How Long Should You Do Wall Sits?

Depending on your skill level, you should hold wall sits for 20–90 seconds. If you need to start out with shorter wall sits and work your way up to holding the position for more than 20 seconds, that’s fine. However, if you can hold a wall sit for 90 seconds for 3–5 reps, it’s time to move to a more advanced exercise. Start doing wall sit variations, such as single-leg wall sits or weighted wall sits to continue challenging yourself and building strength.

How Long is a Good Wall Sit Time?

If you are able to hold a 30–60-second wall sit for 3–5 reps, you have a good wall sit time. Once you advance to the point where you can hold 60-second wall sits, your fitness level is very good.

• Beginner Wall Sits: 10–30 seconds.
• Intermediate Wall Sits: 30–59 seconds.
• Pro Wall Sits: 60–90 seconds.

90-second wall sits are very impressive, but they’re also a sign that you need to add an extra element of challenge to your workout. Training with wall sits will increase strength in your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, but your body needs an increased challenge to continue getting stronger. So, consider doing wall sits with one leg straight out in front of you. Alternate legs until you do 3–5 sets with each leg.

How Long Should You Do Wall Sits a Day?

Doing the same exercise every day is never a good idea. This rule applies to wall sits too. Fitness challenges with daily wall sits for 30 days will not get good results. Instead of doing wall sits daily, aim to do wall sits 2–3 times per week. You will do several sets of wall sits each workout, which will get much better results than doing wall sits each day.

• Do not do wall sits every day.
• Plan to have wall sits in your workout program 2–3 times per week.
• Allow 48 hours between wall sit workouts.
• Allowing time to rest between wall sit workouts will help you avoid injury and build strength.

Performing wall sits every day will overtrain your muscles. This puts you at risk of injury and actually slows down your strength and muscle tone progress. As a rule of thumb, allow 48 hours between workouts that target the same body parts. So, if you do a workout that includes wall sits on Monday, don’t work those same muscles with wall sits again until Wednesday. This will allow recovery time to prevent injury and allow your muscles to get stronger.

How Many Sets of Wall Sits Should You Do?

Do 3–5 sets of wall sits as part of a lower body workout. Each wall sit equals 1 set. Set a goal duration for each wall sit. For a beginner, it’s good to start with 5 sets of wall sits where you hold each wall sit for 20 seconds. Rest for 60–90 seconds after each set, then tackle the next one.

• When you do wall sits, do 3–5 sets of wall sits per workout.
• 1 wall sit = 1 set.
• Rest for 60–90 seconds between sets.
• Set a goal time for your wall sits.
• If you complete your goal time for all of your wall sits, add 5 seconds to each wall sit during your next workout.

It’s important to track your progress when you add wall sits to your workout routine. If you begin with 5 sets of 20-second wall sits and complete each wall sit, increase the difficulty. Next time you do wall sits, do 5 sets of 25-second wall sits. It’s okay if you don’t reach your goal every time. By continuing to challenge yourself, you’ll build strength. Soon, you’ll be able to hold wall sits for twice as long as when you began.

Is a 1-Minute Wall Sit Good?

A 1-minute wall sit is impressive and shows that you have strong quadriceps muscles to hold the squat position for long periods of time. However, a single wall sit for 1 minute won’t get great results. Remember to perform 3–5 sets of wall sits 2–3 times per week. This set and rep range, with rest days between, is optimized to build strength and muscle tone fast.

• Holding a wall sit for 1 minute indicates that you have built up your fitness level fairly high.
• It’s important to judge yourself based on wall sit sets. One 60-second wall sit is not as impressive as being able to do 5 sets of 60-second wall sits.
• Once you can perform minute-long wall sits, consider adding difficulty by doing more challenging wall sit variations.

If you’re at the point where you can do 1-minute wall sits for 3–5 sets, consider adding more challenge to your wall sits. Perform weighted wall sits by gripping dumbbells as you hold the wall sit position. Alternatively, perform single-leg wall sits. Keep one leg planted on the ground while you extend the other straight out in front of you. Alternate legs and perform 3–5 sets with each leg. 

Is a 5 Minute Wall Sit Good?

If you are able to hold wall sits for 5 minutes, wall sits are not challenging enough for you. Either begin doing weighted wall sits, single-leg wall sits, or move on to dynamic exercises like squats, lunges, and single-leg deadlifts.

• A 5-minute wall sit is impressive but indicates that wall sits are too easy for you.
• Challenge yourself with single-leg wall sits or weighted wall sits.
• Instead of wall sits, add dynamic exercises to your routine.
• Some good dynamic exercises to replace wall sits include squats, lunges, single-leg deadlifts, and archer squats.

Although a 5-minute wall sit is very impressive, holding an exercise for this long provides diminishing returns. You’ll get better results from doing more intense exercises for a shorter period of time. Also, keep in mind that dynamic exercises that require movement (rather than holding a position) will burn more calories and build more muscle than holding a wall sit. Wall sits are a great place to start, but if you’re advanced enough to hold a wall sit for 5 minutes, it’s time for a new challenge.

How Long Should You Be Able to Wall Sit?

When performing wall sits, keep the following rules in mind:

• A good wall sit time depends on your fitness level and your body.
• Wall sits ranging from 10–30 seconds in duration are typical for beginners.
• Wall sits from 30–60 seconds show you have a good fitness level.
• If you can do a wall sit of 60–90 seconds, you have an advanced fitness level.
• Once you are at the advanced level, increase the difficulty of your wall stis by doing them with one leg extended straight out.
• Consider replacing wall sits with dynamic lower body exercises like squats and lunges once you are at an advanced level.

Wall sits are a great place to start building your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles. However, wall sits will get easier with training. So, rather than holding prolonged wall sits, you’ll soon be moving on to exercises that offer a greater challenge and even better results.