Wondering how long your workout should take? The answer is: it depends.
Do you want to build muscle, burn fat, increase your endurance or just get fitter?
Each goal comes with different training duration requirements. It's not about spending hours training, but rather about being efficient and focused.
In this article, we'll show you how to find the ideal length for your workout, whether you're a beginner, advanced, or professional.
What determines how long I should train?
The duration of your training depends on several factors that determine how much time you should invest:
1. Your goal
Muscle building: This requires sufficient time for exercises and breaks to specifically strain your muscles.
Fat burning: This can be achieved with short, intensive sessions or moderate, longer workouts.
Endurance: Often requires longer training sessions, especially for basic endurance.
Strength training: Requires intense training with heavy weights and longer rests.
Mobility: Regular but short mobility sessions are often enough.
2. The method
Whether you focus on HIIT, classic strength training or functional fitness influences the duration.
Short, intensive methods such as Tabata often take only 15-30 minutes, while longer cardio training can take 60-90 minutes.
3. Your fitness level
Beginners often need more time to perform exercises properly and to take breaks.
Advanced train more efficiently and can handle more intensity in less time.
4. Recovery and regeneration
Not every workout should be the same length or intensity. Your body needs time to recover, especially after difficult sessions.
How does the duration of training vary depending on the goal?
It actually makes a difference whether you want to build muscle or become more flexible.
Here is an overview of the different goals and the respective optimal training effort:
1. Muscle building: 45-75 minutes
When building muscle, it's important to challenge your muscles in a targeted way and to take breaks so that you can train with maximum strength. Workouts that are too short often don't provide enough stimulus, while sessions that are too long can lead to fatigue and poor technique.
Optimal workout duration: 45-75 minutes, depending on your plan and intensity.
Why? You need time for heavy compound exercises, multiple sets, and rest between stresses.
Example of a muscle-building workout:
Squats: 4 sets of 8-10 reps.
Bench presses: 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Pull-ups: 3 sets of 10 reps.
Plank: 3x 1 minute.
Tip: Plan your breaks based on the intensity – 60-90 seconds for medium weight, 2-3 minutes for heavy weight.
2. Fat burning: 20-60 minutes
Losing fat requires a workout routine that increases your calorie expenditure – either through intense, short sessions or longer, moderate workouts.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training): 20-30 minutes
Why? HIIT is extremely efficient because you burn a lot of calories in a short period of time and maximize the afterburn effect.
Example: 30 seconds of burpees, 30 seconds of rest (10 rounds).
Moderate cardio training: 45-60 minutes
Why? At a moderate intensity, your heart rate remains in the optimal fat-burning zone (about 65-75% of your maximum heart rate).
Example:
45-minute jog at a comfortable pace.
10-minute cool-down with light stretching.
Tip: Combine both methods to keep variety and motivation high.
3. Strength training: 60-90 minutes
Strength training is more intense and requires longer breaks. You train with heavy weights, few repetitions and focus on basic exercises such as squats, bench presses and deadlifts.
Optimal duration: 60-90 minutes.
Why? Maximum stress and adequate recovery are crucial to effectively building strength.
Example of a strength training plan:
Warm-up (10 minutes): dynamic stretching, mobilization and light exercises.
Main part (55 minutes):
Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps.
Deadlifts: 4 sets of 4 reps.
Bench presses: 4 sets of 6 reps.
Cool down (10 minutes): mobility exercises for the back and hips.
Breaks:
3-5 minutes for large basic exercises such as squats and deadlifts.
2-3 minutes for smaller exercises such as lunges or bicep curls.
4. Endurance: 20-90 minutes
There are two main methods for improving your endurance: short interval sessions and longer, steady workouts.
Short interval sessions: 20-30 minutes
Why? Interval training improves your VO2 max and makes you faster and more efficient.
Example:
5 minutes of easy running.
8x 1 minute sprints, followed by 2 minutes of easy jogging.
5 minutes of cool down.
Long sessions: 60-90 minutes
Why? Basic endurance requires longer, steady efforts. These improve your aerobic capacity and train your fat burning.
Example:
10-minute easy warm-up.
70-minute continuous run at medium intensity.
10-minute easy cool-down.
Tip: Alternating between short and long sessions brings the best results.
5. Agility and Mobility: 15-30 minutes
Mobility is often the key to better performance and fewer injuries – and it doesn't have to take up much time.
Regular, short sessions (15-30 minutes):
After training: 10-15 minutes of stretching or foam rolling.
On rest days: 20-30 minutes of yoga or mobility flow.
Tip: Consistency is more important than duration. It's better to do it more often and for a short time than less often and for a long time.
By the way: with a timer like the SmartWOD Timer, you can always keep an eye on your training duration!
How long do the various training methods take?
The duration of a workout depends heavily on the method you choose. Each training method has different goals and specific time and intensity requirements.
Here is an overview of the most popular methods:
Split training
Strength training (maximum strength)
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training): 15-30 minutes
HIIT is ideal for burning fat, improving your fitness and saving time. It is based on short, intensive phases of exertion followed by short breaks.
Why so short?
The intensity of HIIT is so high that your body is challenged to the max in a short period of time. What's more, the afterburn effect ensures that you continue to burn calories even after your workout.
Example:
Duration: 20 minutes.
8 intervals: 30-second sprint, 30-second walk.
Add a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down.
Suitable for: Fat burning, lack of time, improving endurance.
Split training: 60-90 minutes
Split training means that you only train certain muscle groups in one session (e.g. chest and triceps or back and biceps). This allows you to plan more exercises and sets for these muscle groups.
Why so long?
Split training allows you to focus on a few muscle groups. The workout often involves many sets and longer rests to handle heavy weights.
Example:
Duration: 75 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down)
Chest and triceps:
Bench presses: 4 sets of 10 reps.
Incline bench presses: 3 sets of 8 reps.
Dips: 3 sets of 12 reps.
Suitable for: Muscle building, strength building, advanced users.
Full body training: 30-60 minutes
Full-body workouts are particularly efficient because you train several muscle groups in one session. They are suitable for beginners, people with little time or as a supplement to other sports.
Why flexible?
The duration depends on the number of exercises and the intensity. Short sessions are often enough to work the entire body.
Example:
Duration: 45 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down)
Squats: 3 sets of 12 reps.
Pull-ups: 3 sets of 8 reps.
Push-ups: 3 sets of 15 reps.
Suitable for: Beginners, muscle building, fitness all-rounders.
Strength training (maximum strength): 60-90 minutes
Maximum strength training focuses on increasing your strength. Here you train with heavy weights and few repetitions (3-6 repetitions per set).
Why so long?
Longer rest periods (3-5 minutes) between sets are required to allow the muscles to fully recover.
Fewer repetitions, but more focus on technique and load.
Example:
Duration: 75 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down)
Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps.
Deadlifts: 4 sets of 4 reps.
Bench presses: 4 sets of 6 reps.
Suitable for: Advanced users, strength athletes.
Bodyweight training: 20-45 minutes
Bodyweight training is flexible and focuses on exercises with your own body weight, such as planks, push-ups or pistol squats. It is ideal for at home, on the go or as a supplement to other sports.
Why so flexible?
Since no equipment is needed, bodyweight workouts are often shorter and focus on proper technique.
Example:
Duration: 30 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down)
3 rounds:
Push-ups: 15 reps.
Squats: 20 reps.
Plank: 1 minute.
Suitable for: Beginners, functional training, supplementary training.
Tabata: 4-20 minutes
Tabata is a form of high-intensity training with extremely short workouts that allow you to get a lot done in just 4 minutes.
Why so short?
Tabata is based on 8 intervals of 20 seconds of exercise and 10 seconds of rest. The high intensity makes longer workouts unnecessary.
Example:
Duration: 4 minutes.
8 sets of 20 jumping squats, 10-second rest.
Suitable for: Fat burning, strength endurance, lack of time.
So: How do I find the ideal training duration for me?
There is no ideal duration for your workout – at least not as a universal rule. Instead, it depends on your goals, your fitness level and your everyday life.
1. What is your goal?
Your goal largely determines how long your training should take:
Muscle building: 45-75 minutes – enough time for several sets, exercises and breaks.
Fat loss: 20-60 minutes – short, intense workouts or longer cardio sessions.
Endurance: 30-90 minutes – depending on whether you are working on your basic endurance or speed.
Flexibility: 15-30 minutes – regular, short mobility sessions are enough.
Strength building: 60-90 minutes – with a focus on high intensity and long rests.
💡 Tip: Figure out what your main goal is. Combined goals (e.g. building muscle and losing fat) can easily vary the duration of your session.
2. How much time do you have?
Your daily routine plays a major role in planning your training. There's no point in creating a 90-minute plan if you only have 30 minutes.
💡 Tip: Quality is more important than quantity. A short, intensive workout is often more effective than a long, aimless training session.
3. What is your fitness level?
Depending on whether you are a beginner, advanced or professional, the training time requirements differ:
Beginners: 20-45 minutes are enough to build technique and endurance without overwhelming you.
Advanced: 45-75 minutes, as you train more intensely and purposefully.
Professionals: Up to 90 minutes, often with specific goals and split plans.
💡 Tip: It's better to start with shorter sessions and build up slowly to avoid injuries.
4. Which training method is right for you?
The method also influences how long you should train. Here are some examples:
HIIT: 15-30 minutes – short, intense sessions at maximum intensity.
Split training: 60-90 minutes – targeted work on individual muscle groups.
Full body training: 30-60 minutes – ideal for beginners and time-efficient workouts.
Bodyweight training: 20-45 minutes – simple and flexible, depending on intensity.
5. Listen to your body
Your body is the best indicator of how long you should exercise. If you feel drained after 30 minutes, it may be better to end the session than to push through.
Here are some signs:
Too short: You hardly feel challenged, have no muscle fatigue or no increased heart rate.
Too long: You notice that your technique suffers or you feel drained.
💡 Tip: Train long enough to feel challenged, but not overwhelmed.
Your training, your time, your success
In the end, it's not how long you train that counts, but how effectively and consistently you do it.
Whether you have 10 minutes for a quick HIIT session or 90 minutes for an extensive strength session, both can help you achieve your goal, as long as it suits you and your daily routine.
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