Tuesday, July 21, 2015

How Much Time Should I Spend on my Workout for it to be Effective?



Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.


How much time should I spend on my workout for it to be effective?



Adam Teplitz:  Workout duration is one of the many factors that contributes to an effective fitness regimen. Workout duration will depend on your goals. If your goal is to build muscle and get stronger, you want to hit it hard to stimulate size and strength gains. The optimal time for this is no more than sixty minutes, excluding warm up time. When you start training, your body will naturally boost testosterone levels higher than normal. This increased output peaks at about a half hour into the workout. At the 45 minute mark, testosterone levels are coming back down to baseline. After 60 minutes, your body will start to produce less testosterone and more cortisol , a hormone that eats muscle tissue and increases fat storage. This is a scenario you want to avoid. When it comes to cardio and weight loss, intensity will always be key. Duration is secondary. The most effective form of cardio for burning fat is high intensity interval training. This form of cardio is effective due to the fact that you're not only burning calories while you are doing it , but for up to 48 hours after as well. The duration should be a minimum of 15 to 20 minutes. As your body adapts, you can add additional rounds and gradually increase the time.


Kelly Bailey: How much time you spend working out is far less important than the QUALITY of your workout. I would rather do an intense, high-quality 20 minute workout than loaf through a 60 minute workout any day of the week. That being said, there is certainly a place for the "loafing" type of exercise....like a walk through the park with a friend or a relaxing kayak around a lake. But if you have fitness goals to reach, your workouts should be planned and need to have that high-quality component.

I have found mental preparedness to be one of the most important factors in increasing the quality of a workout. For at least five or ten minutes before a workout, I visualize myself working hard during my session, pushing myself farther than I went during my last session. This simple technique puts me in the right frame of mind to get the most out of my limited time for exercise.



Taylor Burns: When I first started working out, I would spend a good 2 hours in the gym a day. I would lift for over an hour and then do cardio. Spending that much time made me really dread working out as I'm sure anyone would feel the same way because it feels like a job and becomes unappealing. Feeling this way made me feel unmotivated because I wasn't seeing the results I wanted to see.

Once I snapped out of it, I had some help and direction to get in and get out of the gym. In the last year, I spent just about 45 minutes lifting 5 days a week and 20 minutes of cardio 3 days a week. No distractions. Get in and get out. I believe lifting should be between 45-60 minutes and cardio shouldn't go over 30 minutes if you are trying to lose body fat. You don't want it to feel like a job. You should want to come in to focus on yourself to become your best self.


Steven Madden: The right amount of time for a workout does depend on goals, but in general it should be between 30 and 60 min.  Anything less will not really get your metabolism up as high as you would like.  Anything more will start to have detrimental effects on your muscle tissue.  The same applies for cardio unless you are specifically training to improve endurance.



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