@fsaan Bodybuilders, Olympians etc. don't have much relevance, though useful for promoting dreams. I'd agree with you that if you want to be Arnold, then train like Arnold. Good luck with that.
Most redditors here, particularly the older ones, aren't actually looking to become "swole, jacked, ripped, shredded, big, bent" as promoted by fitness sites for commercial reasons--to young men wanting to attract babes. Very few will ever achieve that status, and if so, out of vanity, will burn out by age 30 and accept the dad bod.
Vanity isn't a strong enough motivator for the long haul.
Fitness with health is, however, as it takes up SO much less time and lessens the injury potential. P. D. Mangan's in plenty good shape at 67--yet does only 30 min sessions 2x a week. Hence his 170k followers on Twitter.
Me, I take casual walks on the beach, in soft sand, a few times a week for the sun.
Sun, steak and steel, ha ha. Cardio, I do 6 intervals of 30 sec each per week for a total of--only 2 1/2 minutes. I may not even need that, since I exercise intensely. So, no, not afraid in the least. Meanwhile my V02 max falls in the Superior category. Yours?
Oh, but there ARE studies, never mentioned by fitness sites. I'll mention three; you can google up more for yourself, obviously never having read anything.
Body By Science, P. D. Mangan's books, Martin Gibala's
One Minute Workout, among others, refer to numerous studies.
However, muscular performance gains may be greater when using HIT.
A comparison of low volume 'high-intensity-training' and high volume traditional resistance training methods on muscular performance, body composition, and subjective assess of training
One-minute high-intensity exercise (3 x 20 sec), 3x a week for 12 weeks, improved fitness as much as did 3 x 45 minutes a week aerobic training.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075
Yep, studies of high intensity training show sufficiently impressive results, combined with real world examples like Mike Mentzer, Dorian Yates, and P. D. Mangan suggest the new paradigm has considerable credibility.
Been working great for me, don't miss a bit all that frantic pumpin' and sitting around "resting" between sets. Or walking 45 min on the treadmill. Seems kinda laughable to now when I see it in the gym. I think back to all the time I wasted on such at the expense of my joints. Now I'm outta there quickly; but I've suffered, unlike the pumpers. HIT is a lot harder.