August 1, 2005

The Effort It Takes

When it comes to weight training to get in shape, what many women want to know before they start is, "How much effort does it take?" The simple answer is, "It depends." It depends on exactly what your goals are, what you want to achieve, and where you’re starting from. Therefore, there’s not one simple answer – the answer will vary depending on who is asking the question.

Still, there are some rules of thumb that you can follow, and given the fact that I’ve helped people from complete beginners to national-level fitness, figure and bodybuilding champions, even pros, I can give you some guidelines on what to expect.

First, let’s start with a complete beginner – someone who just wants to get in shape and may well be going to the gym for the very first time after years of little strenuous activity. What should they expect? The answer might surprise you.

The old-school type of weight-training program, which is still as valid today as it was years ago, is to do a full-body type workout program a minimum of twice per week, and preferably three times per week. There should be a least one day’s rest between each workout, and the workouts should last only 30 to 45 minutes, an hour if you do some cardio with it. A popular schedule in the old days was to train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday – that meant Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday were rest days.

With this kind of workout, the person can expect to make very good progress. In fact, although this type of full-body routine may be classified as a "beginner’s" program, I’ve seen people who are quite advanced make good progress, or at least maintain their well-established physiques, using this sort of training too. In short, it works, it’s a good way to train, and it’s efficient.

So, if someone goes three times per week they will have a maximum of three hours per week training. Since there are 168 hours in the week and many people sleep up to eight hours per night, a few hours getting yourself into shape isn’t all that much. Are you surprised? Don’t be, because it’s all you need.

Now for the other end of the spectrum, the person who is super-advanced – perhaps someone who is a top-level figure or fitness competitor, maybe national level or even a pro. Here the length of time they train varies – sometimes quite considerably – but the first thing I want to do is dispel some myths about just how much these advanced athletes train. Again, the answer may surprise you because some people seem to think that these people spend three, four, eight, or even more hours in the gym lifting weights and doing cardio sessions, seven days a week. Nothing can be further from the truth.

While there are some people who train for an hour, two hours, or even more, they’re rare. In fact, many top competitors I know try to keep their weight-training sessions to less than 45 minutes, just like the beginner’s routine, and certainly not more than an hour. Why? Mostly because it’s impossible to train intensely for longer than that without burning out. These people are dedicated, but they’re not inhuman. As well, it’s not necessarily beneficial to train for hours and hours on end. In fact, it’s probably detrimental, since that kind of volume can lead to overtraining for many people.

I help many advanced athletes and they train four days per week using a split routine – upper body one day, lower body the next day – on a schedule such as Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. That gives them Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday to do something else. Since I also try to keep their training sessions to less than 45 minutes, it means these top-level competitors are actually weight training less than four hours a week – again out of 168 hours in a week, that’s nothing at all. Occasionally, though, I’ve had people train six days per week, but this has only been for short durations, perhaps for a few weeks in the month leading up to a competition. But again, in the whole scheme of things it’s not that much when you consider how many hours there are in a week and these people are the cream of the crop. Contrary to the popular myths, even top-level fitness and figure competitors don’t live in the gym, unless they own one or work there.

Where the advanced trainer does spend significantly more time than, say, the beginner or intermediate, is thinking about their training – yes, thinking. The main difference I’ve found between the real elite trainers and everyone else is the mental energy that they expend preparing for their competitions, which can be exhausting and time-consuming. Although the weight training might not take all that much time, the focus and the discipline becomes a 24-hour job. They have to plan their workouts, think about their nutritional program, and maintain strict adherence to their program 24/7 – there’s no room for error. In this case, the effort it takes can be enormous for these people, since many never take their minds off the preparation until the contest is over.

However, even advanced competitors don’t do that all the time. Even the very best have their "off-season," of course, and some even take complete breaks from the gym and don’t train at all, allowing their bodies and minds the necessary time to recover for the next time they need to go all out.

The effort it takes to get in shape doesn’t necessarily have to be all that great. In fact, I suspect that it takes far less time in a week than some people spending watching TV in one evening. So, if you've been wondering whether you have enough time to go to the gym, and realize now that you probably do, what are you waiting for? The body you always wanted could be yours in less time than you think.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

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