Lifting for 2 Hours

Hi. I’m training to get stronger and more athletic for basketball. I do a fullbody workout 2 days a week. I started on tuesday. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish the workout…

Hi. I’m training to get stronger and more athletic for basketball. I do a fullbody workout 2 days a week. I started on tuesday. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish the workout. This is what I did.

Benchpress- 3 sets of 10, 2 sets of 8
Dumbell Curls- 3 sets of 10, 2 sets of 8
Dips- 2 or 3 sets to failure
Rows- 3 sets of 10
Sqaut- 1 set of 12, 3 sets of 10, 1 set of 8
Deadlift- 2 sets of 12, 2 sets of 10
Lunges- 3 sets of 10
Calfraises- 3 sets of 15

I took me close to an hour and 45 minutes to finish. I saw alot of guys that came in the gym after me left before me. Does the amount of time I workout for matter? Will I see less gains in strength and size if I workout for an hour and a half per lifting session?

You can do more “work” in less time and make greater gains.

It’s called EDT - Escalating Density Training.

Check out Charles Staley, and EDT threads on this site.

Save yourself alot of time. It works.

If you’re only training twice a week, then 2-hour workouts would be about right.

The length of time you train can vary greatly depending on what you’re doing. College and pro athletes train hours each day. Do you think they worry about it? No. They train intelligently, eat and do whatever else they need to do.

My workouts take 1:15 to 2 hours and they incorporate conditioning and weight training in the same session.

The biggest question is: Are you making gains in strength, size, speed or whatever else you need for your sport?

If yes, then I doubt the time of the workouts is a big deal. If no, then maybe your training sucks or your diet sucks or your recovery sucks.

Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal until you get to the point everything else is dialed in perfectly and you’re stagnating.

NOTE: I know you didn’t ask for advice on your training program, but I think you ought to put squats and deadlifts first in your workout, and move dumbbell curls to the very end. It’ll be a more efficient use of energy reserves that way.

If you can stay focused and maintain a fiercy intensity that long, then go for it. I tink it would be better to split it two 2 1-hour sessions on training days, but if the shoe fits wear it.

I agree with everybody else, if you can handle the volume and you dont feel run down from the long workouts, then go for it. You will get stronger because of the increased volume.

All this crap you hear about you workouts should take less than an hour is for weak people that couldn’t bench press a wet towell.

Think about it, if you squat 800lbs you can’t make 200lb jumps and only do 4 sets. Even if you squat 800 lbs and you take 90 pound jumps (plates) every set tahts still 8-10 sets and most guys when it gets heavier start going 50lb jumps. So lets say 12 sets, 3 minutes rest on each set (this is the low end for a powerlifter. One exercise will take you atleast 35-40 minutes, and like i said thats on the low end. And then you have to do accessory work after that.

So all in all, what i’m trying to say, dont worry about workout time, haha.

But I heard your body goes into a catabolic state after an hour or something…

[quote]Baller1950 wrote:
But I heard your body goes into a catabolic state after an hour or something…[/quote]

Some of the T-Nation writers have recommended drinking half a serving of Surge around midway into a long workout. I’m not 100% sure, but this may help keep catabolism in check. You may want to post this question in one of the locker rooms.

You can work out 2 hours every day NO PROBLEM! (joke)
There’s a couple of guys at my gym that are there before I arrive, aare there after I leave and did upper chest and arms the whole time! 4 days a week ( that I see them)

I’m in Taiwan though, if that explains anything, these guys train like an issue of M&F fell out of the sky and they think they have to spot buddy on every rep and wear a weight belt the entire time.

Sorry, carry on.

Fix your rowing volume so it matches your pressing volume, take out the curls and do chins instead, do your leg work first because legs are what make the difference in sports, not arms.

After about 4 weeks I would take an easy week, and then switch exercises a bit, incline bench, etc…

Then I would read CT’s articles on block training, basically periodization for newbies… if you are really new, alternating between a high volume hypertrophy block, and a more strength based block will be great…probably will make gains all offseason.

Since this is a hypertrophy phase (as indicated by the volume emphasis and rep ranges) your rest periods should be fairly short, ie. 90-120 seconds… now see how long the session lasts. High volume, brief period, highest hormonal effect.

During the strength blocks you should be taking long rests… but this isn’t a strength workout by design.

I hope you are resting the second day, because if you are really trying to move weight with this workout, you should be pretty tired… good to see you are doing compounds, and not a bunch of sissy nonsense… this workout is tougher than 95% of what I see out there…

Good luck kid.

J

I’m not really going for size or hypertrophy. I’m just trying to get stronger AND more musculat/bigger at the same time.