I get asked a lot about how long a workout should last and how intense the workouts should be. Well finally I have an answer for everyone out there who needs to know this information. It is pretty simple. “Your Time Determines Your Intensity”. Once you have decided how much exercise you need to do in weeks time, you can then answer this question. Now what I mean by that is this? When you think about exercise, think about it a week at a time. If you decide you need to workout 4 hours a week to reach your personal goal, then decide how you need to break that up over the week. I don’t recommend you do 1 training session for 4 hours. That can get dangerous!!! Break it up like this. Depending on your time you can train 6-30 minute sessions a week, 4- 1 hour sessions a week, or maybe 2- 2 hour sessions a week. What ever works for your schedule. Ok now that we have determined your “Time” lets determine your “Intensity”.
If you are doing the shorter workouts more times a week (6-30 min sessions), the intensity should be much higher than the other options. You should be training at or around 90% of your bodies capacity. Now what do I mean by this??? If you are doing resistance training, when you finish a set on either a machine or free weights, you should be able to perform one or two more reps. Now if you can barley get that last rep, its too heavy and you should lower the weight. If you can do 3 or 4 more reps its too light, add more weight next set. Your rest should be minimal if any at all. Remember you only have 30 min to workout, and you have to do cardio as well. Try not to rest. Speaking of cardio. Lets throw that in with our resistance training. In between your sets of resistance training do a high intensity cardio exercise. I call this “Interval Training”. For example, do a set on a resistance machine or a free weight exercise. Complete the desired number of reps, then without rest go straight to a set of stairs and run up and down them 3 or 4 times. This is a very intense workout so be careful and keep plenty of water handy. Now lets move to the other options where you have more time.
If you have an hour or more to exercise, lower the intensity to around 75% of your bodies capacity and enjoy that slow burn. This will keep you right at the fat burning stage but also allow you to workout for the duration without burning out. Now because you have more time, you might want to break up the time into a resistance training session and a cardio training session. For instance, start your workout with your resistance training routine you have planned for that day, do it in its entirety then start your cardio workout.