Length of Workouts

[HDeuce7]

I have been training with this guy now for a few months and have had some pretty decent results. He is a good bit stronger than I and has been training for a few more years than I have. But the problem I have been having is he trains for to long. I mean on chest/tri day, it takes at least two hours to get through the workout. We will do 6 -7 exercises for chest and usually 4 for tris. I have had some pretty good gains but it seems like we are over training. I have always read and been told you should be lifting weights for 1.5 hours tops and should only do 4-5 exercises for big muscle groups and 3-4 for smaller ones. The question I am getting at is "how long should we be training for and how many exercises should we do per muscle groups?" Also, I am now cutting for the summer time and am more focused on loosing weight than getting bigger. Is working out for a long time going to hinder my fat loss? Also does anyone know any articles I can read that talk about length of workout and/or how execises per muscle group.

 

[Iron Warrior]

Is he working out 2 hours a day because he lags between sets ? I don't end up going more then 1.5 hours with cardio included. Training like this may not be detrimental during the short term but I wouldn't plan on training like that forever

 

[Chad]

i used to train for about an hour. but this past cycle i have been hitting for over two. my gains have been much better with the longer workout. and i do rest more between sets now.

 

[HDeuce7]

Is he working out 2 hours a day because he lags between sets ? I don't end up going more then 1.5 hours with cardio included. Training like this may not be detrimental during the short term but I wouldn't plan on training like that forever

It is not because we lag between sets, it is because we do so many exercises and between 4 and 5 sets per exercise, usually 4.

 

[HDeuce7]

Anyone else go any advice?

 

[CRUNCH]

Way too much volume for me! I average two exercises for large groups and one for smaller groups. Maybe 3-4 sets per exerecise. At four workouts per week, I maybe spend about 3.5 - 4 hours per week total in the gym. And ZERO cardio.

I learned a long time ago that I overtrain very easily, I just do not respond well to high volume stuff. But that's just me, and everybody's different.

I couldn't imagine spending two hours doing just chest and triceps. More is not always better.

 

[Nutz]

I was led to believe
that 40 - 60 mins of lifting is optimal hormonally, minimizing cortisol but helping GH etc:

generally speaking I warm up for 5 mins, do maybe 4 or 5 exercises at 5x5 which fits into that 40-60 min frame, then do half hour of cardio if m in the mood ( maybe 3 days a week)

those will be one of the 'big ones' squats, deads, bench, plus one or two others that are fairly compound, and a few extras to keep things intresting.

 

[Rodja]

When I started, I would take about 2 hours to do my workouts due to bad training habits, too much volume, etc. Now I can usually get in and out of the gym in ~1 hour with stretching included. Hell, my arm/delt workout yesterday took about 30 minutes and I am always looking for ways to make my workouts more efficient.

 

[rysigpi]

Way too much volume for me! I average two exercises for large groups and one for smaller groups. Maybe 3-4 sets per exerecise. At four workouts per week, I maybe spend about 3.5 - 4 hours per week total in the gym. And ZERO cardio.

I learned a long time ago that I overtrain very easily, I just do not respond well to high volume stuff. But that's just me, and everybody's different.

I couldn't imagine spending two hours doing just chest and triceps. More is not always better.

Exactly what I have found to work for me. Lower volume, higher frequency and super intense is the best for me.

 

[getjacked63]

Exactly what I have found to work for me. Lower volume, higher frequency and super intense is the best for me.

what do you mean by higher frequency?? less time between sets?

 

[Iron Warrior]

i used to train for about an hour. but this past cycle i have been hitting for over two. my gains have been much better with the longer workout. and i do rest more between sets now.

This could also depend on the type of training you're doing (high volume lower intensity VS low volume higher intensity) I usually do the latter and this would be hard to sustain for 2 hours. Plus, when you're juicing everything seems easier and more fun

 

[Vicarious]

Takes me 45 minutes to an hour (for leg days). 4-5 excercises, 3 sets of 8 or 10...and I'm out...

 

[rysigpi]

what do you mean by higher frequency?? less time between sets?

Hitting the muscle/groups more time a week. I have been splitting the body into A and B days and then lifting 3 or 4 times a week alternating the "A" and "B" body parts. Quite a few guys do it on the board.

 

[getjacked63]

Hitting the muscle/groups more time a week. I have been splitting the body into A and B days and then lifting 3 or 4 times a week alternating the "A" and "B" body parts. Quite a few guys do it on the board.

interesting, would you mind sharing how you have split those groups up?

Also, do you train something like Mon, tues wed-off thurs,fri? or is it more like mon, tues-off, wed, thurs-off, fri, sat-off, sun

Also, with this type of split, how long are your workouts lasting? it seems you would have to workout 3-4 muscle groups per day, which would lead me to believe you are in the gym quite awhile.

 

[rysigpi]

interesting, would you mind sharing how you have split those groups up?

Also, do you train something like Mon, tues wed-off thurs,fri? or is it more like mon, tues-off, wed, thurs-off, fri, sat-off, sun

Also, with this type of split, how long are your workouts lasting? it seems you would have to workout 3-4 muscle groups per day, which would lead me to believe you are in the gym quite awhile.

I have split it up two ways and liked both.
example one:
A- Legs/arms
B- Chest/shoulders/back

another: DC style
A-Biceps/forearms/legs
B-Chest/shoulders/triceps/backwidth/backthickness

The first example I did 2 exercises per muscle group and the second example I did one, but incorporated the DC rest pauses.

The beauty of the A and B split is that it is so versitle. You can workout M-T-Thurs-Fri, every other day, or say M-W-F, or S-T-Thurs...whatever fits your schedule and your liking. For me...I get the most out of 3 days a week.

 

[SMOKEPALADIN]

50 minutes
HST routine

 

[ClandestineM]

Training volume and training intensity must be designed individually. Always considering the most important factor here:

Your Own Body's Recovery Level.

This level is not fixed. You can improve it in many ways. This is the reason why drug-free bodybuilders must limit his training volume and intensity according their own level of recovery.

Remember that recovery always precedes to anabolism. If you don't recover, you can't grow!

Frank Mori

 

[thesinner]

I try to keep my volume down to <20 sets total. If it takes me longer than 50 minutes to complete the entire workout I am training for way too long.

 

[RoidRageX10]

For me, Less is more. Working out 2 hours a day wasn't working. Lifting for around 1 hour or less a day has been great. High intensity is much better than high volume for me. But i still am learning about the best length.

(just a lil something something)- curling once a week made my muscles feel much more fuller and defined then curling 3 days per week

 

[precious_roy]

Training volume and training intensity must be designed individually. Always considering the most important factor here:

Your Own Body's Recovery Level.
...

Truth.

I train 6x per week HST in a cluster fashion. For most people thats a lot of volume (every bodypart every day) but for me its optimal. I've given most everything a fair shot for 4-6 months but less frequency for me equals less gains. Heck the best period of growth I ever had was 12x HST which most consider suicide.

Long story short, give a few routines a GOOD chance and then tweak the one that works best for you accordingly.

 

[Skircus7]

40-60 minutes for me......just depends on what muscle(s) I am working.

 

[HDeuce7]

Thank you all for your input.

 

[motiv8er]

The hard question I see you needig to ask yourself is " Will I continue to work out as hard without him?" His training sounds like it may be detremental, can you convince him maybe of a two month try of it your way?

If not, you may need to go solo to grow better. Tell him your CNS is just getting taxed and its for your overall growth. He ouaghta get that.

 

[HDeuce7]

I tried to figure out the science behind the fact that working out to long could be detremental. I know it has to do with the breaking down of glycogen, I believe. Can someone explain it further?

 

[TeamSavage]

It's not just the CNS that's being taxed. You're doing 6-7 exercises for chest, 4-5 sets per exercise, for a total of 24-35 sets. That is taxing the muscle pretty hard. Obviously, you want to work it enough to stimulate growth. But at a certain point, you've already done that (your pecs can only develop so much over the next 4-7 days), and anything beyond that is wasted or even counterproductive. Most of the benefit is probably coming from those first few sets on the first 2-3 exercises, when the muscle is still relatively fresh and your intensity is high. (This may change, of course, if you're on tons of gear.)

 

[CRUNCH]

Even on tons of gear, I couldn't do that much. Maybe I'm getting old though...nah!