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Finding the Optimal Workout Duration: How Long Should Your Workouts Be?

 

Striking the right balance between an effective workout and a time-efficient routine is essential. To shed light on this topic, we will take a look at various studies conducted on workout durations and provide a summary of the main takeaways. Remember, personal preferences and goals play a significant role, but understanding the scientific evidence can help guide your decision-making process and also give you less room for excuses if you are not currently exercises and taking charge of your health.

 

Study 1: “The Effect of Workout Duration on Strength Gains”

 

In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers investigated the impact of different workout durations on strength gains. They divided participants into three groups: one group performed 30-minute workouts, another performed 60-minute workouts, and the third group had 90-minute workouts. The study concluded that there were no significant differences in strength gains among the three groups. This suggests that workout duration alone may not be the key factor for strength development.

 

Study 2: “Effects of Workout Duration on Cardiovascular Fitness”

 

A research team at the University of California conducted a study to examine the effects of workout duration on cardiovascular fitness. They assigned participants to two groups: one group performed 30-minute moderate-intensity workouts, and the other group engaged in 60-minute moderate-intensity workouts. The study revealed that both groups experienced significant improvements in cardiovascular fitness. While the 60-minute group demonstrated slightly greater gains, the results indicated that shorter workouts can still yield substantial cardiovascular benefits.

 

Study 3: “Optimal Workout Duration for Fat Loss”

 

In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers analysed the impact of different workout durations on fat loss. Participants were divided into three groups: one group performed 20-minute high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, another group engaged in 40-minute HIIT workouts, and the third group performed 60-minute steady-state cardio workouts. The findings showed that all three groups experienced significant reductions in body fat percentage, with no significant differences between the durations. This suggests that the intensity of the workout may play a more significant role in fat loss than the duration alone.

 

Study 4: “The Impact of Prolonged Exercise on Hormonal Changes”

 

A study published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism examined the effects of prolonged exercise on hormonal changes. Male participants performed a high-intensity resistance workout lasting 90 minutes. The study found that after the workout, there was a significant decline in serum testosterone levels and an increase in cortisol levels. These hormonal changes indicated a temporary state of increased catabolism, suggesting that longer workouts may have a negative impact on anabolic hormone balance.

 

Study 5: “Effects of Different Workout Durations on Testosterone and Cortisol Response”

 

A research team conducted a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology to investigate the effects of different workout durations on testosterone and cortisol response. Participants performed resistance exercises at varying durations: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 90 minutes. The study revealed that the 30-minute workout resulted in a significant increase in testosterone levels without a significant rise in cortisol levels. The 90-minute workout led to a decline in testosterone levels and an increase in cortisol levels. These findings suggest that longer workouts may disrupt the balance of anabolic and catabolic hormones.

 

Main Takeaways:

 

  1. Workout duration alone is not the sole determinant of strength gains. Focus on intensity, proper form, and progressive overload for optimal results.
  2. Both shorter and longer workouts can improve cardiovascular fitness. The key is to maintain a consistent level of intensity.
  3. Fat loss can be achieved with various workout durations. High-intensity exercises, such as HIIT, may be more effective for fat loss than steady-state cardio.
  4. Prolonged exercise sessions, especially high-intensity workouts lasting 90 minutes or more, can lead to a decline in serum testosterone levels.
  5. Longer workouts may result in an increase in cortisol levels, indicating a potential shift towards a catabolic state.
  6. Shorter workout durations, such as 30 minutes, may promote a favorable hormonal response with an increase in testosterone levels and minimal changes in cortisol levels.

 

Determining the ideal workout duration depends on individual preferences, goals, and available time. This also eliminates the excuse of ‘ I don’t have time to exercise’ as we all have 30 mins in our day. While the studies presented above provide insights into the effects of different workout durations, it is important to consider other factors such as exercise intensity, consistency, and recovery. A well-rounded fitness routine that incorporates a mix of strength training, cardiovascular exercises, and flexibility work is generally recommended. Ultimately, the best workout duration is the one that you can keep consistent, motivated, engaged, and helps you achieve your fitness goals.

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Personal Training vs Group Training: Which is Better for Your Goals?

 

 

Personal training and group training has become increasingly popular in recent years. Unlike group training and classes, quality personal training offers a level of customisation and individual attention that simply cannot be matched when training within a group. If you’re looking for the best results, private personal training is the way to go.

 

One of the key advantages of personal training is the level of customisation that it offers. Your personal trainer will work with you to create a fitness plan that is tailored to your individual needs and goals. They will take into account factors such as your current fitness level, any injuries or health conditions, and your overall lifestyle. This level of customisation means that you are more likely to see results faster, and that your progress will be more sustainable in the long term.

 

Another major advantage of personal training is the individual attention that you receive. With personal training, you have your trainer’s undivided attention, which means that they can monitor your form and technique and provide real-time feedback to help you improve. This is particularly important if you are looking to get the most out of each training session and also prevent injury. Your trainer can help you to avoid common mistakes that can lead to injury.

 

At a private personal training gym like ours here at Soma Fitness, you can expect the highest quality service and detailed coaching. Our trainers are highly qualified and experienced, and they are dedicated to helping our clients achieve their fitness, health and body composition goals. We understand that everyone is different, which is why we take a personalised approach to fitness, we base all of our programming on our 3 step process when onboarding a client which involves a movement assessment. We are highly committed to providing our clients with the support and guidance they need to succeed.

In contrast, group training and classes can often feel impersonal and lacking in focus. With so many people in a class, it can be difficult for the coach to provide individual attention and to monitor each participant’s form and technique. This one size fits all approach can lead to ineffective workouts, and a higher risk of injury. Additionally, group training and classes may not always be tailored to your individual needs, which can make it more challenging to see results.

In conclusion, if you’re serious about reaching your goals, personal training is the way to go. With a personalised approach, individual attention, and high-quality coaching, you can expect to see real results, faster. If you’re ready to get started on your fitness journey, contact us at Soma today and we can get you booked in for a consultation!

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The 4 Pillars of Nutrition: Calories, Macronutrients, Food Quality, Adherence.

If you don’t know of any great sources of information, learning about nutrition can be a minefield. On one hand, you have ultra-restrictive fad diets, such as ketogenic, juice cleanses and carnivore. On the other hand, you have Instagram fitness influencers telling you ‘ignore everything, just create a calorie deficit’ (which, even if it was enough to reach your goal, is hardly helpful advice in learning how to go about achieving that). Therefore, to try and condense nutritional advice into one article, without over-simplifying it to the point of misinformation, I have selected 4 pillars of nutrition. If these needs are met, then you have set up a nutritional protocol suitable for your goal.

 

Calories:

As mentioned above, there are plenty of people which believe it is as simple as calories in vs calories out. Although it is essential to know how many calories to intake to meet your goals, there is also plenty of negatives if you ignore every other aspect of nutrition. If you eat more calories than your calorie maintenance, then you have created a calorie surplus and will put on weight. If you eat less calories than your calorie maintenance, then you have created a calorie deficit and will lose weight. This provides a great starting point when creating any nutritional protocol.

 

However, only considering caloric intake does not account for macronutrients. If your diet lacks protein, then you will add less muscle than you could be during a calorie surplus and losing more muscle than you could be during a calorie deficit. It also does not account for food quality, possibly resulting in deficiencies in certain micronutrients. It also does not take into account adherence, often people adopt extremely low-calorie diets which they cannot stick to in the long term.

 

Macronutrients:

The 3 macronutrients are carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Adequate protein intake is required to maximise muscle retention in a calorie deficit and muscle gain (hypertrophy) in a calorie surplus. Protein requirements will change between training goals, however having an intake above 1.6g per kg of bodyweight will suffice for most goals.

 

Glycogen is the body’s chosen source of energy. Having adequate carbohydrate intake in our diet will keep glycogen stores full, resulting in higher quality of training. Fats have assist with many functions in the body and is also another source of energy, as well as the absorption of nutrients. Keeping fats at approximately 30% of total caloric intake should ensure you are in taking all that you need.

 

If you succeed in selecting the correct calorie intake and macronutrient breakdown, you will start to make significant progress towards body composition goals. The downside to only focussing on calories and macronutrients is that food quality can still suffer. Also, you may still set up a diet which is not adhereable for you.

 

Food Quality:

Broadly speaking, food quality refers to how nutrient dense the food is. For example, vegetables have a vast number of micronutrients in each and every serving. Therefore, vegetables would be classed as a high-quality food. On the contrary, alcohol has virtually no nutrients in each serving, as well as containing 7kcal per gram (almost double the calories than protein and carbohydrates, which have 4kcal per gram). Therefore, alcohol would be classified as a low-quality food.

 

Food quality is important, as people can still hit their macronutrients and calorie target whilst consuming several takeaways and overconsuming alcohol. The issue with this, is that they can end up with deficiencies in several vitamins and minerals. This can lead to increased chance of illness and disease. Therefore, I would recommend filling your diet with as many high-quality foods as you deem adhereable.

 

Adherence:

The last piece of the puzzle is adherence. When many people change their diets they almost never make changes which they can stick to for the rest of their life. This way, they are only setting themselves up to eventually fail. Therefore, it is important to only make changes which do not overwhelm you in anyway. A good personal trainer or nutritionist will assess the level that you should begin with and progress you as you are learning and adhering to the skills and habits that you are able to keep consistent.  If you are going to stick to a diet long term, then a level of enjoyment is paramount to success.

 

In conclusion, these 4 pillars of nutrition cover most you need to know to generally stay healthy and meet most of your goals. There will be certain exceptions for individuals with special dietary requirements, if you feel like you are one of them, then it would be best to consult with a qualified nutritionist.

 

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Are Eccentrics more important for Hypertrophy?

Reference to Study: Sato et. al. (2022). Comparison between concentric-only, eccentric-only and concentric-eccentric resistance training of the elbow flexors for their effects on muscle strength and hypertrophy. EUR J APPL PHYSIOL

 

Details of the Study:

 

  • Trainees performed 3×10 bicep curls 2x per week for 5 weeks

 

  • 1 group only performed the concentric portion, another group only performed the eccentric portion and the last group performed both concentric and eccentric portions of the bicep curl.

 

  • Note: The total volume load (weight x number of contractions) was double for the concentric+eccentric group.

 

  • Despite this difference in load, it was found that biceps growth was similar between the concentric+eccentric group & the eccentric only group, whilst the concentric only group saw significantly less group.

 

  • Therefore, the study supports the idea that the eccentric portion of the contraction is more important for growth

 

 

Real world application:

  • Many people chasing muscle growth often rush the eccentric portion of lifts, allowing gravity to take the weight down instead of keeping the muscle under as much tension as they could to control the weight. Therefore, this study is part of the growing evidence why this is highly suboptimal for their training goal.
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Coach Sam Joinson

An active combat sports athlete in Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Sam is a personal trainer who centres his practice around helping his clients move better, so they can feel better.

 

Sam has an expertise in biomechanics and has a great coaches eye when it comes to identifying discrepancies within movements and creating interventions.

 

He took up exercise in his youth as a way of managing anxiety and improving his body confidence and has been focused on the study of biomechanics, nutrition and psychology ever since, pushing his limits to try and achieve an excellent standard of physical performance and conditioning coaching for his personal training clients.

 

A recovering Scoliotic, Sam has dealt with a wide array of injuries as a result of compromised biomechanics and has used his practice to drastically reduce his symptoms and dysfunctions through a process of elimination.

 

Sam’s approach combines traditional weight lifting, movement training, breath work and concepts from psychology, anthology and sociology to achieve a holistic and balanced approach aimed at getting the most from his clients mental and physical development.

RESULTS

10 WEEK LEAN PHASE

24 KG WEIGHT LOSS

 

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Understanding ‘Cardio’

‘Cardio’ is a term you will hear a lot in the gym. Usually in a negative way, with thoughts of, mundane, prolonged incline walking on a treadmill springing to mind. However, ‘cardio’ encompasses much more than long slow distance training. This article will delve into the many different types of ‘cardio’ and how you can use it to help reach your training goals.

 

Firstly, ‘cardio’ is short for cardiovascular exercise and can be defined as any exercise that increases heart rate and keeps it up. However, heart rate can be raised in so many different ways, all of which bring about a different adaptation. Therefore, it’s important to have your goals clearly defined because a training session to develop aerobic capacity will look very different from sessions used to build speed, speed endurance or lactate threshold. If you aren’t an athlete, it is likely you will be wanting to use CV exercise to improve your overall health or to lose weight. In which case, you will want to familiarise yourself with all types and use some of each in your training throughout the year.

 

When it comes to cardiovascular exercise, our body uses three energy systems. These are called the alactic system, lactic system and aerobic system. There is almost never a time at which all three systems aren’t working simultaneously. However, for most forms of exercise, one energy system will be being used a lot more than the other two.

 

 

If you want to develop speed, then you want your training to be focused on building the alactic system. The alactic system is used for high intensity exercise for up to approximately 13 seconds. It does not use oxygen and instead forms energy from recycling ATP using phosphocreatine stores in the muscle. These stores are very small however, hence why we can only utilise this system for 13 seconds before a prolonged rest (>3 minutes) so that the body can restore phosphocreatine levels. With that in mind, we can apply this to a training sessions to help develop this system. An example being 8 sets of 10 second sprints with 3 minutes rest. Many people don’t feel like they’re ‘working hard enough’ when doing this sort of training as they aren’t out of breath. However, looking back at what this system uses, it does not use oxygen, therefore when we train this system correctly, we do not create an oxygen debt and therefore do not feel out of breath. We can apply specificity to make this session more applicable to the goal. In very simple terms, runners will do this session on a track, cyclists on a bike and rowers on a row-erg or boat and so on.

 

The next system we can develop is the lactic acid energy system. The popular ‘HIT’ training falls into this category. This energy system derives energy from glucose. However, the oxygen debt from high intensity exercise results in lactic acid being produced, causing pain and this is why this energy can only be the predominant energy system for up to 3 minutes. When training, work intervals will be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes with rest intervals no longer than the work interval. This is so that the lactic acid cannot fully clear prior to the next interval, resulting in a gradually increasing tolerance to lactic acid. This is useful training for events which use this energy system such as 800m running. Sessions for this energy system can look very different. For example, 3 sets of 30 second sprints with 15 seconds rest. As well as, 6 sets of 3 minutes working hard with 3 minutes rest. Despite targeting the same energy system, the latter session is more aerobic, so it’s important to know what event you are targeting and tailoring your sessions towards that goal.

 

The final energy system is the aerobic energy system. This utilises oxygen and is best developed at around 70% of your maximum heart rate. An example for a 40-year-old would be (220-age) = Max Heart rate estimation. (220-40) = 180. 70% of 180= 126bpm. This will be the predominant energy system for any exercise lasting over 3 minutes. Therefore, this is going to be the predominant energy system for events such as 5km run or above.

It is worth noting, that if you are using cardiovascular exercise for general health then it is most productive to add a bit of each type of energy system training throughout the year. However, adherence is key, therefore it’s important to prioritise the type that you enjoy most and fits into your lifestyle.

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Short vs Long rest periods for Muscle Growth

Reference: Schoenfield et. al. (2016) Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance Trained Men.

 

Information on the study:

 

  • Trainees with at least 6 months resistance training experience were split into 2 groups

 

  • Both groups performed 7 compound lifts, for 3 sets of 8-12 reps, 3x per week, for 8 weeks

 

  • 1 group rested for 1 minute between sets, while the other rested for 3 minutes between sets

 

 

  • It was found that the longer rest group saw superior gains in all muscle groups when compared to the shorter rest group.

 

  • This supports the idea that longer rest periods are superior for hypertrophy

 

 

Application to real world:

  • With longer rest periods come longer overall sessions durations, unless you cut overall volume.
  • Overall volume has been shown to be a significant factor in muscle hypertrophy
  • Therefore, it may be worth only applying these long rest periods if you have the extra time free in your schedule to allow you to do so.
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Principles of Training – Specificity

Different methods of training provide our bodies with a diverse range of stimuli, which in turn cause a wide variety of adaptations. This is why we need to apply the principle of specificity, which ensures that the training we are doing will provide our bodies with the correct stimuli to cause the desired adaptation and bring about the desired change to our performance or aesthetic measures of our physique.

 

In order to apply specificity, we need to work backwards. By this, I mean we first establish what element of our performance or aesthetic we want to change. In other words, this is your goal, such as lose body fat, increase muscle mass, run a faster 5k or increase your deadlift 1RM. Next, we take this change to performance or aesthetic and identify what adaptation will cause this.

 

To give some practical examples, let’s take some common goals and walk through the process of devising a training programme to optimise results. Firstly, it’s important to note that nutrition is paramount in any training goal you may have. However, as this article is only about applying specificity to our training programmes, we won’t touch upon that in this article.

 

If we look at programmes to increase muscle mass (hypertrophy) or optimise fat loss they are actually identical, it’s the nutrition which will differ. This is because in both of these programmes we want to provide as much stimulus to the muscle so that they have the best environment for growth when in a calorie surplus and the best environment to be retained in a deficit, thereby optimising fat loss.

 

When making a training programme ideal for optimising hypertrophy we need to look at which aspects of training that cause hypertrophy. These include: training close to/muscular failure on a regular basis, ensuring enough volume is completed on each muscle group throughout the week and ideally training each muscle group on 2 separate days per week. When it comes to training close to/at failure, it’s worth noting that this must be achieved by not only training hard but also selecting exercises with a high external stability so that it’s fatigue on the target muscle that is the limiting factor and not something else such as a loss of balance. Without this, we will have to cease the set prior to the muscle being close to failure and thereby not achieving our goal of that set.

 

Volume has been shown to have a linear relationship with hypertrophy i.e. when looking at it purely through the lens of specificity, the more volume, the better results. However, we need to apply the other principles of training in order to identify the optimal volume for each individual at a given time in their training cycle.

 

Next, let’s take a look at applying specificity to a popular performance based goal such as running a faster 5k. Now this is very context specific as there’s so many factors that go into improving 5km performance. Therefore, which element of training someone focuses on will differ between individuals, this will be talked about in much greater detail during the next blog on individualisation.

 

From a general perspective though, we need to identify that about 88-90% aerobic. Therefore, countless HIT sessions are not going to be very beneficial for 5km performance. Instead, we need to train aerobically for the vast majority of sessions. These are going to be made up of long easy runs, typically at an intensity around 60-65% of maximum heart rate. At this intensity, you should be able to hold a conversation quite easily, if you need to walk to achieve this then that is fine. Other types of training will be tempo runs and intervals where you are at the threshold between aerobic and anaerobic performance. This will help your body adapt to getting rid of lactic acid and be able to stay in aerobic respiration at faster paces. Lastly, a small proportion of the sessions will be anaerobic, working on speed endurance, as this accounts for a small part of 5km performance.

 

Overall, specificity is arguably the most important principle of training because if you get it wrong, your training can be extremely unproductive. The last thing you want to do is put 100% effort into a training programme only to fall massively short of your goals all because your sessions were bringing about ineffective adaptations in relation to your goals. Therefore, it is essential you learn how to apply the principle of specificity prior to writing any training programme.

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Rep Ranges and Goals

Rep Ranges and Goals

1-5 reps for strength

6-7 Strength/Hypertrophy

8-12 for hypertrophy

13-15 Hypertrophy/Endurance

15+ Endurance

 

Research has actually shown that hypertrophy has been shown to be the same at any rep range as long as the muscle is taken close to failure and the load is anything above 30% 1RM

 

This study supports that claim: Fink, J., Kikuchi, N., Yoshida, S., Terada, K., & Nakazato, K. (2016). Impact of high versus low fixed loads and non-linear training loads on muscle hypertrophy, strength and force development. Springerplus, 5(1), 1-8.

 

Experienced endurance runners have actually been shown to increase performance more when spending their S+C sessions completing high load, low rep work compared to low load high reps as the increase in strength helps increase running economy in the latter stages of races

 

Study to support this claim: Ebben, W. P., Kindler, A. G., Chirdon, K. A., Jenkins, N. C., Polichnowski, A. J., & Ng, A. V. (2004). The effect of high-load vs. high-repetition training on endurance performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 18(3), 513-517.

 

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Principles of Training: Reversibility

The principles of training are factors that should be applied to any training programme to ensure optimal adaptations. These principles include: Progressive Overload, Reversibility, Specificity, Individualisation and Periodization. To delve deeper into each of these, I will be writing an in-depth article on each, with this one discussing Reversibility.

 

It’s at this time of year where the majority of people go on their holiday and take a break from everything in life, including training. Alternatively, many people may have to cease training due to other reasons such as work and family commitments or injury. Depending on the amount of time taken off, one can experience reversibility.

 

Reversibility can be defined as the loss of fitness and/or performance adaptations via the withdrawal of tissue loading (which we get from training). Each adaptation takes a different amount of time to fade. For example, aerobic capacity and muscle elasticity have been shown to decrease after just 5 days of inactivity. However, strength has been shown to only decrease by 10% after 8 weeks without training. It’s important to note that other factors will also play a significant role in how quickly an adaptation is lost when training is stopped. These include the individual’s genetics, as well as nutrition. For example, if two bodybuilders were to stop training and one continued to consume a high protein diet and maintenance calories and the other who consumed inadequate amount of protein and ate below their maintenance calories, the latter is expected to experience a greater degree of reversibility.

 

Once someone experiences this, upon their return to training they are expected to experience a reduction in performance levels across the board. Also, lower recovery levels between sessions, susceptibility to DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and increased risk of injury are expected- especially if the reason for cessation of training is due to an injury.

What can someone do to try and minimise the effects of the issues mentioned above? Upon returning to training after a break, what many people try and do is go and train extra hard, and twice as much in an attempt to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, our bodies do not work like that and this approach will only result in overtraining. This is because our bodies can only adapt to a given amount of a stimulus at one time and after a period of detraining, this size of the stimulus needed for maximal adaption actually decreases. Therefore, the best approach when returning to training is to decrease the FIT principles from FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time) in order to moderate size of the stimulus on the body.

 

Frequency refers to the number of sessions per week that is being carried out, if you were training over 3 times per week prior to taking time off, it may be wise to decrease frequency by up to 50% and then gradually build back up. For example, if you originally trained 4 times per week and then took an 8-12 week break, you may train twice on your first week back, 3 times on your second and be back up to 4 sessions per week by your third week back into full training.

 

Intensity refers to how vigorous a session is. Therefore, if you went through a block of training whereby a number of your lifts were at 80% of your 1 rep max, then it may be sensible to decrease this load to 60% of your 1 rep max and increase it by 5% each week until you are back at 80%.

 

Time refers to the duration of each training session. This concept is best applied to cardiovascular exercise. Simply put, if you were running for 45 minutes each session prior to taking time away from training. You would look at decreasing this amount, depending on how much time you had away from exercise. Typically, you may decrease to 25 minutes if you took a month off, and then increase the duration by 5 minutes each week until you were back at 45 minutes.

 

All these precautions are necessary to try and reduce the risk of injury and to make sure the body can adequately recover between sessions instead of experiencing burnout and having to take more time away from training. It’s also worth noting that the stimulus needed to maintain performance is significantly less than what is needed to improve. Therefore, performance will not continue decrease, even on much smaller training loads whilst building back up.