How Long Does It Take To See Results in The Gym?

For those who love to train hard and want to take their performance to the next level but don’t know where to start, expert advice is essential.

Enter Kelly Matthews.

If there’s one expert who knows what it takes to raise the bar - and keep it there - it’s the Oner Active Move Ambassador, personal trainer, and all-round oracle of strength and fitness.

Here, the self-proclaimed “gym big sister” shares her hard-earned fitness wisdom, breaking down everything you need to know about achieving long-lasting results, from mastering the basics to making major gains.

Looking for the perfect gymwear to get you started? Discover your new favourite gym clothes from Oner Active’s latest drops.

Understanding the basics

Let’s break it down by fitness type.

If your main goals are around flexibility and mobility, you’re in luck: these tend to produce tangible results the quickest. Next comes cardio – the heart and lungs in healthy adults are relatively quick to adapt to new routines (Cleveland Clinic reports that it can take as little as two weeks to see improvements in cardio endurance levels), so this might come in useful when you’re trying to push through that final km on the treadmill. Muscle strength and body composition (reducing body fat while increasing muscle mass) take the longest to show progress, as gains require consistent work over time.

“For me, it depends on what ‘results’ mean to you, but increases in strength, changes in body composition can start occurring as quickly as 4-6 weeks! If you’re newer to the gym, expect to grow muscle faster with consistent training. A gym newbie can put on 1-2lbs (0.5-1kg) in a month, if they’re doing all the right things. More experienced lifters can expect muscle gain to slow down and become more difficult, but meaningful muscle growth will still happen with hard work,” explains Kelly.

How long does it take to build strength?

“You can build strength week over week, but training progress is never linear! New lifters will see significant strength gains with consistent training – for some, 1 rep max weights can increase by 10%+ per month, but results vary vastly from person to person. If you are able to jump up to heavier dumbbells or put more weight on the barbell consistently, you will be getting stronger.”

What about coming back from time off?

“That depends on how much time has been taken off from consistent training and what you do when you return,” says Kelly. “Maintaining muscle is much easier than gaining it, but you will start the process of losing strength and muscle within 2-3 weeks from the point you stop lifting. If you take a month off, expect it to take at least a month to get back to your previous form.”

Want to know the glute workout Kelly swears by for serious gains? Click here.

Five ways to tell you’re making progress at the gym

Working weights increasing

Simply put, one of the clearest ways to measure that you’re making progress when it comes to strength training is being able to comfortably increase the weight you can load. There’s nothing more satisfying than that feeling of moving the pin up a plate or reaching for the next dumbbells up.

Work capacity increasing

The number of reps you can complete is also a big sign that you’re doing something right. Consistency is key to building endurance and levelling up your performance.

Follow Kelly as she puts her Oner Active Seamless mid top and EffortlessLift™ leggings to the test with her full body workout here.

Changes in body composition

Keeping an eye on your body composition levels can also be a good idea if you’re trying to measure your progress. Most gyms will have some form of ‘smart scale,’ which will give you an idea of your body fat percentage as well as other handy stats for measuring your overall health and highlighting areas that may require more attention.

Improved mental health

Training can have a huge impact on your mental health, from reducing symptoms of anxiety and low mood to increasing overall mental resilience. Regular trips to the gym have also been shown to improve sleep quality, a key factor for mental well-being. The good news is that improvements to your mental well-being are often one of the first benefits to emerge after starting regular exercise.

Others are noticing

Sometimes, the first signs of progress can be spotted by those around us. Your colleague may notice you’re feeling more confident in meetings. Your partner might notice you’re not gasping for air after your weekend hike. Your gym buddy might notice that your leggings are fitting you a bit differently now. These are all signs that those tough gym sessions are making a real difference, and it won’t be long until you see the results yourself.

Inspired? Discover more stories to fuel your training, feed your mind, and move your body over on our blog, Oner World.

And, if you want the latest activewear ahead of your new strength-training programme, check out our extensive collection here.