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Across the board, one of the most common fitness goals that people are often working towards is a flat stomach. Especially during the summer months when crop tops and bikinis are all the rage to fight the heat waves, it’s no secret that a toned stomach is seen as the picture of health and fitness. In recent years it’s been recognized that health can come in many different shapes and sizes, and there is no singular body type which should be seen as the “fittest” or “healthiest.”
With that being said, the desire to achieve killer abs can be hard to shake when all of your favorite celebs are flaunting theirs on social media each day. Although there is no magic formula for a flat stomach and toned abs, there are certain steps you can take which may make it easier for your body to achieve that sought after look while improving your health in the meantime.
The answer to how long each workout session should be in order to achieve weight loss varies from exercise to exercise, so we checked with the experts to provide us with a better understanding of how long you should actually be working out each day to see results. Remembering that a healthy diet and regular sleep schedule are also key components for seeing safe weight loss, keep reading to find out what personal trainers have to say about the ideal duration of your workouts for weight loss.
First and foremost, consistency is key for sustainable weight loss. It’s unrealistic to expect to workout sporadically throughout the week and eat whatever you want while still reaching your goals. In order to achieve something you never have before, you need to come at it with an approach you’ve never taken before, and the same idea goes for weight loss.
“The best amount of time to be working out for weight loss is the amount of time that you’re actually going to stick with long term. Even if that means 10 to 20 minutes of walking every day, that’s the best you can do if that’s the thing you can stick to,” says Kelly Bryant, NASM CPT, E-RYT 200 yoga instructor, and certified Pilates & barre instructor.
However, it can be useful to identify your goals and the rate at which you hope to achieve them when determining the length of your workout each day. “Some durations of workouts are going to help you get to your goals faster. I typically recommend 30-40 minutes 3-5 times a week,” says Bryant.
Ideally if you’re building up muscle during your workouts, your metabolism will naturally increase, making it easier to burn fat outside of your exercise window. With this, you should be able to work hard for a shorter period of time and still see great results without dedicating hours to the gym.
Calorie burn is one of the primary building blocks for weight loss, and in order to lose one pound of fat, you need to be burning 500-1000 calories more than what you’re consuming to lose that weight. This can come from cutting back on your diet, cranking up your exercise, or finding a healthy balance of both changes. In higher impact workouts such as HIIT training, you can expect to burn more calories in a 30 minute session than traditional weight lifting.
With that, completing five, 30 minute cardio workouts each week should be more than enough to allow you to reach your goals, in combination with a balanced diet, of course. If you have more time to dedicate to working out on some days of the week than others, you may be better served doing an aerobic activity which you can keep up for one hour, three sessions a week for the same results. Activities such as running, incline walking, and biking would be included within this category.
Overall, consistency is going to be more important to the success of your weight loss than the duration of your workouts. If all you can commit is 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise several times a week, over time that will add up to visible results in combination with a balanced diet.
It’s only natural that doing more strenuous activities for longer periods of time each day will ultimately net a larger calorie burn, resulting in faster results, but if that isn’t sustainable for your lifestyle then you will likely find yourself less successful in the long run. Working out is only a small piece of the puzzle as you strive to achieve overall wellness, but as a general rule, 3-5x a week of working out for a half hour should make a significant impact on your health over time.
