How long it takes to get in shape depends on goals like strength, endurance, weight loss, and body fat loss. Exercising is great for your health, but it can take time for your toned body to show.
Some ads promise miracle fitness makeovers in 6 weeks, but the truth is that it takes a lot longer than that to get “ripped.”
Marketing campaigns might claim otherwise, but the truth is, there’s no quick way to get fit.
“If a gym, trainer, or class promises to make all your dreams come true in six weeks, run — don’t walk — in the other direction,” New York-based certified personal trainer Lisa Snow, president of On the Mend Customized Fitness and Massage, told Healthline.
Even “natural” exercisers won’t see fitness miracles any time soon.
“Some people seem to put on muscle at a much quicker pace than others — although nobody is going to look like Vin Diesel overnight,” said Justin Fauci, a certified personal trainer and co-founder of Lean Muscle Project.
One older 2004 study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, which was published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, examined whether or not 6 weeks of exercise would visibly show a difference in fitness and appearance.
The researchers put a group of 25 sedentary men through a 6-week exercise program — either three 20-minute cardiovascular sessions each week, or three 30-minute high-intensity, total-body strength training sessions.
A group of panelists rated the men’s appearance at the start and end of the study based on photos. After 6 weeks, the ratings were unchanged. Even the men’s ratings of their own appearances were pretty much the same after 6 weeks.
Also, objective signs of fitness — like percent body fat, number of pushups, and oxygen efficiency — didn’t improve over the course of the study.
So if 6 weeks isn’t enough time to get in shape, how long does it take?
