Should You Workout Longer or More Often?

Trying to organize your workout routine to fit your busy schedule is a struggle many people share in the fitness community. No matter how serious you are about being healthy, it can be hard finding time to fit everything in. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. It may come to the point where you’re stuck deciding between one long workout or a few short workouts during the day. Which is better?

The Benefits of One Long Workout

A single long workout can prove to be a very effective way to workout and get in your fitness routine for the day. You’ll just need to commit one solid block of time to exercise and then get it out of the way. Go as hard as you can and give it all you’ve got. You’ll be raising your heart rate and sustaining it for a good amount of time, which can increase calorie burn. to the point of tiredness means they will get stronger and stronger with each passing day. In a matter of no time, this format will have you building endurance thanks to the longer sustained heart rate and the fact that you’ll be pushing yourself for an extended period.

The Benefits of Multiple Short Workouts

Many people have trouble committing to a single long workout. Finding a block of 3060 minutes or more during the day where you can consistently workout is extremely difficult for many people. That’s when breaking a routine up into multiple shorter workouts of 5-10 minutes each can prove to be very effective. After all, most people can manage to find 10 free minutes to workout. Another benefit of this format is that you’re going to have time to recover in between the short workouts. This can lead to better form and posture during each workout. Overall, this can make the workouts more effective. With time to recover in between, you are likely to end up going harder overall once you add it all up. This can make it more efficient to break your workout up.

Which is Best for Beating Stress and Anxiety: Cardio or Strength Training?

Cardio and strength training each have their own purpose as far as exercise and their effect on the body. To understand which one is best for reducing stress and anxiety, let’s look at the advantages of each.

Strength Training

Weightlifting or resistance training is a good way to burn calories – in some cases better than cardio training. Strength training also keeps burning calories at a higher rate longer after finishing a workout. A study from the University of Wisconsin proved the metabolisms of subjects in the study kept elevated up to 39 hours in some participants after a weight-lifting workout.

Strength training is also good way to burn more calories per day from an increase in muscle mass. Three pounds of additional muscle burns 120 more calories per day than otherwise would have been burned without the extra muscle. Because of the extra calorie burn, body fat diminishes, and muscles look more toned and firm. In general, your body image will improve.

Because strength training improves balance, strength and agility, it reduces the risk of injury from a fall. And because of additional strength, tasks around the house that require lifting, such as grocery shopping and laundry, will be easier to do.

However, does strength training do anything to reduce stress and anxiety? Basically no – for that you need to do cardio training.

Cardio Training

Cardio training reduces stress and anxiety by releasing endorphins in the brain. These are the “feel good” hormones that many refer to as a “runner’s high” or that euphoric feeling runners get after completing a run. Because it takes a certain intensity and duration to release the endorphins, the effect does not happen with strength training. At the same time endorphins are being released, the level of serotonin is increasing. The increase has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety.

Cardio training also helps improve one’s health. Regular cardio exercise prevents inflammation, raises the good cholesterol HDL, and reduces the risk of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Ill health is a major cause of stress and anxiety within the body. Plus cardio reduces fatigue and builds stamina. Just feeling stronger and more empowered helps reduce stress and anxiety too.

So to answer the question in the title, cardio is much more effective at reducing stress and anxiety, however the ideal exercise program is a combination of both. Cardio four days per week, strength training two days per week (but not on consecutive days) and one day per week of rest and recovery.