Can doing less *really* lead to more results?

[0st]

@markclark058 My all or nothing mentality is my downfall with fitness as well. “Skipping” days feels like quitting and I get scared it’ll ruin my determination/habit I’ve built. In reality I guess “rest” days are part of that dedication and I need to internalize that and allow myself to rest more

 

[anon103]

@0st Athletes who really overreach and have a long training history can often succeed when switching to minimalist programs because their body needs the rest and they've worked hard to build a huge baseline in their performance.

For most of the rest of us, the baseline conditions haven't been met for this scenario. That said, it takes a lot less work to maintain progress than to make it in the first place, so no you won't lose your gains if you take some time to change things up.

Instead of looking to "less" or "more" as a silver bullet, take a look at the factors you have control over, and find good places to take logical steps. If you've been dieting a long time, take a few weeks at maintenance. If you've been doing a lot of hard and long runs, shift your focus to getting in a lot of easy mileage. (I swear my recovery skyrockets anytime I increase my moderate paced cardio). A more flexible lifting schedule sounds like a good idea. See what else you can change, especially if you can find opportunities to eat more, sleep more, etc.

 

[everlastinggift]

@0st I've been on minimalist workouts for like, a year or so now. For me, it's worked great. My goals aren't anything crazy: just longevity, general strength, and general muscle building. I find the routines (generally) easier to stick to, as they tend to take less time, and over all I haven't noticed a detriment in my results: I can lift as heavy as ever, I haven't lost definition, and it has helped me dial in my intensity because I know I'm not doing a ton of volume, so I'm more likely to push just a little bit more than I might have otherwise.

Now, I am an advanced lifter - almost a decade of mostly consistent lifting under my belt, so that may contribute to my results. But, over all, rest is just as important as the work, so even if you just do it for a little bit, dialing back your workout can definitely help.

 

[melodyonpoint]

@0st It just depends on what you’re doing right now and how it’s effecting your diet.

Are you hitting the gym daily and doing lots of cardio? The extra energy expenditure will trigger a need for more calories & consumption. Then your weight may not move much.

Or are you hitting the gym daily and doing lots of cardio & now you can’t keep up with your extra caloric needs? You can’t build muscle while expending all of your extra calories.

So it really depends on what you’re doing and what your goals are.

 

[thebadcatholic]

@0st Absolutely. I've lost weight/fat while dialing back the volume on my lifting workouts. I went from running the full version of Stronger by the Day to the Express version, which basically eliminates a set of each exercise in the program. I figured that since I'm not trying to build muscle right now since I'm in a deficit, but want to hang on to the muscle that I have, the extra volume could go. That being said, I have added one or two cardio sessions per week into my routine, usually around 30 mins on the stair mill with my heart rate around 150 for the session. I'm also eating between .8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of my body weight. I haven't felt hungry on this cut at all and I've been super active and have lost 12 lbs in 4 months.

 

[nathan2018]

@0st The answer is mostly going to be it depends on the individual.

If you are regularly exceeding your recovery capacity and getting hurt - yes, you are doing too much and need to pull back.

Some people find that they simply cannot do as much volume for certain muscle groups (usually lower body compounds) as they can for others because it is too hard for them to recover from. If you find you are regularly so fatigued from previous workouts that you can’t hit your program targets that’s a sign that there may be an issue (though I’d look at other aspects of recovery too).

As far as strength programming goes - balancing fatigue management and intensity is always going to be important. It’s part of why many intermediate+ strength programs have most sets occurring in the RPE 6-8 range.

One thing I will warn against re: weight loss. I do think some people will lose water weight when they significantly decrease exercise and interpret this as “I stopped lifting and lost weight” which is true in a very technical sense, but the weight in question is not the weight they really care about (body fat).

 

[apologeticsguy]

@0st Yes.

I absolutely love weight training, for both body and mind. For years i was trying to essentially body recomp, put on muscle while losing fat. It was hard. Weight lifting made me feel great about myself, but it also made me really hungry and so it was hard to stick to my “diet” which yo-yo’d between a calorie deficit and eating at maintenance. It was also really hard to also focus on getting enough protein while limiting my calories.

In december i decided to just focus on fat loss. I stopped weight training, did 4-5 days of cardio a week, mostly just walking for 1h but then added some running in the spring. I was able to maintain a calorie deficit without trying very hard, and i still tried to prioritize protein but i didn’t really care if i was short. I am down 20 lbs (as of today actually!)

I am now at a point where i want to reintroduce weight training and try and gain some muscle/strength

 

[brokenwings88]

@apologeticsguy Awesome job finding what works! That hunger is REAL. I’ve never been as dialed in with my strength training as I’ve been the last 6 months and my strength is exploding, but it feels practically impossible to eat at a deficit and lose weight. And I’ve lost 60 lbs in the past, so I know how to do it.

 

[scmf]

@0st Check out Evlo fitness—the founder Dr Shannon Ritchey (@drshannondpt on insta) talks a lot about her experience with this and how it has influenced how they design their program. I’ve been following her and doing Evlo for about two years now and have seen significant muscle growth even with only lifting 30m/day, 5 days/week, and I don’t feel exhausted/burned out/fatigued like i used to when lifting 1h/day, 5-6 days/week.

This is not an ad, I just love this program and really appreciate that it gave me the opportunity to keep getting stronger without killing myself working out!!