How many days a week should I train?

Well, the sweet spot is around three to five for most people. And why I say three to five is it gives you enough consistency and enough inputs, right? Because to see the results, which are the outputs, we got to start to weigh well, what are we putting in to that right? So we think about ourselves. We got certain things that we do those actions well, are those creating the results that we look for or that we're striving for? And I find that if you can do three to five days of intentional exercise or doing something that gets that heart rate up and builds some strength and endurance, you're gonna see some good stuff happen. Okay, it's like planting a garden Consistency and care lead to the most beautiful blooms. It's about progress, not perfection. So implement a realistic workout schedule that you can maintain consistently.

We can only work with what we've got, and that's not always easy. I get it. I've been there myself. I still deal with it. You know it's never time's always going to be there. We got to learn how to work with it or we're going to be working against it. I came to a major turning point in my life when I realized that, although I might not be able to manage my time minute by minute, I can manage my commitments by blocking off chunks of time for the things that matter to me. If it's not blocked out on my calendar, the likelihood of it happening decreases. Of course, everyone uses a calendar to keep track of appointments, but I'm talking about scheduling those regular reoccurring commitments, the filler days, such as working, running errands, spending quality time with family.

The principles of CrossFit allow me to take care of my fitness needs quickly so I can devote adequate time for my other Fs, family, finances, faith and fun. In other words, you can accomplish a lot by doing a little training every day. You just need to make sure that little is well designed, attuned to your goals and power packed. I base all of my programs on these principles, which is why a whole life fitness, power 30 workouts can be completed in just 15 minutes. Might be hard to believe that that's all it takes to get fit, but I find that it is ideal, not only because it's effective, but also because it's sustained. Everybody has 15 minutes. I don't care who you are, what you do, what kind of life you live. I can find 15 minutes in your day for a quick workout.

The problem comes from the mistaken belief that you need to reinvent your lifestyle to fit those extra long hours at the gym. Resolutionists who try to do this often don't think about the extra steps that have to be factored in to make their promise a reality. Spending four evenings a week at the gym likely means they have to let something else go in order to fit into their schedule. Now there's a reason why it didn't work before right. To think that they're miraculously going to cram it all in without compromising other commitments is unrealistic, and it can be very discouraging too. Crossfit crossover. Like every parent, my world changed when I became a father. Suddenly, my time was not mine alone, but also my daughters. I wanted to spend every moment with them. What's not to love about watching a child's miraculous development?

Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is, we all have busy lives. Only professional athletes can work hours of cardio, strength training and conditioning into their everyday routine because it's their job to do so. You do not have to reinvent your lifestyle in order to accommodate a new fitness program, because that simply isn't sustainable. For example, I remember my good friend John. He was excited about his newly purchased DVD fitness program. He was committed to making it work for him and was sure he could adopt into it the everyday routine. John was married. He works 50 hours a week and has children, along with coaching commitments. John was struggling to maintain his relationship as the only time they saw each other was on weekends and evenings after the kids went to bed. But he was sure that he could fit in an extra 6 to 8 hours a week to the fitness program.

It gives purpose and direction to our efforts. Intensity, on the other hand, is really how we train. It's about the effort we put in during each session. Now let's dig into the numbers. According to a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, participants who engage in consistent, moderate intensity exercise over six months saw greater improvements in cardiovascular health and muscular endurance compared to those who participated in sporadic high-intensity sessions. It's the classic tortoise and hare scenario. Slow and steady truly wins the race. I've seen this firsthand with clients over the years. Those who focus on consistency, who show up regularly, even if it's for shorter, less intense workouts, they often achieve better results than those who go all out and then burn out. It's about building a lifestyle, not just checking off the boxes as we go.

Like I just think about people that want to make health changes. I mean, without frequency and consistency, it's going to be a long journey. Like it's a lot of start, stop, continue and it can be very demoralizing, right, yes, Like when we start to question like, oh, I've been doing this for three months, I don't see any results as well, in three months, how much time do you think you've really put yourself under tension? And what I mean by that is in a moment to make yourself uncomfortable. Like fitness is not something most people sign up for. Oh, I love fitness, I love working hours. I just hopefully people get to a place where they start to enjoy it, but often it's a chore right To get going. It's that mind over matter situation Like I need this. It's good for me. I know all of you about it after I've done it and sure enough we do and that becomes sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We only got so many inventory spots of time every day, and once they're gone, they're gone. So how do you build up consistency? Here are a few practical tips that I think will be helpful. There's five of them for you today. Number one I've shared before start small. Begin with something manageable. Just 10 to 15 minutes a day of movement with purpose. Whether it's a walk, some bodyweight exercises, quick yoga session, I mean it doesn't matter. Just get moving. 10, preferably 15 minutes, which is 1% of your 24 hours. If you haven't checked out the Whole Life Fitness Manifesto or some of the early episodes of season one, where I narrate the book that I wrote many years ago called the Whole Life Fitness Manifesto. I'd like to invite you to go check it out. I've included the links in the show notes. You to go check it out.

The most common reason men give me for not training is time. It is also the one I have the least patience with, and not because I think they are lying. FIG. 01 Sixty seconds of hard work, three times a week. The single most common reason men give me for not training is time. It is also the one I have the least patience with, and not because I think they are lying. They are not lying. They genuinely believe that if they cannot get to a gym for an hour, five or six days a week, there is no point starting. That belief is wrong, it is expensive, and the fitness industry built it on purpose. Less than you think, and the study that established it is worth knowing about in detail. In 2016 a team at McMaster University led by Jenna Gillen and Martin Gibala took 27 sedentary men and split them into three groups for twelve weeks.

Six numbers, ten minutes. You cannot argue with them in week seven and they will keep you honest in week two when nothing looks different. Then pick the smallest week you will actually repeat. Three sessions, a protein target, a step target, and a bedtime. Repeat it for sixty days. Retest. That is the whole method, and it is boring on purpose. How long does it take to get back in shape? Most men who train three to four times a week feel different within two weeks, feel stronger within four to six weeks, and start to look different somewhere between weeks eight and twelve. Sixty days of honest consistency is enough to change your baseline. It is not enough to finish the job. How long does it take if you have not trained in years? Longer to look different, faster to feel different.

The men who hold onto progress are the ones whose plan survives a bad week, a work trip and a sick kid. Consistency at 70 percent beats perfection you abandon in week three. The 2% Solution. Play it here, with the full transcript on the page. The least exercise that actually does something, and the part everyone leaves out. You have done it five times. It is not discipline, and the fix is unglamorous. Seven years ago I went looking for four dads over 40 to test an idea. What it became, and what it refuses to promise.

Seven years ago I suffered a bad bout of Excusitis. I was a fitness professional earning a living helping people overcome their excuses. What a hypocrite, right? Originally published on LinkedIn on 5 November 2015 and republished here with light editing only. This is the earliest surviving written record of the thirty minutes a day framework , which appears in full in the closing paragraphs. FIG. 01 November 2015. The earliest written record of the two percent framework. Most people have had the experience of starting a new fitness plan, only to abandon it completely or revert back to their old habits. Name one person who has not made working out part of their New Year's resolutions at some point in their lives. We often start with tons of enthusiasm, launching head-on into a brutal workout routine.

And I framed intervals as a replacement for everything else. They are not, and the section above says so now. There is no pill. There was never going to be a pill. But the useful thing about the last decade of research is that the honest prescription got smaller rather than larger. It is two strength sessions, a decent amount of walking, and four minutes of being uncomfortable if you feel like it. That is not a compromise version for busy men. That is close to the whole evidence base for a man who wants to be strong and metabolically healthy at 60. You do not need an hour. You need to stop waiting for one. How much exercise do I actually need? Two strength sessions a week of about forty minutes, 150 minutes of walking, and optionally one ten-minute interval session.

A later trial found that only the more frequent endurance work improved blood pressure and blood lipids, so if those are what your doctor is watching, you still need the walking volume. I am over 40 and have not trained in years. Can I start with sprints? No. Talk to your doctor, then do about eight weeks of easier work, then add intervals. The studies were done in sedentary but healthy men on stationary bikes. All-out sprinting on your feet after a decade of sitting is how men tear calves and Achilles tendons. Gillen, J. B., Martin, B. J., MacInnis, M. J., Skelly, L. E., Tarnopolsky, M. A., and Gibala, M. J. (2016). Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment. PLoS ONE, 11(4), e0154075. Piff, P.