How long should you work out? The answer we can give you is, it depends on your goal. But, as a health-conscious soul, it is imperative to know the exact answer to this question to shape your workout routine. Otherwise, you will end up over or underdoing the workouts, which would not provide you with the results you anticipate in the long run.
How long should you work out?
As we mentioned, it purely depends on your fitness goal. Your end target could be losing weight, muscle or strength gain, or maintenance of your current health condition. So, we have decided to talk about each goal separately to provide you with the solution for the question of how long should you work out?
For weight loss
You will have to burn the calories in order to lose weight. Realistically, it would be ideal to aim at 500-1000 calories per day to burn to reduce about up to 2 pounds per week. To achieve this feat, you have to work out around 200 minutes per week (considerably rigorous workouts). How you divide these minutes throughout the week is up to you to decide.
That said, you should focus on quality over quantity. It doesn’t matter you work out the time needed if you don’t put hard yards into the exercises. However, experts say there is no exact time that should be considered when it comes to weight loss. Keep it this way; the exercises you do should be felt to your body, and you should give everything you got to the workout sessions. That is why we bracketed “considerably rigorous workouts.”
The next question that arises is that what type of workouts should you do to lose weight, isn’t it? For a fast weight loss, you should try to focus on the cardio workouts as much as possible. But, you don’t necessarily have to hit the gym throughout the minutes to lose weight. Instead, you can opt for activities like swimming and running as well.
Before we move on to the next goal, keep in mind that workouts and a healthy diet go hand in hand. While you focus on the time of the workout session, it is important to consume healthy food for fast and efficient weight loss.
For strength gain
If strength gain is your ambition, weight-lifting has to be your main choice of workout. Talking about the time, it would be best if you try to achieve around 45 minutes to one hour per day. An important aspect is that you must make sure to consume a good meal after each workout session to refuel your body. The preference has to be given for protein-based food as protein plays a pivotal job in repairing the muscles.
Also, for better continuity, you must pay attention to having a good night’s sleep every day to make a strong comeback on next day. Further, it’s not all about weight lifting exercises. You have to blend cardio workouts into your routine, and these exercises are pretty helpful for the muscles of the legs.
We want to highlight another crucial side of strength gaining workouts. Flexibility is super important to keep your journey on track to achieve your goals. If you focus only on muscle building, your body becomes vulnerable to injuries due to the lack of flexibility. So, out of the time you put, take at least around 10 minutes on a daily basis for flexibility-related exercises to keep your body away from unwanted injuries. An injury can spoil all your efforts and delay the goals.
For maintaining health
This is another goal of most. If you are happy about the current state of your body, weight and overall health, you might only want to maintain the condition. But, it is not as easy as it sounds. Still, you have to do heart rate raising exercises at least 150 minutes per week. As we mentioned earlier, the breaking up of this 150-minute is totally in your hands. You can play with it according to your day-to-day commitments.
Since you are not aiming for a certain body part, you can opt for total body workouts, and those exercises don’t have to be much intensive. However, we are not telling or encouraging you to take things lightly.
Sometimes maintaining the current condition can be challenging than losing weight. So, do not take your foot off the pedal and be committed to hitting the time that we explained to keep everything under control.
In addition, stay active throughout the day as much as possible to prevent injuries and always try to stick with proper movement patterns.
FAQs
Should I do cardio exercises first?
Experts in the trade say that it would be best to do cardio exercises at the end of your workout routine rather than at the start. If you do these exercises in the beginning, you will inevitably make your body consume more energy, and you will lack the energy to perform more rigorous tasks later on.
Can I mix cardio and weight-lifting exercises on the same day?
Yes, you can do that when your goal is to build strength. As we pointed out, mixing cardio exercises is important in order to enhance the flexibility of your body.
Can I work out twice a day?
It can be helpful to lose weight fast, and there is nothing wrong with an active lifestyle. However, according to the experts, you should give adequate rest for the body to recover; if not, there is a high chance of your body getting “burned out” pretty quickly.
Conclusion on how long should you work out?
Alright, now you know the answer to this question. All in all, the time of the workouts depends on the fitness goals. Today we have discussed three main fitness goals and how long should you work out according to your end goal. We think everything is crystal clear for you. If you have any questions or need clarification, please comment below; we are more than happy to help you. Thank you, and have a great day!
