2719: [Part 1] How Long Should Your Workout Be to Build Muscle? by Christian Finn of Muscle Evo

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[00:00:26] This is Optimal Health Daily.

[00:00:28] How long should your workout be to build muscle?

[00:00:31] Part 1 by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:00:35] And I'm Dr. Neil.

[00:00:36] Hey there, welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I simply read you from the best

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[00:01:07] Alright now today's episode is a little longer than normal.

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[00:01:16] So with that, let's hear part 1 as we optimize your life.

[00:01:25] How long should your workout be to build muscle?

[00:01:27] Part 1 by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:01:32] How long should a workout last if you want to gain muscle?

[00:01:35] Is 30 minutes enough?

[00:01:37] Is 90 minutes too long?

[00:01:39] Let's find out.

[00:01:41] You want more muscle than you have at the moment, and you want to make sure you're doing

[00:01:45] everything possible to maximize the speed at which that muscle mass is gained.

[00:01:49] However, while you don't want to miss out on any gains, you don't want to spend longer

[00:01:54] in the gym than is strictly necessary.

[00:01:57] You may have also heard that spending too long in the gym can have an adverse effect

[00:02:01] on two hormones, testosterone and cortisol, which in turn will put the brakes on muscle

[00:02:07] growth.

[00:02:08] So what's the answer?

[00:02:10] How long should a workout last if you want to build muscle?

[00:02:13] On average, the ideal workout duration is going to be somewhere between 45 and 90 minutes.

[00:02:20] For most people, that's long enough to get the job done.

[00:02:24] With some programs, an effective workout might last around 30 minutes.

[00:02:28] With others, it might take you a couple of hours, especially if you're resting for long

[00:02:32] periods between each set.

[00:02:34] As long as your overall training program is set up properly, your workout duration isn't

[00:02:39] something you need to spend any time worrying about.

[00:02:42] Let it take as long as it takes to get the job done.

[00:02:45] That's the short answer.

[00:02:47] The long answer, as ever, starts with, it depends.

[00:02:51] How much time should you spend in the gym to build muscle?

[00:02:55] An effective workout can last 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 90 minutes or even two hours.

[00:03:01] It all depends on a number of factors, including what your goals are.

[00:03:05] You're training frequency.

[00:03:07] The type of training you're doing, and the amount of stimulation your muscles need to grow.

[00:03:13] Let's take a look at each in turn.

[00:03:15] What are your goals?

[00:03:17] I know you want to build muscle, but how much muscle exactly?

[00:03:21] Are you planning to slip on a pair of posing trunks and step-on stage in a physique contest?

[00:03:27] Or do you just want to beef up certain muscle groups such as your chest, shoulders, and arms?

[00:03:32] Are you training for strength or hypertrophy?

[00:03:35] A bit of both?

[00:03:37] Your goals should dictate the type of training schedule you follow, and the length of your workouts

[00:03:42] will vary depending on what those goals are.

[00:03:46] How quickly do you want that muscle to be built?

[00:03:49] You might be in a hurry to gain as much muscle mass as your genetics allow.

[00:03:53] You're willing to do anything and everything to reach that goal in the shortest time possible.

[00:03:59] On the other hand, gaining muscle might be one of several goals you're pursuing at the moment.

[00:04:04] You don't have the time or energy to give it everything,

[00:04:07] and you're quite content with a slower rate of progress.

[00:04:10] You know it's going to take longer to build a muscle you want, and you're okay with that.

[00:04:15] And how often are you training?

[00:04:17] If your workout routine involves training twice per week, each training session is going to take

[00:04:22] longer than it would say on a 4, 5 or 6 day split where you're hitting fewer muscle groups in each

[00:04:28] workout. With six workouts per week, you might be able to get each training session done in 30 minutes,

[00:04:35] but with a 2 day split, each workout might take 90 minutes to get through.

[00:04:39] In both cases, the total amount of training time is the same, 180 minutes.

[00:04:44] It's just being spread out differently across the week.

[00:04:47] What type of training are you doing?

[00:04:50] Two people might do the exact same workout, but one uses paired sets.

[00:04:55] The other takes their time and rests for a couple of minutes between each set.

[00:05:00] The first person will get their workout done more quickly than the second,

[00:05:03] even though the muscle building stimulus generated by both workouts will be roughly the same.

[00:05:08] A strength training session that involves heavy weights, low repetitions, and long rest

[00:05:13] periods will often take longer than a workout involving lighter weights, higher repetitions,

[00:05:19] and shorter rest periods. A power lifter, for example, will typically perform compound

[00:05:25] exercises like squats, bench presses, and dead lifts, and train with lower repetitions like

[00:05:32] 1 to 5 repetitions per set, and rest for 3 to 5 minutes between sets.

[00:05:38] A bodybuilder on the other hand, using lighter weights and moderate repetitions, meaning

[00:05:43] 8 to 12 repetitions per set, and shorter inner set rest periods around 2 minutes

[00:05:49] is probably going to be in and out of the gym in less time than the power lifter.

[00:05:54] But that doesn't make one training session more or less effective than the other.

[00:05:58] They just serve different purposes.

[00:06:01] How much stimulation do your muscles need to grow?

[00:06:05] When you're just starting out, results are relatively easy to come by.

[00:06:08] Your muscles are highly responsive to any type of strength training,

[00:06:11] and don't require as much work to make them grow. As a result, you can often get away with shorter

[00:06:17] workouts. But over time, as your body adapts and you acquire more training experience,

[00:06:23] gaining size and strength becomes progressively more difficult.

[00:06:27] If you want to avoid remaining stuck at the same size you are right now, chances are you'll need

[00:06:33] more work to keep the gains coming. People also respond differently to different workout routines.

[00:06:38] Person A may need more work than person B to generate the same amount of muscle growth.

[00:06:45] As a result, they'll need to spend longer in the gym. In short, there's no one-size-fits-all

[00:06:51] answered at the question of how long a workout should last. There are so many ingredients going

[00:06:56] into the mix from the training split you're following to your individual goals and preferences

[00:07:01] to the amount of stimulation your muscles need to grow that it's impossible to say a workout

[00:07:06] should last X number of minutes. To be continued, you just listen to part one of the post-titled

[00:07:17] how long should your workout be to build muscle by Christian Finn of muscle evo.net and I'll be right

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[00:08:39] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. Now I understand that this post ended a bit abruptly,

[00:08:44] and with today's author Christian saying that it's impossible to say that a workout should last

[00:08:49] a certain number of minutes. So it may seem like he's leaving us hanging, but that's why I'll be

[00:08:59] sure to consider. Just because we start with one workout goal, that doesn't mean that this goal

[00:09:05] is going to be the same forever. Maybe there are weeks where our priority is to lift heavier weights

[00:09:10] so we focus on fewer repetitions and longer rest periods to allow ourselves to lift those heavier

[00:09:16] weights. Then after those weeks have passed, we mix things up to faster and more intense workouts

[00:09:22] with lighter weights. In fact, this is what most fitness professionals would recommend. Change your

[00:09:28] training style every so often to force the body to adapt in different ways. Okay, I better stop

[00:09:35] before I start getting into some of the things Christian may end up talking about on tomorrow's show.

[00:09:40] So that'll do it for today. Thank you so much for being a follower or subscriber to the show.

[00:09:45] I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you back here tomorrow where we'll finish up

[00:09:49] this post and wear your optimal life awaits.