60min on the harder ones.

37

50mins - 1hr. Hard, intense, decent rest between sets.

38

If I’m working a mjor muscle group I’m usually in there for ab good hr or so (tha includes my rest time). If I’m training, arms or shoulders or a smaller muscle group, at most I’m in there for about 30-40 mins (rest included)

39

20 minutes or less, all out, no rest

40

Monday is my longest day,bench day…everyone benchs on a monday!