How Long Should a Workout Last?

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how long should a workout lastHow long do your workouts last? Are you of the belief that the longer the better? Are you in there 60 minutes, 90 minutes, or longer? If you are, you might want to reconsider.

Hormones Levels are Correlated with Workout Time

Unless you enjoy spending all your time in the gym, you should consider cutting down on your workout time. Focus more on the quality of your workouts instead of the quantity. The longer your workout goes, the greater the increase in negative side effects. What are these side effects?

Take a close look at the following 2 charts. You can see that the good hormones (testosterone and growth hormone) that are responsible for building muscle and burning fat, continue to rise until about the 30-45 minutes mark. Cortisol, which is released in response to stress, begins to rise after about 30 minutes.

workout length testosterone growth hormone
Chart Source
workout length cortisol
Chart Source

10 Ways to Speed Up Your Workout

Based on data collected on hormonal responses and workout times, we should be keeping our workouts under 45 minutes. Here are 10 things you can do to get you in and out of the gym faster.

  1. Cut down on rest time between sets – if you typically finish a set and then sit there and wait until you’re ready for your next set, you might want to consider investing in an interval timer. It’s very easy for our rest times to get out of control.
  2. Try HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) – no other workout method is as effective at building muscle and burning fat in 20 minutes or less than HIIT. The great news is you don’t need a gym to do it. Read more about HIIT and see some sample workouts.
  3. Stop watching the TV – most gyms have TVs on while you work out. If you’re resting between sets and watching TV, it’s easy to let time get away from you. You’ll probably end up resting longer than you should be.
  4. Split up weight training days and cardio days – if you’re the kind of person who likes to keep strength training and cardiovascular training separate, and you’re spending an hour lifting weights and then doing 30 minutes of cardio, that’s a lot of work. Why not try weight training one day, and cardio the next? I can guarantee you that if you work out 6 days a week alternating cardio and resistance training, and couple that with a good diet, you will get the body you want.
  5. Supersets – ever tried supersets? This drastically decreases rest periods and boosts intensity levels – a win win. Take 2 exercises that work antagonistic muscles, and go from one to the next with no rest between sets. Example: Pushups/Pullups. Read more about supersets and see 9 more powerful ways to stimulate muscle growth.
  6. Turn off your phone – does this even need to be said? Put your phone away. Please don’t talk or text while you’re working out.
  7. Play some music – music elicits chemical responses in our bodies. It releases endorphins and adrenaline – hormones that boost your intensity and push you through your workout faster. Use music to your advantage. Here are the top 100 workout songs of 2012.
  8. Plan your workout in advance – you shouldn’t be winging your workouts anyways. You need to have a plan and a method to get from point A to B. Having a written workout plan means you know exactly what to do next, instead of wandering the gym in search of your next machine to conquer.
  9. Use the gym during off-peak hours – this goes without saying. The less busy the gym is, the better your chances of not having to wait for equipment. Unfortunately, this option isn’t always available for most. However, if you go to the gym 3 times a week, all on weekdays, consider moving one of the days to a weekend morning. The gym tends to be quieter then.
  10. Bring a water bottle – instead of making a trip to the water fountain after each set, why not bring your own water bottle and fill it up one time for your entire workout? It might not seem like much, but a 1 minute trip to the water fountain between each of your 15 sets equals 15 minutes of potentially wasted time. Here’s our favorite water bottle.

Incorporate just a few or all of these tips to get you in and out of the gym quicker. Don’t work longer, work smarter.

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About Tony Schober

Healthy living curator, blogger, foodie, certified personal trainer, husband, & step-dad to 3. Founder of Coach Calorie. Hates scales.

  • Jeannette Laframboise

    Wow, who knew?? Obviously more is not better in some cases. I had no idea that you could cause further issues by working out too long. Personally I have never gone more than about an hour or so but I have a friend that is working out just about constantly, the only time she isn’t is when she is asleep. Can’t wait to show her this. Thanks for the info!

  • ann ezeanya

    I love Чυя posts and it has definitely helped me to shed some pounds for the past 4 months! After working out, I’m usually very exhausted and tend to fall asleep. Is it right to take a nap after a workout?

    • Coach Calorie

      Nothing wrong with napping. Great way to recover ;)

  • Donna B.

    Thanks for posting this – I was just thinking about this today since my doctor released me to go back to work, and I’ll be starting out-patient PT next week. Since my co-pay is pretty high, I’m only going to do it for a couple of weeks to get the routine down, and then switch to the gym so I can also incorporate some upper body work (and the sauna afterwards!!). I am worried about over-doing it though, so I’ll definitely keep this article in mind :) Thanks for great information, as always!

  • Angie

    I was wandering what DVD’s provide a good HIIT workout? And are there different levels of HIIT according to whether or not you are a beginner or advanced?

    P/S I am enjoying reading your articles.

    • Coach Calorie

      I’m not sure of any DVD’s. I prefer to get outside to work out. There’s really no different levels of HIIT. Just make sure you are pushing yourself to the max during your work out intervals. Some people might be able to do different exercises than others depending on their fitness level, but it’s all relative to your own capabilities.

      • Mandy

        I have found some by searching on YouTube

  • neuromatic

    So if I am trying to reduce body mass as oppose to building body mass (ie reducing body fat, trying to reduce muscle mass to some extent: calf muscle, bicep muscle to prevent the hulk-hogan/madonna look) working for more then an hour would be optimal? This would be to reduce testosterone and other building hormomes, though increasing cortisol which seems to break down muscle and so on.

    I would also like to ask, if I were trying to keep to the 35-45min time limit, if I were to spend 20 mins warming up, then took a breather whilst I waited for another machine to be free, would that breather need to be included in my overall time or do I only consider the time I spent actually doing something (which is what I would assume).

    And same for classes. I have done classes. If I do classes where they start and stop alot, you have the odd 5 minutes of team grouping or info explaining, you have a warm up which starts mega slow, you have a cool down which is something akin to walking, do you consider all these breaks and slow downs as well? Because I wouldn’t. If I am walking, to my mind I am not really exercising, even if its inbetween sets or classes. I am just walking and I don’t consider it real exercise but should I?

    • Coach Calorie

      I wouldn’t try to cause negative side effects to reach your goal. You would be better suited finding exercise that will limit muscle gain.

      I wouldn’t over-think things. Try to get in and out of the gym in an hour and you should be good. The main point is to go hard when you do go. Keep your workouts short but intense. Don’t draw them out unnecessarily.

  • http://www.coachcalorie.com/ Coach Calorie

    Hard to say without personally assessing your injuries. There are ways to work around your injuries, but I wouldn’t recommend HIIT that uses injured body parts.