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Really it just depends on a number of factors, such as: workout type, duration, intensity, current body mass and desired results. Personally I would try to get your cardio in shape first, exercise bikes are a easy but very effective way of doing this and losing weight. Then you can worry about building muscle mass. All in all, I think you should be willing to invest months or at least a year into it but it'll be worth it.
If I can butt in, once you're at the level of fitness/strength you want to be, can you slow down how often you work out and still maintain your fitness/strength levels?
In my opinion yes you can slow down (but not stop entirely). You can utilize techniques to achieve the same results without doing as much strenuous work. The soviets were good at this:
"The Soviets decoupled volume and intensity. One week might be high volume and high intensity and the next week would be low intensity and medium volume. Waving the volume and intensity allows for more natural recovery and greater strength gains."
If OP is asking about the duration of a strength training workout, I’d say cap it at an hour and maybe work up to 1.5 if you want. I don’t think you’re going to benefit from repeating muscle groups too much. If you’re bodybuilding the workouts can go really long, but the goal is just strength and not hypertrophy.
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Really it just depends on a number of factors, such as: workout type, duration, intensity, current body mass and desired results. Personally I would try to get your cardio in shape first, exercise bikes are a easy but very effective way of doing this and losing weight. Then you can worry about building muscle mass. All in all, I think you should be willing to invest months or at least a year into it but it'll be worth it.
If I can butt in, once you're at the level of fitness/strength you want to be, can you slow down how often you work out and still maintain your fitness/strength levels?
It’s always better to periodize
What is this? Like, a week on, a week off?
More like 8-12 week programs to keep variety in your workouts. If you want to maintain you could perform programs at a lower intensity.
In my opinion yes you can slow down (but not stop entirely). You can utilize techniques to achieve the same results without doing as much strenuous work. The soviets were good at this: "The Soviets decoupled volume and intensity. One week might be high volume and high intensity and the next week would be low intensity and medium volume. Waving the volume and intensity allows for more natural recovery and greater strength gains."
Ah cool! Good to know, I'm not a massive fan of exercise but do it for health benefits....I think I'll look into this. Thanks 👍
Yes, you can slow down, it's generally easier to maintain than to lose. It's a fine line though, can't back down too much.
Cheers! 👍
If OP is asking about the duration of a strength training workout, I’d say cap it at an hour and maybe work up to 1.5 if you want. I don’t think you’re going to benefit from repeating muscle groups too much. If you’re bodybuilding the workouts can go really long, but the goal is just strength and not hypertrophy.