We’ve all had those days when we simply just don’t want to workout even though we already committed ourselves to a certain schedule or program. Simply put, we’re just not that up for it in the midst of the moment. Thoughts swirl through our head like:

• I don’t feel energized today

• It’s just the same thing over and over again

• I simply don’t have enough time

While the first two points are common, let’s primarily focus on the third from the list for now. There’s a general notion when it comes to health and fitness that more frequent and longer workouts are the key to maintaining your health. Maintaining one’s health drastically varies from person to person based on lifestyle, so I won’t even touch on that point. However, I’d like to touch on a common question:

Can shorter workouts be just as good as long workouts?

Let’s further examine the nature of both workout lengths.

Longer Workouts

The touted, 60 to 90 minute workout provides a great structured program for most people. It carves out a natural start and end point that gradually works towards a climax throughout the session. During the session, you are able to slowly and mindfully work your way through exercises in order to ensure proper form and technique, maximal output, strengthened mind-muscle connection, etc.

When it comes to long workouts, the two main drivers and benefits are:

1. Control over injuries

2. Repetition of exercises

Shorter Workouts

Commonly associated with high intensity interval training (HIIT), shorter workouts provide the quick adrenaline pump and have you in and out in little to no time. These types of workouts are rooted in elevating your heart rate fast and keeping it raised through short rest breaks and varied stations, such as commonly done in Circuit Training. Throughout a short workout session, you are able to quickly and intentionally work your way through the varying exercises, leading to increased calorie burn rate, boosted endurance, improved mental/emotional state, etc.

When it comes to short workouts, the two main drivers and benefits are:

1. Improve cardiovascular health

2. Efficient workouts

We can clearly see that both longer and shorter workouts have great benefits that can aid your health and fitness journey, program, and routine. However, we’ll need to dig deeper into the root cause of our troubles when it comes to working out and general fitness coupled with mental fatigue.

More often than not, it’s the perception of the lack in time that leads folks skipping out on workouts. Note that there really isn’t an actual lack in time but rather a perception of such. Regardless, time management is one of two key factors that dramatically influence our decision making process of whether to workout or not. I’ll touch on the other factor a bit later, but let’s dig a bit deeper into the issue of time here.

Subconsciously, we’re wired to think that it takes a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes in order to get an effective workout in. Is that true? Not entirely. Quality over quantity is more important when you take into consideration the goal for a workout to physically challenge you and improve your overall health.

Studies show that short burst training can be more effective than 45 minutes of less strenuous activity. The key thing to note here is how strenuous the activity is and not necessarily the duration of the workout. For some, being able to shock the muscles with a longer workout through numerous exercise repetitions provides a mammoth, yet desirable, of a challenge to take on. For others, keeping the entire body in shock and on its toes through short burst training can present them the unique challenge their bodies and minds desire and crave for.

You’ll need to perform a personal assessment to pinpoint what exactly constitutes a quality workout at any one point in time and see if it can function in relation to workout duration. Speaking from personal experience, I’ve mostly dabbled in the longer workout structure with longer rest periods, primarily as a means for putting on and retaining muscle. Although, I’ve taken breaks here and there to incorporate shorter workouts in the form of HIIT or circuit training and found those to have drastically improved my appetite for working out when things starting to feel stale. The ability to pack a punch in almost one-half to one-third of the time is enticing / challenging and genuinely provides the mental stimulation when you most need it.

Speaking of mental stimulation, the second key factor that influences our health and fitness decisions is rooted in our emotional psyche. We’re naturally averse to large tasks when we look at them in their entirety. On the flip side, when we re-frame our minds to look at a large effort, such as losing weight or getting back into shape, in terms of smaller, more digestible checkpoints, we’re more inclined to take on the task with less fear. This is akin to the common adage:

“You don't try to build a wall. You don't set out to build a wall. You don't say, ‘I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built.’ You say 'I'm gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,' and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.” - Will Smith

When we emotionally transform our response to the task at hand, in this case with working out, we can drastically change the inner makeup of our decision making processes.

Now, we come back to the original question: Can shorter workouts be just as good as long workouts? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that it depends - couldn’t let you off the hook that easy now! Shorter workouts are more accessible and provide a different means of fitness from that of the traditional long workout. Depending on your fitness routine, one workout may yield greater results than the other. Regardless, the point of exercising is for it to be enjoyable, so it might be worthwhile to incorporate both long and short workouts into your routine to keep you on your toes and interested in your fitness journey for the long haul!