If you're going to the gym strictly for weight lifting and muscle gain, how long should you spend each day there?

[MCheetah]

If you're a guy going to the gym three to five days a week for only weight lifting and muscle gain and zero cardio, how many minutes each time should you spend there? Ideally, I'm hoping for less than an hour, because I go hard and get burned out after 20-25 minutes.

Also, how many days per week should you go?

Updates

+1 y

Guys, I appreciate all the answers, but I'm not going to spend 90-120 minutes at the gym 4 to 5 days a week! I already hate the gym and always have!

I'm just going to sick to 15-20 minutes of max weight intervals after work and call it a night. Maybe go 3 to 4 days a week or something. I don't even want to focus on muscle gain anymore if it requires 6-10 hours a week there to see little to no gains.

[Kaytiee]

I don't do weight lifting/muscle gain just cardio and abductions I spend up to 2 hours but that's because I take it slow and then use my last burst of energy at the end to do high-intensity stuff.

No one can give you a definite answer, you do what feels right for you, as long as you're going that's something.

There are no point in gym-bros saying they spend 2 hours just working out their arms, you need something that works around your life and will keep you consistent.

[JDavid25]

If he wants to gain muscle, listening to the people who gained muscle is optimal.. Hence "gym bros".. Otherwise he could get an at home workout system..

[Kaytiee]

@JDavid25 You're missing the point, everyone is at different levels and has different routines, jobs etc. The key to making a difference in the gym is commitment, not listening to someone whos been doing it for 15 years and spends 6 hours a day in a gym, that level has to be worked up to, and if you jump right into the deep-end it won't work.

[JDavid25]

I agree with that really.. That could discourage anybody who is just starting out.. But I don't think somebody who has been doing it for 15 years would give such bad advice.. That was my point..

[Kaytiee]

@JDavid25 You'd be surprised, people who make the gym their lifestyle often forget their humble beginnings.

[JDavid25]

Depends on if they are good at giving advice and sensible.. But there are plenty of gym bros who are..

[Kaytiee]

@JDavid25 And also plenty who aren't, so I just told him the most vital advice, stay consistent, do something manageable and work from there.

[Sirenboobzilla]

Between 1-2 hours 4 times a week is a good base. You also want to switch up the routines fairly often so your muscles don't get used to the work and stagnate the growth. Plenty of protein and water

[Sirenboobzilla]

@MCheetah if you're not looking to live at the gym, here's a suggestion: use medium to high weights with low to medium reps. Protein is still very important

[MCheetah]

Thank you. I already do 100 lbs on the bicep curl (that's not a lot, I know) for 3 sets of 10-12. That's what I did tonight. I did 120 lbs on the Lateral Pull tonight and 140 pounds on the chest press. I just want to do the basics to make my arms hurt and then GTF outta there.

[Sirenboobzilla]

Go slower during each curl and squeeze it harder. Your arms will want to die, but after a couple of weeks your arms will feel rock solid

[Guy__]

100 lb in each hand? That's a lot.
I don't really isolate arms but if you do, have you tried BFR bands? I did a while ago and the results were crazy.

[TheUniqueOne96]

I'd say you could spend like an hour there max, depending on your training split.

Personally, I've been doing a push pull legs split where you train 6x a week, you can divide this up in two ways:

Method 1:

You train 6 days in a row and rest on the 7th, so you'll always have the same rest day, which is ideal if you like a bit more predictability.

Method 2:

You train for 3 days, rest and then train for 3 days again. This is less predictable as you days off will be more random, but if you're cool with that, then go for it.

Training each muscle twice a week is ideal for muscle growth, but if you really hate being at the gym, then I think you can get away with training each muscle group once a week, because as long as you train appropriately and all, you'll gain muscle - just basically do the push pull legs split, training each one, once a week and divide it however you want to, like you could do three days in a row, skip a day between each one or just have each one on set days, so you can spend time doing other things.

If you're new to weight training, take it easy, you don't have to train all the way to failure for now, just focus on feeling the muscle contraction and gradually do progressive overload - adding weight to the bar is only one form of it, but you could also do more reps, pause reps, etc.

Now I get that you aren't keen on cardio, but you can always make it fun, like if you do judo or something like that, boxing or even going for a walk, run or jog, then it all counts, you don't have to be stuck on a treadmill for hours or anything - cardio is for your heart, the most important muscle of all, so if you don't work it, you'll get gassed out easily.

Try to stretch out muscles post workout or between sets too, because tightness can cause their own issues or if you're always doing yoga or something, stick to that, as I'm sure it can be beneficial to weight training.

Push:

Chest, shoulders and then triceps.

Pull:

Back and biceps.

Legs:

Quads, hamstrings and glutes.

Do bear in mind that there are different heads of muscles you can hit and not all shoulder exercises for example, will hit all three heads:

Biceps - there's the long head, short head and another muscle called the brachialis.

Shoulders - there's three heads, front, side and rear delts, just don't neglect the rear.

Triceps - there's three heads, long head and the lateral head and medial head.

If you want a breakdown of what kind of movements hit whatever heads to make sure you get good development and balance, you can message me on here and I'm happy to explain it if necessary.

Finally, make sure you've got good posture before you start training, otherwise you'll be building muscle on a weak foundation, which may cause it's own issues, so make sure you aren't an anterior or posterior pelvic tilt or anything else - I myself developed the former and I fixed it, so if you need any information on how to fix either, feel free to ask me that too or anything gym related question.

Best of luck with your journey and I hope it goes well.

[TheUniqueOne96]

In response to your update, yeah, I think you could potentially pull off 15-20 minutes, as long as you still train responsibly and balance things out. Maybe 25 minutes in some cases, at least on pull day, because you need to make sure you hit your upper back, because it's important for posture, especially if you're training chest.

[2Wheels]

For some different cardio try walking on a treadmill really slowly backwards. Yes, backwards. It's awesome cardio within minutes. Or, just walk up a steep hill backwards.

As for your question... Going to the gym for an hour is plenty of time to get your sets in and get out. People that spend 4 or 5 hours in the gym weight lifting are clearly not doing anything useful to even make a difference. I get completely burnt out in 45 mins from heavy lifting. (I work in construction, so I get my cardio all day.)
Spending more time than that is just unnecessary and you should really consider changing things up if you have energy after that from heavy lifting. (Or, you're probably doing quarter reps or swinging the weights. Which is not "lifting" by the way.) 😄

[oneHuman]

If you want to do a full body program that ticks all neccessities regarding health and muscle growth you will find yourself forced to go everyday for at least 1 to 2 hours.
Its not easy to hit every muscle in 2 to 3 day Intervals.
However, if you only start out yet its better to start with a smaller program (2-3 times per week) that targets the most important areas so that you can develop a routine.
Aditionally, in my opinion, its either all in or nothing. U either go everyday and do 100% or u should settle for far less (just a 30 min workout). This is because consistency is key here. So whatever u start/do, make sure u can keep it up for at least a month. Doing some compromise will only make your training less efficient. Thats why I would rather do less work than more if I can't gurantee consistency. It yields better results.

[Sandeeppingping]

Something between 1 hour to 2 hours at most, start off with 3 times a week full body workouts then do 5 times or even 6 days a week splits, main focus should be on your caloric intake (You either want to eat more than maintenance or at maintenance) and your protein intake (That's the main factor if it's muscle gain without huge weight gain or with weight gain is your choice), it should be 1g of protein for every 1lb of body weight

[JDavid25]

Depends on the workout really.. I hit multiple muscle groups so I spend 2+ hours there not including cardio.. If you are there almost everyday, unless you are a body builder and it's your job to look crazy, I would say about an hour is enough.. At least if you are like me who doesn't compete but just wants to look crazy.. LOL

[JDavid25]

You could also do at home workouts if you hate the gym.. Plenty of good ones to help you out.

[Light909090]

You don’t need a Gym
Gyms have too much Equipment lot of what they have in gyms is Completely unnecessary for muscle growth. And is for show to get people interested in there membership And You’ll get stronger without a Gym and having weights and a bench at your house.
When you can workout whenever you want and you don’t need to spend 2 hours in the gym to build muscle. You can activate your entire Bicep muscle in a minute or less if you know what your doing.

[moonpie89]

I don't think less than an hour is effective especially if you're doing heavy weights and less reps. You have to go slow and that takes time. Especially all those brakes between sets. Warm ups are essential too and that takes time. So ideally 1-2 hours.. or at least an hour

[MCheetah]

This is my first day back at the gym post-surgery. Today, I did five different workouts at around 5 minutes each. The bicep curl at 100 pounds for three sets of 12. Then the lateral pull at 120 pounds for three sets of 12. Then three other things before I decided I had enough.

Two hours is insane to me. I don't like the gym whatsoever (never have) and don't really want to be there, so quicker is better for me, even if that means more weight and higher intensity workouts.

[globetrotter22]

I would get into a CrossFit program for what you are trying to accomplish. I didn’t like it at first but now I am coming around. I like how it lets me track my results and the competitive nature.

[MCheetah]

No thanks. I hate CrossFit.

[ShadezMcgee]

Anywhere between 60 to 90 minutes and it has to be workouts that don't become routine that can stagnate growth. There will come a point to change it up and increase weight as you go to allow your muscles to break and reform for gains.

[exitseven]

I do a lot of cardio so I workout for 90 minutes 4 times a week. I think if you ere just doing a weight routine an hour should do it. Work each body part twice a week. You can do a split routine with 4 workouts a week.

[itsalyssaagain]

I think it’s not about time but rather you’re looking to challenge yourself through progressive overload every time and ideally I’d say do about 5-6 exercises.

[itsalyssaagain]

Update: it's hard work. If it were easy everyone would have muscle.

[hahahmm]

60-90 minutes. But Just 3 days/week for a few months and you will see results. Prefer outdoor stuff myself.

[JosyJosy]

I'd say an hour, three or four days a week. Let your body rest. Add some cardio too or at least walk a few miles.

[Fuentes]

Get you some citrulline malate. That shit will get you going longer without burn out.