Tips » Weight Training
How long can my lifting sessions last? I heard that after 60 minutes, you start to lose muscle.
Another example of the myth of generalization. You'll hear it all ... at 60 minutes, cortisol magically kicks in and you begin losing muscle by the buckets, etc etc.
The answer is that there is no real set limit. Most people do train too long, because they either take the workouts of elite athletes with superior genetics and access to advanced recovery methods, or they take the workouts of steroid-enhanced lifters, and then try to apply those to their own situation. This is a recipe for disaster.
On the other hand, elite and Olympic athletes regularly endure training schedules that exceed several hours per day, and they have no issue outperforming most other people in the world.
The answer is that you must find the mix that works best for you. Understand that more is not better, but that if you are adequately recovering, taking in the right nutrients, managing stress, etc, that you can certainly train for longer periods than an hour.
The average person that I train who works a full time job can handle between 45 minutes - 1 hr 30 minutes of actual training. The older, the less time. This is actually hitting the weights - the sessions may be longer because I integrate control drills, warm-up, and thorough stretching as well.