1 1/2 hour workout?

[rsw1]

Or more precisely, 1 1/2 hours for upper body 2x a week and 1 hour lower body 2x a week. I'm including warm up and ab work in the hour and a half, but it still strikes me a a long time in the gym. I know the "rule" in no more than an hour.
Anyone consider this overtraining? Don't really feel like I am.....but..??? Any hard/fast rules on this?

[oldbutkeen]

there's been a lot said over the last couple of years about time spent in the gym and i can only scratch the surface here.
45mins or just over seems to be what to aim for, any more than that could very well lead to overtraining in time.
also research suggests that over the 45 min mark up to say an hour and beyond actually starts working against what your trying to achieve
ie, muscle size and strength.
from a mental point of view also having to face 90 mins of hard training can be daunting, where if you know you can go in for half the time and really give it your all ,your up for it and you go in and blast yourself.
the mind in sport or training is an often overlooked aspect but if your beaten
in your mind (because of an hour an halfs gruel) the chances are you won't stay the course.
to sum up,
find a good workout program based around the tried and tested compound movements such benching, squating, dead lift.
aim for the 45 min mark and give it everything you've got mentally and physically.
get out of the gym and give yourself time to recover and grow.
and feed your muscles with good healthy food with plenty of protein.

[phikappa]

Are ya one of those chatterbox types?




1 1/2 hrs is long for me. Hard to say if it's long for you. Can you post your exercises/sets? That would provide more info to make a decision.

[powerlifter70]

Or more precisely, 1 1/2 hours for upper body 2x a week and 1 hour lower body 2x a week. I'm including warm up and ab work in the hour and a half, but it still strikes me a a long time in the gym. I know the "rule" in no more than an hour.
Anyone consider this overtraining? Don't really feel like I am.....but..??? Any hard/fast rules on this?

If it works for ya then do it. I train bench press 2x a week, one heavy day and one speed day, and each day takes me 2 hours. I train 4x a week 2 being bench press then the other 2 deadlifts and squats.(I also do assistance work on each day too) The other 2 days usually last about an hour. As for overtraining....I dont believe in it. There is only under recovery. As long as you eat and sleep enough you will be fine.

[stlcards]

and I'm just getting back into it after a long layoff. It's how you use your time. Are you forcing yourself to work 90 minutes? Quality over quantity.

I have always thought 8-12 good hard sets are better then 12+ sets where you leave something on the table.

[jaguarr]

It's easy to overtrain and not even feel like you are, to be honest. I was doing 90 minute workouts for the longest time and making minimal gains. 45-60 minutes seems to be about right for me before things start getting counterproductive.

jag

[Overload]

If you're making progress each week in some way (strength, reps, poundage, etc.) then you're not overtraining. If things start to feel heavier than usual, you need more rest.

[PumpingBuck]

I do an hour per workout!!! That's all I need!!

[GSCampbell]

An hour and a half is too much for me - I go for approx. 50-70 minutes and then I'm toast.

Just my $0.02 - GSC

[ExCompetitor]

If it works for ya then do it. I train bench press 2x a week, one heavy day and one speed day, and each day takes me 2 hours. I train 4x a week 2 being bench press then the other 2 deadlifts and squats.(I also do assistance work on each day too) The other 2 days usually last about an hour. As for overtraining....I dont believe in it. There is only under recovery. As long as you eat and sleep enough you will be fine.

I agree...my volume days take 2 hours.

[rsw1]

Are ya one of those chatterbox types?



No just the opposite. I'm the guy at the gym that remains in total focus. I find the "chatterbox" types to be annoying to say the least :<)


1 1/2 hrs is long for me. Hard to say if it's long for you. Can you post your exercises/sets? That would provide more info to make a decision.

I've seen a few responses that are questioning quality over quantity. I think that may be the real issue. I seem to go for total muscle failure/pain/fatigue over super low sets/high weights. Keeping in mind, I'm not going for huge "size" gains.....here's my average/typical upper body routine (45 sec. rest in between sets):

* 10 minutes stretching
* A few warm up sets
Chest
* 3 sets/8 reps incline bench
* 3 sets/8 reps flat bench
* 3 sets/8 reps incline "machine" presses
* 3-4 sets/8 reps cable cross-overs
Shoulders
* 3-4 sets military presses (machine)
* 3 sets military "cable" presses
* 6 sets various compound shoulder work (rotator)
* 3 sets dumbell flys
Triceps
* 3 sets tricep presses (cable machine)
* 3-4 sets overhead skullcrushers (cable machine)
* 3-4 sets misc. tricep (changes)
Back
* 8 sets shoulder shrugs (differing technics/angles)
* 4 sets lat pull downs
* 4 sets rows (cable/machine)
Bicep
* 8 sets total, various angles/weight/device

Followed by 10 min. ab work.

Total almost exactly 1 1/2 hours (no talking.......LOL) And yes, I'm "spent" but feeling good.