Why is 60 minutes the norm for workouts?

What is the Optimal Length of a Training Session?

I had a friend ask me recently why are training sessions an hour long? (He also asked multiple others discussed below). Even though in the back of my head, I knew a more thoughtful answer (which I will discuss here), my first thought was it just schedules easier in a day. But as I began discussing with him, he gradually began to understand, the optimal length of a training session depends on many factors, including the training history, training program, type of exercise, and the goals of the person. But the golden rule is “Quality over Quantity”.

Why Does 60 Minutes Seem to be the Norm?

There’s no real reason why we made 60 minutes the norm, except the fact that is a nice length of time to fit in our schedules. Whether it’s a 60-minute personal training session, a 50-minute strength workout with 5 minutes of warm up and cool down, a 30-minute shoulder, arms, and core with 30-minute treadmill run, or a 60-minute elliptical steady ride, it just has been ingrained in our minds that an hour of working out is what it should be. I mentioned the golden rule of quality of quantity. If you’re just mindlessly doing a 10-minute warm-up walk on a treadmill while you browse Instagram, followed by 40-minutes of strength training that includes long rest periods cause you making videos for Tik-Tok to show everyone your working out, and finishing up with 10 minute of static stretching as you catch up with text messages, that will not be as productive as concise, strategic, and focused 30-minute session, where your intensity of each movement is there.

Can a High-Intensity 20-30 Minute workout be Just as Effective?

Yes. One study (Hansen, C.J., & Coast, J.R., 2001) found that participants in high-intensity-interval training lasting 20 minutes per session, 3 times per week, reported improvements of quality of life, perceived stress, and mental well-being. Notice though, I didn’t say weight loss or strength gain were reported. So again, it goes back to what are your real goals are and what means we can achieve them.

Will Putting in an Extra 30 Minutes (on top of 60 minutes) Get Me Better Results?

Again, it all depends on your goals, training history, and training regimen. It could, but the proper training split of exercise selection and training volume must be there and coincide with what your goals are. All training splits work, but you must split the volume of training with balance and variety of movements. So yes, an extra 30 minutes can be beneficial if planned correctly.

What About 30 Minutes in the Morning and 30 Minutes Later in Day?

Yes, that’s great. If your schedule is better to do some movement broken up for different parts of the day, that works. If the golden rule is quality over quantity, my “silver” rule is any exercise is better than no exercise. It all goes back to a properly planned program that meets your goals. Consistency is king. So whatever training regimen you do, just be consistent with it and the results will show.

Need help with planning a training program tailored to your goals? We are happy to help.