It is great if you have been with a strong mission of staying fit and healthy and if you dedicate yourself in the gym most of the days of the week. However, many of us do not actually know what amount of time spent in the gym could be okay and what would be too long for us to spend in the gym. As, we all know that overtraining could actually do more harms to our body; that is the reason why we need to know how long is too long in the gym. So, read on to know about the same.
How Long Is Too Long In The Gym?
The answer to this question could differ from person to person based on various factors, such as the fitness levels, based on workouts an individual perform and amount of rest that one takes along with the workouts. Let us dive deeper in to this in the following sections of the article.
Based On Your Fitness Levels:
The very first question for anyone entering the gym newly could be “How long is too long in the gym?” Well, the answer lies on your fitness level. Say for example, if you are quite new to workout then it could be said that spending more than one hour every day in the gym working out could get you at a greater risk than any reward. It is obvious that you would never want to injure yourself by overtraining. So, try and start with short workouts which are of 30 minutes or less. Once you start feeling that you are building up your strength, you can add few more minutes every week gradually.
The American Heart Association recommends about 75 minutes to 150 minutes of aerobic activity, along with 2 strength training sessions every week.(1) Assuming that the strength training sessions would last roughly 20 minutes each that would break down to 3 hours of exercise every week. As per these recommendations, anyone who is a beginner in exercising should work up to 3-4 gym sessions of 40 minutes each every week. If you find difficult with this you can at least complete a 15 minutes of workout and that would be better than skipping the entire 40 minutes of workout.
Well, that was about the beginners! However, a lot of athletes spend more than 2-3 hours at the gym. There are even some weightlifters that can quite easily spend about 4-6 hours at the gym. However, most of the lifters train in groups and thus they have more of motivation when they workout with their friends.
Based On The Workouts You Do:
Now again, when you ask “How long is too long in the gym?”, we would also say that this also depends on the workouts that you do. Yes, the duration of workout in the gym should also depend on the intensity of your exercises. Say, for example, maintaining a brisk walk on the treadmill for about 40 minutes could be appropriate; but maintaining a full sprint on the treadmill for 40 minutes is quite impossible.
So, before you start doing a lengthy gym session, make sure you think about the types and intensity of exercises you will be completing there. Many people who are going to gym schedule their high-intensity, short workouts for weekdays as they have less time during this, and on weekends they spend longer time in the gym doing the low-intensity workouts.
You need to note” DO NOT LIFT WEIGHTS FOR MORE THAN 45 MINUTES”. If you do lift more the levels of your testosterone will plummet, and your cortisol levels would rise.
In fact some workouts that last for more than 90 minutes have shown to increase the testosterone levels above the resting levels for at least 2 hours after finishing the workouts.(2)
Based On The Amount Of Rest That You Take At The Gym:
You need to know that the time you spend in the gym also depends on the time you spend resting between your sets. Many strength-training exercises, especially the weightlifting workouts require extra downtime for rest, preparation, and recovery. This means that a, 40 minutes of weightlifting session might involve just 20 minutes of actually weightlifting workout.
So, in case you are planning to go to the gym for a workout that actually involves several strength training exercises and various pieces of equipment, you need to add at least 10 minutes more to your workout period. This extra time would be for rest, and recovery between your sets.
Conclusion:
So, to sum up on how long is too long in the gym, we can say that this depends on various factors as we mentioned that includes your fitness level, the workout you perform in the gym and also the amount of time you spend in resting in between your sets. But, we would say that on an average, it would be somewhere between 60 minutes to 90 minutes that would be right for most of us to spend in the gym. You always need to consult with your fitness trainer and spend the best possible workout time in the gym doing the most suitable workouts for yourself based on your fitness level.
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