How Long Do Powerlifters Lift Weights?

Powerlifting workouts are synonymous with longer-than-average fitness or bodybuilding workouts. With longer rest periods and a wide variety of exercises, it's not unusual for a powerlifting training session to last several hours. While this is common, it doesn't mean you have to lift weights for that long though -- if you're pushed for time and still want to get stronger for powerlifting, an abbreviated routine could be just the thing for you.

  1. Rest Periods

    • The amount of rest you should take between sets is inversely proportional to how much weight you're lifting. The American College of Sports Medicine recommend taking at least three minutes of rest between sets when lifting heavy weights in the one to six repetition range, compared to one to two minutes when training for muscle growth. When lifting maximal weights, your creatine phosphate system is the main energy system your body uses, and it takes a full three minutes for this to replenish after your set.

    Exercises

    • The number of exercises you perform depends on what powerlifting routine you're following. Most workouts though start with multiple sets of one of the competition lifts -- squats, bench presses and deadlifts -- and move on to ancillary exercises that work the supporting muscle groups. While there's no absolute requirement to perform ancillary exercises, in "The 5/3/1 Manual," strength coach Jim Wendler recommends performing at least one other pressing exercise and one upper-back exercise after bench pressing, plus one leg movement and a core exercise after your squats and deadlifts. If you choose to add more exercises, though, this will increase the length of your workouts.

    Abbreviated Routines

    • Common powerlifting routines such as the Westside Barbell system, Smolov and Sheiko include multiple exercises, and workouts can take two to three hours. If you don't have time for these though, in "Brawn," trainer Stuart McRobert recommends a super-abbreviated strength routine. This includes just three to four exercises in each session, with only one to two working sets on each exercise. Switch between two sessions, with session one containing squats, dips and rows, and session two containing deadlifts, bench presses, and chinups or pulldowns.

    Considerations

    • The length of a powerlifting session ultimately depends on a number of factors, though the main consideration is to not rush through your workouts. Cutting short your rest periods means you're not fully recovered and won't be able to perform at your best. Geared powerlifting workouts, where you wear a special shirt for bench presses and a suit for squats and deadlifts, take even longer than raw powerlifting workouts, as changing between suits takes time.