A question asked by many weight lifters is how long a muscle building workout should be to produce best results.
It is a common misconception that the long workout takes the better its results will be.
This might seem logical at first but nevertheless it's not true.
For the best muscle growth results your training sessions have to be short and intense. To spend hours in the gym won't help you at all. It actually might slow down your progress.
Why is this? Let me explain it.
Our body responds to any form of exhausting exercises by releasing cortisol (a hormone) after 45 minutes. To provide more energy to the body the muscles tissues break down when cortisol is released.
Instead of gaining muscles you might finally even losing them by working out for too long.
So what is the ideal time for a muscle building workout? You training should take 60 minutes (warm-up and cool-down phases not included). After 60 minutes your body needs time to recover to repair and rebuild broken muscle tissues.
Another positive aspect is that it is definitely easier to focus on your training for 60 minutes than for hours. If you know that your workout will be done within this time frame it will help you to take the maximum advantage of each of your sets. Usually the mental focus diminishes after 30 minutes and this makes it harder to train efficiently.
Of course a shorter training session allows you also to spend more time on your other hobbies or activities.
Working out for hours increase the risk of getting injured which would slow down your muscle building progress. So it's the best to get your exercises done in 60 minutes.
However the length of your workout routine is just one factor that plays an important role in your muscle building progress. You should invest some time to learn more about other factors as proper nutrition or the best exercises for optimal muscle growth results.
Don't forget that education is not less important than dedication in bodybuilding.
If you're looking for more weightlifting advice and insight into the proper methods for structuring an effective muscle-building workout then you should read my other articles.
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