How long is too long in the gym?

Too often the question " How long should you work out for?" is asked and misunderstood.

When I come to the gym on a day to day basis I see the same people doing the same thing everyday for hrs and hrs.

Literally working out for 2-3 hrs sometimes! This is crazy, I mean do you not have better things to do? And the thing is that they don't seem to progress or get the results they want, and the first things they think of is "I have to do more!".

When it comes to duration of workouts, a lot of this is based around what it is that you are trying to accomplish. However unless you are trying to run a marathon as an example where the run might take 2.5 hrs or so, then really there isn't any real purpose or things you cannot achieve within 45-90 minutes.
Anything after this is really pointless and / or indicates that you might be chatting too much or scrolling on your phone and working those thumbceps.

Intensity, focus and purpose the key variables when it comes to a solid training session. Sometimes less is more in duration and the intensity factor can be the variable need to create a difference. Example: if you have 10 sets of biceps curls and were do them at any point throughout the day, you will not create the same stimulus as if you were to do them as within a 5 minutes window. Same with steps and cardio, yes it is important to have a base level of movement however that spread over the day verse condensed within a short time frame can have vastly different outcomes.

Understand the goal, understand what you need to accomplish for today, and challenge yourself.