Join me in exercising LESS?

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SWING SET fitness!

I know.

I say it all the time.

The thing is, until I have the world on my band wagon (world wagon?!), I’m gonna say it again and again.

In this day & age when everyone admonishes us to increase the exercise! I’m here waving the “sometimes less (time) is indeed more (results)!” flag loud & proud.

(A flag which is, alas, not quite as fun as my freak flag. You’ll have that.)

People frequently ask me about my (finger quote) workout (unFQ) routine (or, more aptly put, my lackthereof).

  • They question its brevity (my activities are often spontaneous and short.).
  • They struggle with the idea I squeeze fitness in where I can & completely non-traditionally (I’m not competing! This approach works just fine).
  • They can’t seem to accept if they aren’t where they *want* to be right now perhaps doing less but consistently could be the answer (Ive been there & overtrained that. I can entirely relate).

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Back when I did not know LESS = MORE.

While I’d like to hope you’d all immediately hop on the brevity-bandwagon I know many of us are hardcore folk.

From this soft of core woman I give you 4 reasons why I firmly believe less is more:

1. High-intensity interval training is twice as effective as traditional exercise. Intense interval training means working very hard for a few minutes with rest periods in between sets. Interval training doubles endurance, improves oxygen use/strength by more than 10 percent, & speed by 5 percent. Studies have found better oxygen use and fitness after interval training. Interval training also makes for shorter workouts.

 

2. You’ll never over-train. When I was a personal trainer many clients would see results and start exercising more to see more results. Initially this worked. After a few weeks, however, results dropped dramatically due to over-training. Consider this fact: not giving your body the rest it needs is almost akin to not exercising at all. Exercise. Move daily. Consistently over time. Unless you are training for competition there’s no need for marathon workouts.

 

3. It’s the fits & starts that kill us. Let’s talk self-esteem. Remember the last time you started a workout program? How you planned for 60+ min of exercise 6 days a week? How fantastic you felt about yourself—until life derailed you & you fell off the workout wagon? This time plan exercise you can fit into life today and forever. Less exercise time plus ZERO fits & starts = happier and healthier you. Here that’s 30 minutes a day. Every day. No “starting Monday I will…” ever. I’m healthy *and* I feel better about myself through setting realistic goals and achieving them.

 

4. Exercise should fit into your life…your life shouldn’t be fashioned around fitness. It’s recommended adults get 150 minutes of exercise per week. This number is a reasonable goal. Try breaking the 150 minutes down into short ten minute bursts! Take a ten minute power-walk, three times a day, five days a week. Jump rope or hula hoop for ten minutes at a time, three times a day, five days a week. You get the idea. Less time at the gym exercising traditionally does not have to mean a less-fit you.

Now you.
Have you scaled back your workouts and discovered you gained (muscle strength energy) and lost (bodyfat)?

Do you disagree and believe to gain *and* lose our bodies need long workouts?

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Comments

  1. As much as I agree with you that less is more, I am making sure I am making the most of my time as a professional runner by doing all I can. That being said, I run around 20-30 miles LESS than most of the people I race against. I also do my runs in one go, rather than 2x per day because that is what your body needs, and my coach makes sure I do not do so many workouts that push my body to its absolute limits, as he is all about quality over quantity.

    I do understand what you are saying, and I feel that I take this seriously in another way…..by making sure I recover. Running my recovery runs so slow that my body actually does recover, compared to in the past when I felt they had to be a certain “pace”. Sorry to ramble, long answer to your question, but I am interested to hear what you think of my training?

    • and you are the (uh IMO) exception entirely.
      Im a professional NADA when it comes to fitness—-fitting it in? #wycwyc? is just fine for me in a way it wouldnt be for you!!!

      xo

  2. I like a mix of long and short workouts. During the week I like to keep things short and manageable, but on the weekend I like a long hike or run. 🙂

    • I do a lot of long workouts and cannot get out of my head that less would be a fatter me.
      I am not where I want to be now and I am always working out.

      :/

      • while I never did REALLLY LONG LONG WORKOUTS I did at one point do 45 minutes of cardio a day.
        and I wasnt where I wanted to be (I was shedding muscle not bodyfat)
        so I thought OK IF 45 min isnt enough I MUST need more. AN HOUR?!
        It look me STOPPING and stepping back and taking a leap of faith to even try the idea of OK IF MORE ISNT WORKING perhaps LESS cardio will be my MORE muscle.
        I just told myself—as I so wanna tell you–you can ALWAYS go back to what you were doing before if you dont like the results.
        But try it.

        xo

      • I understand what you feel as I lost 60 pounds but keep it off with workouts that are 30 minutes and I do them every day.

        • I know Im super biased as it’s what works for me too, but I also cling to the fact it’s something I can fit in forever. I swear for me 2 hour workouts would stress me out ONLY because if I could find time now–for example—Id panic in advance 🙂 I may not be able to find time later/down the life-road.

  5. Much of the message this weekend at the Healthy Running seminar was about less…there really are benefits. It’s a tough message to sell, though!

  7. When I do basic strength and HIIT, I look and feel my best. An excellent reminder today by the way as I am trying to talk myself into working out longer than 20 minutes. I have to remember sometimes too it’s about quality not quantity. I also think it’s good to fold fitness into life. An evening walk with my husband without distractions of our phones or laptops is fit but meaningful too.

    • YES. that final sentence. rejuvenating for the mind body and spirit. with the husband and here with the child, too.

  8. Number four is HARD but I know you’re right.
    I have the time now when I’m an undergrad but I may not have it later?

  9. I am taking the less is more approach right now due to trying to heal my guy & my hormones. It seems to be working & while I’m not losing weight {that’s not my current goal}, in 3 months of “less is more” I am still the same size I was before summer started and feel amazing.

  10. Love this post Carla! I love how you always fit your workouts into whatever you are doing that day (like taking your daughter to the park). As a long distance runner I DO think I need the training of those long runs…but I only do them once a week. The rest of the time my runs are shorter. And 95% of the time I am running because I enjoy it so much…not for the fitness factor. I think it all depends on you and what works for your body. Everyone is different! 🙂

  11. I see people in the studio all the time that come in for all te classes we offer in a night, and is love for them to slow down. It’s partly because the vibe at trio is very social and it’s like getting together with a group of girlfriends, but I see overtraining all the time. It’s one of the things we take into consideration when we schedule, to have high and low impact types of formats so that those that come from open to close get variety.
    I don’t think I’ll ever scale back from my hour a day for my own personal workout. I rely on it for many reasons and schedule it like I schedule any other meeting I have in a day. It’s a huge priority for my own well being and I don’t get the same feeling of accomplishment or the same result from shorts bursts here and there. It helps me maintain my energy level for teaching and for the activities I do with the kids. But I do see overtraining all the time.

  12. I have definitely been caught in the overtraining/injury cycle and it’s pretty miserable and takes over your life. I am much more moderate in my approach now (even though I’m currently marathon training) and I’m trying to get the most bang for my buck without excessive and long hours of running. My training has more of a specific purpose now. After this marathon I would like to scale back and rethink my fitness and running goals.

  13. I definitely get the idea and couldn’t agree more about consistency. I happen to love my long meandering runs, so I’ll like keep that up 🙂 It also seems to help with running long distances ha! Really though I’ve been doing Low Heart Rate instead of anything high intensity and that makes me feel much better, I get thoroughly run down with very much HIIT.

  14. I have been regularly training for marathons, so I am definitely in the more-more-more camp. That being said, I don’t believe this schedule is something I will be able to maintain with kids/family, and shorter distance combined with more HITT/Tabata workouts will be more realistic in the long run. I love your balance!

  15. I will happily board your wagon as soon as this NYCM thing is behind me. Until then, life is fashioned around fitness, because I’d never fit any movement in if it weren’t. That said I’m an unorthodox “low-mileage” (I know low-mileage and marathoner don’t really mesh) runner. Hey whatever works, right?

  19. for a long time I would do hour long workouts 5 days a week, on top of the walking I already do at work. Now, I’ve been doing short workouts, usually for no more than 30 minutes 5 days a week, and I’ve noticed a huge difference in the amount of muscle I’ve built!

  21. Well, you may or may not already know that I spend 1-2 hours most days working out. I keep telling myself that I’m going to cut down and be OK with 20 minutes or shorter bursts but so far I haven’t done it. In fact, I’m struggling this week because I’m getting ready for a big race in just over a week and know that I really need to back off but……

  22. Ugh! Working out in order to get results. Sounds like drudgery unless I am going to get results on like a daily basis. I workout longer at lower intensity because that happens to match with the types of activities I like to do. Stress is a big issue for me and this is the best method for me to control stress. I do like all kinds of play and again that tends to go on for hours at varying intensity levels. For me it just isn’t all about measurable results its mostly about being happy now.

  23. I chilled out on the working out this past weekend! I failed to work out on Friday because I had a 7am (6 hour) flight… And then this weekend I cut my work out down by 10 – 15 minutes! This is a BIG DEAL for me! BIG DEAL. And I am going to try my best not to FLIP OUT and I am going to continue to just work out 10 minutes shorter than normal. It’s still TRUCK LOADS of exercise, so really, I will be just fine! It’s time to live more of my LIFE!

  24. Everyone needs to find what works best for themselves. I like working out as much as I do. I do cross-train. I like to think of functional fitness. If what you do keeps you fit for the life you want to have, that’s great! I still do not feel HIIT is as good as long distance runs for V02 max. I’ve yet to meet the person that only does HIIT that can sustain a long run.

  27. I’m a firm believer in HIIT exercises as well! So much more effective, and a time saver.

    I do also do longer workouts from time to time- great to relieve stress!

  28. I have always suspected what your post confirms! I do try to sneak a few minutes here and there but here is my problem –
    I work 10 hour shifts. I do a 15 minute yoga stretch most mornings in which I work – anything more strenuous is OUT at that time of morning. When I get home (usually around 7:30pm) I am too pooped to do anything else. I have used a pedometer and average 7miles a day while at work.
    I am trying to use my days off productively with either a 30 -45 minute walk and those ‘plank-squat-ab’ challenges. (This is where I have difficulty sticking to it). But these days tend to be bunched together ie-Fri-Sat-Sun.
    Gaaaa! It feels as though I never make any headway!
    Any suggestions?
    (Outside of quitting my job. I have suggested that a few times. lol!)

    • Im all about the WHAT YOU CAN WHEN YOU CAN and, through that lens, YOUVE NAILED IT!!! The pedometer speaks volumes. Can you perhaps snag fitness breaks throughout the day? A few planks, a smattering of lunges etc? 7 miles rocks. You’re doing GREAT!

  29. Sometimes my workouts are scaled back by accident (because life gets in the way), but I always find I come back stronger afterwards. This is why I never worry went the workouts suffer. I still be strong anyways.

  30. I love HIIT!! Creating time for exercise has always been a challenge of mine. Once I figured out that if I get up 45 minutes earlier each day, I could get it done and feel great as a result, the plan was in motion. Years later, I still follow this same schedule and I’ve never worried about “fitting” exercise into my life, as it’s the foundation for starting my day in a healthy way. Works for me! Thanks for the great share!

  31. Now that I’m pregnant I’ve definitely scaled back! And I’m enjoying it. I’m still running the Hershey Half in October, but I’m going about it in a completely different light. And even when I wasn’t preggers, I never spent more than an hour in the gym. I just can’t justify it! Get in, get er done, and get out!

    It will be interesting to see how I fit workouts in with two kids (one being a newborn), working fulltime, helping my husband with his company, blogging, etc. etc. Guess we’ll find out in March! 😉

  32. Not having a car is the best workout for me. I have to walk, occasionally sprint to catch a bus, oh, and keep the dog fit. It’s easier to work in the occasional (alas, too occasional) wall push ups than make sure I’m doing a full workout routine. That being said, I could probably afford to be somewhat more active.

  33. You know I am conflicted about this since I do incorporate HIIT & intervals & weights & still need to do what I do to be the way I want to be AND I eat well. I think it does come down to what is right for the person, what they want to accomplish, how much they have to lose & all kinds of other things like life & kids & more. You are in great shape now & eat really well so you may be able to do this & maintain right now. Others that don’t have as healthy a lifestyle may have to do more to get results… I think it is all individual…. We can certainly break up the times into smaller spurts but I am not sure many can be as fit as you doing the same workout especially if they don’t eat as well & don’t have the beginning body you had when you started these workouts.

  34. I LOOOOOOOOVE this post!!!!

    I gave up the exercise obsession long ago and I feel TOTALLY free. I am strong and fit and have not gained weight. SO I think….what’s the use in exercising like a mad man?

    I still get my outdoors in, which is why I love exercise. But it’s nice not to get sweaty hair everyday haha. Less time to get ready, I’m always up for that.

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