T Nation

Who Trains for an Hour or Less?

Beginners
#1

So I started lifting again & for the long-haul this time on April 17th, 2009. I am 27 years old & was roughly 18% body fat, 178 lbs. After seven months of following the TNT diet, I finished up beginner/advanced program & moved to NROL Hypertrophy. Currently I am on Hypertrophy III. I am now 9% bodyfat & 166lbs.

What I can’t put my finger on is how long should a workout really be? Articles suggest spending < 1 hour in a gym, but how can you complete a routine with prescribed rest times? I assume everyone isn’t super-setting everything, & I assume alot of people also overtrain. Just wanted to clarify this.

Thanks,

Gene

#2

I’m normally in the gym for about an hour and a half with a couple minutes warm-up and cool down.

#3

I am in the gym for as long as it takes for me to knock out what i am supposed to be training that day. I don’t have a set rest time, but i know when i’ve rested for to long or when i need more. There is no set amount of time you should be training for. I train for 30 mins sometimes and sometimes i train for 90 mins. Just focus on your movements and getting the most out of each training session. Who really cares how much time other people are spending in the gym?

#4

In Chad Waterbury’s article “4 guaranteed tips” (and repeated in the last “brain blast”) he reckons that the under an hour thing is bullshit.

I’m with johnson on this one, I’m in the gym for as long as I need to be to get done what I need to get done.

Usually I manage to knock it out at around an hour. Quite often my ME Leg day is very short, 30mins or so, and then 10 minutes stretching.

I don’t know what NROL hypertrophy III is, but if it’s working, regardless of how long it’s taking, stick with it.

#5

I have a push/pull/legs routine, doing abs every other day, so i work out 6 days a week. I’m usually in the gym for 45 minutes to 55 minutes, depending if I have abs that day or not.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe ProfessorX’s workouts take around 45 minutes too.

#6

For me, warmups (brief cardio + streching/mobility crap) can take 15-20 min. Lifting is usualy at least 45 min, more if I’m dragging ass. And if I do cardio and foam rolling afterwards, that can be another 30 minutes or so.

So lifting time is fairly short, but total gym time can be long. I can cut corners on the non-lifting stuff if I need to.

#7

1.5 to 2 hours for me. But I only lift once every other or once every 3 days. I also do “GPP” work on “off” days.

#8

NROL Hypertrophy is working, although I think my main problem atm is not having a surplus of calories. Checked my fitday caloric intake and its only like 3,062 calories and my daily needed is 2,908. Eating alot is freaking hard, seems my appetite has decreased with meal frequency.

I had some difficulty finding articles on that, but I’ll have to check that one out.
That makes sense, takes for the reinforcement.

This was on my mind because as I acquire more knowledge on strength / conditioning, I need to know whats out-dated & outlandish. Which is especially true if I try to offer any advice to family / friends. Thanks everyone.

#9

60 minutes usually for me. 90 minutes would be the max with depending on resting time or occupancy. My resting time is kind of long with 90-120 seconds.

#10

[quote]Rocky2 wrote:
I have a push/pull/legs routine, doing abs every other day, so i work out 6 days a week. I’m usually in the gym for 45 minutes to 55 minutes, depending if I have abs that day or not.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe ProfessorX’s workouts take around 45 minutes too.[/quote]

I’m not picking on you but seriously with that last line?

Who cares what X does? This is the beginners forum. What that guy has no relevance whatsoever to someone who’s looking to structure a routine and get back into lifting after a lay off.

If you only have 1 hour per session to stay in the gym because of other commitments that’s fine. Plenty can be done in 1 hour or less. Lifting for more than 1 hour, howeever, will not be detrimental at all if you don’t take it to the extreme. Find a balance between enough rest between sets to get the work done but not too much that you lose your pump. The rest periods will change according to different movements. It’s not set in stone but theres no way one needs as much time between his first and second set of dumbell curls compared to his 4th and 5th sets of squats.

#11

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
It’s not set in stone but theres no way one needs as much time between his first and second set of dumbell curls compared to his 4th and 5th sets of squats. [/quote]

I do Pull/Push/Legs with a heavy, light, heavy, light alternating… Since I do less exercises on heavy days they are shorter than my light days… and when your pushing squats / deads your rest time is always a lot longer then curls, or arnold presses…

#12

[quote]Ratchet wrote:
BONEZ217 wrote:
It’s not set in stone but theres no way one needs as much time between his first and second set of dumbell curls compared to his 4th and 5th sets of squats.

I do Pull/Push/Legs with a heavy, light, heavy, light alternating… Since I do less exercises on heavy days they are shorter than my light days… and when your pushing squats / deads your rest time is always a lot longer then curls, or arnold presses…

[/quote]

And I assume you didn’t sit around thinking about it. It was common sense, no?

#13

Usually 1.5-2 hours for me.

Conditioning takes less time. .5 to 1 hour, depending on how much of a warm-up I need.

#14

If you dial in your periworkout nutrition, the 1 hour thing is pretty much moot. Having nutrients constantly flowing to your muscles would slow the elevation of cortisol. Correct me if I wrong…

For me it’s 1.5-2 hours. I take about 3-4 minutes rest period on big lifts.

#15

Around an hour to hour 1/2 tops. I’m usually real freakin’ exhausted after an hour and a 1/2 though. In and out in under an hour on average and I don’t feel to “drained”.