How Long Should You Exercise For Each Day?

How long you spend at the gym or in your home gym is entirely up to you and your fitness goals, but there are a few guidelines you can follow to get started. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week to stay healthy. This can look a little different depending on the type of workout you do, your age, goals, and lifestyle. We talked to personal trainers and compiled everything you need to know into this article, from how long you should be working out per session to what you should consider before making an exercise schedule.

How long should you workout a day?

The ideal workout is around 60 minutes; however, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. How long you work out depends on what type of exercise you do, your age, goals, lifestyle, and ability. If you’re weightlifting, go for 30–60 minute sessions. If you’re doing cardio, aim for at least 25 to 30 minutes at a time.

Section 1 of 10:

Ideal Weightlifting Session Length

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For weightlifting, a productive session can last for 20 to 60 minutes. Weightlifting , bodyweight strength exercises, and strength training are about repetition and control. These exercises follow a set-rest-repeat pattern where an exercise is done for a set amount of repetitions before you rest and move on to another exercise. So, the length of your workout depends on the number of exercises, sets, and reps you do, plus your rest time in between. It’s recommended that 1 set of exercises is 6 to 12 repetitions. ^{[1]
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- Typically, the number of reps you do and how long you rest between sets depends on what you hope to gain. For instance: ^{[2]
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 - Muscle strength: Perform shorter sets with heavier weights and long rests in between (2 to 5 minutes).
 - Hypertrophy (increasing the size of muscles) : Do sets in the mid-upper range of exhaustion, progressively increasing the weight week-by-week, with 60 to 90 seconds of rest between.
 - Muscle endurance: Perform longer sets at the top of your rep ability with shorter rests (20 to 120 seconds).
- If you’re easily bored or fatigued, focus on smaller muscle groups per session to cut back on your time in the gym. For example, work arms for 20 minutes one day and legs for 20 minutes another day.
- With all this in mind, a weightlifting session can last from 20 to 60 minutes, depending on the number of exercises and repetitions you do within the session.