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Old 06-28-18, 09:05 AM  
Sara1000
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Why is an hour too long?

I keep reading how VFrs just don't want to work out more than about 30 minutes these days - I include myself in this for sure.

Looking back, I think maybe a whole hour was always too long for me - so many of the workouts I really loved were just too long and as a result had a HUGE dread factor. Back then for some reason I didn't feel free to do less than a whole workout, and since they didn't use to be chaptered, it was hard to do part of a workout one day and another part the next.

I'm glad so many of the workouts today are shorter.

Your thoughts about 60 minute workouts? Why was that once the norm, and have our wants/needs really changed or are many of us just coming to face reality?

And if you feel your needs have changed, why is that?
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Old 06-28-18, 09:24 AM  
Lucky Star
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: A helluva town
Funny you brought this up. I've been spending the last few days reading old VF reviews of favorite oldies and it amazed me to read how VFers complained about 45 minute workouts, and how they'd have to string 2 together back-to-back to make a 'decent' length workout. Or else they'd just be wasting their time.*

Did we have that much more free time then? Was it the fitness culture of the times that home workouts had to emulate studio-length workouts? Or were we just collectively that much younger, with fewer kids and work responsibilities, and a lot more energy?

*There were a lot of 'rewind and repeat' comments too, if the cardio sections were shorter than 45 minutes..!!
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Old 06-28-18, 09:36 AM  
cindyw75
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Southern California
When I first started exercising, I very much had the all or nothing mentality. When I started doing Cathe, her workouts were generally right around the 1 hr mark, and if I didn't complete the whole workout, I felt like I hadn't really worked out. Because of that mentality, I used to have an on-off relationship with exercise, sometimes taking years off. It's always been hard for me to fit in 1 hr of exercise a day. I find that 30-45 minutes is the perfect length for me. There is no dread factor that way, and I'm more likely to stick to my exercise routine.
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Old 06-28-18, 09:50 AM  
bfit
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
I'm old school on this. I still put two workouts together to make at least an hour or more. I don't feel like I've really done anything with only 30 minutes. I know that 30 minutes is better than none, but if I'm going to get dressed, get things set up, and so on, I'd rather have a full workout than a short one. But, I enjoy working out. There's never been a dread factor for me except for workouts that were really boring or with an annoying instructor or something like that.
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Old 06-28-18, 09:58 AM  
wendug
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Chicago burb
Sometimes I do 30 minute workouts, sometimes I do hour workouts- it really depends on the intensity of the workout. For HIIT there is no way I could do an hour workout! That's much to much for my body. However, for a steady state cardio workout or circuit workout an hour seems about right (or 45 minutes ).
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Old 06-28-18, 10:21 AM  
sherry7899
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
For me just mentally an hour can seem too long. I am a variety junkie, and I guess I don't have a long attention span for some workouts. There are some hour long workouts I stick with, but they have to be "fun" workouts (for me) like dance.

Even though I adore yoga, I very rarely due an hour long practice. I will however, string together three different workouts that could end up being an hour.

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Old 06-28-18, 10:27 AM  
Lannette
 
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: NH
I work as an RN/Exercise Specialist 3 Days a week and in my own Restorative massage/exercise practice 1 Full day a week and a couple of hours 1-2 days in the evening when I return home from the hospital. On those days I rarely have time for more than an hour max. It’s a time thing, nothing else.

On weekends I treat myself to longer exercise sessions often 75-90 minutes.

I want 20-30 Minute WOs because I love to use them to construct my own longer WOs and Rotations. It gives me so much enjoyment and benefit to do this. I don’t want to be tied into an hour of one type of activity or actually one instructor. My “almost mid 60’s” body appreciates subtle shifts over the course of an hour. I try to put together different activities that create a sense of synergy toward goal vs beating myself up.

Yesterday I gave myself the gift of a Pilates day. No single session was longer than 24 minutes but I used my Reformer, Cadillac, Spine Corrector, Foot Corrector, a Dowel and a foam half dome. So much fun!

I find that some streaming methods try to tie you in with longer WOs. This happened to me with ART. I really loved the WOs but there were only a handful of shorter true WOs and what was being added was always an hour long.

At least Cathe has premixes. I buy her WOs just for the premixes! I wish others did the same or at least chaptered extensively.

When I retire again I’ll probably only do Restorative massage/exercise 2-3 days a week and plan on indulging myself in our gym to my hearts content but always using WOs I piece together.
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Old 06-28-18, 10:39 AM  
jusca
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
I came into using fitness dvds when most dvds had 30 minute segments. An,hour workout is too long for me. My mind starts to drift around the 45 minute mark. It never fails no matter how much I like the workout or instructor. I've tried splitting long workouts to the morning and evening but I dread it and lose motivation. I like to do workouts in one setting and be done with it.
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Old 06-28-18, 10:47 AM  
desderata
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfit View Post
I'm old school on this. I still put two workouts together to make at least an hour or more. I don't feel like I've really done anything with only 30 minutes. I know that 30 minutes is better than none, but if I'm going to get dressed, get things set up, and so on, I'd rather have a full workout than a short one. But, I enjoy working out. There's never been a dread factor for me except for workouts that were really boring or with an annoying instructor or something like that.
Same. Back in the day, the focus was on endurance cardio, so the workouts were longer. Now cardio tends to be drill style, HIIT or at least interval cardio. These workouts are more intense, and so shorter. Unless the cardio is quite intense, i dont feel adequately worked out in 30 minutes. I defintely don’t feel adequately worked out with a 30 minute weight workout. I enjoy exercise and rely on it for stress management, so working out longer is better for me. That said, I do think some of Cathe’s older workouts were overkill. I will skip one of those chapters here and there.
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Old 06-28-18, 11:00 AM  
Sissy B
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Forty-five minutes has pretty much always been my workout limit. Any longer than that and I get bored so longer workouts have a huge dread factor.
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