Effective Workouts – How Long Should I Work Out?

Do you really have to pound weights until you are exhausted, march up a Stairmaster for hours, or finish your routine with marathon abs work to burn fat and build healthy muscle? Just how long should you work out? The secret that strength athletes and martial artists know about workout duration is this: with focus, you hit the sweet spot a lot sooner than you think No matter if you are at the gym to build size, improve your sports performance, or sculpt a body that is easy to look at, you have to accomplish three things to reach your goal. First, you have to stimulate growth, either growth of new muscle mass, or replacement of damaged muscle fibers with strong and vital tissue. Second, you have to work enough to bring your metabolism up to a level that triggers growth hormone production and the release of both serotonin and dopamine (in sequence). These powerful substances help regulate physical stress and allow your muscles to work efficiently and recover afterword. And last, you want to push and promote your body’s ability to handle physical stress. That is, increase flexibility and stamina while reducing tension. The good news is that you can do all of this in a half hour daily, plus ten minutes of post workout stretching. Here’s how: Divide your complete workout into two exercises for each of six muscle groups. Don’t worry about getting a well rounded workout. You will change each muscle group’s exercises monthly. Do five sets of five reps for each exercise, with a one minute rest between sets. Rest for three full minutes between exercises. The resistance you use must be such that you can do five sets with clean, perfect form but cannot complete a sixth set. Then tweak it just a bit more so that the first two sets are only 80 percent of the resistance you are using for the last three sets. Slam only one muscle group per day and allow a full week of recovery before you work it again. Do not train to failure Getting in that last, impossible rep is like running a victory lap at full speed. You’ve already won the race, now you are just burning yourself out. Instead of damaging your muscles, use that self discipline to go through ten minutes of stretching the day’s target area. This simple action will trip the switch from heavy serotonin production that accompanied your workout to a greater concentration on dopamine release. This chemical change will shift your body’s emphasis to muscle relaxation and healing, but will let your metabolism stay vigorous and gradually taper down to your base level. Give this routine three months, changing out the exercises for each muscle group every month. Then take stock of your strength, size, and stamina. You will be amazed at how much progress you can make without daily injury or spending all of your time in the gym.