Balancing Fitness with Life
Ever since I got in really good shape it’s amazing how many people say to me things like:
“Yeah, clearly you live in the gym.”
and things like:
“I wish I had time to eat and work out like you.”
I just kind of smile in response because here’s the reality. I don’t live in the gym. I also don’t meal prep or spend hours in the kitchen. I spend a total of 4.5 hours in the gym per week and I simply track what I eat.
I used to think I needed to spend every day in the gym to get any real results. I heard over and over again that you only get out what you put in! However, I have found that the real way to get results is to stay consistent.
It sounds over-used, but consistency over time is the only way to get meaningful results. What is sustainable for you? Can you consistently go to the gym for 2-3 hours per day 6 - 7 days a week for 5 years? My hunch is that is a big fat no! This is why I lift 3 days per week. I do that because I can balance the rest of my life with staying fit.
So how can I lift only 3 days per week and still get meaningful muscle growth?Research shows us that the total volume lifted has way more to do with muscle growth than frequency. Volume means the total weight times the number of reps performed. I work out 3 days a week for 1 - 1.5 hours per workout. But I get at it! I lift heavy, hard and intensely. I used to think that doing cardio was the only way to get my heart rate up. This is not true. When you’re lifting super heavy with one or no reps in the tank it pushes your body to the limit and your heart rate goes soaring. In addition having at least day off in between each resistance training session allows my body to recover and rest. After all the muscle building happens after the work out, not during. On a practical level, if I’m feeling sore or pain it always gives my body time to heal and repair itself before I break it down again.
So spending a total of 4 -5 hours in the gym per week is something that I can do long-term. It doesn’t burn me out and is sustainable. But most importantly, it gives me time for the rest of the things in my life—time for my wife, time to spend with my kids, time for friends and work.
So how do I eat so consistently to achieve my goals? I have adopted a eating practice known as flexible dieting. Now I don’t like the word diet because in reality it is just the way I eat now and forever. There is no end to this “diet”.
Basically flexible dieting means I get to eat whatever I want!
What? Okay what’s the catch? I have a target caloric goal for the day and a protein goal. So as long as I hit my calories and protein goals, it doesn’t matter what I eat or when I eat. Often I’ll have a big bowl of ice cream right before bed, pizza for lunch and steak for dinner.
To stay on track I recommend using a tracking app so you can easily keep track of your food throughout the day. An app like MyFitness Pal makes it very easy to stay on track.
So I don’t spend any extra time (well maybe about 3 minutes per day to enter my foods) on cooking and eating. This also makers balancing my health and fitness with the rest of the things in my life.
Let’s be honest. What’s most important to you? For me it’s my family and my health. I don’t want to have to sacrifice one at the expense of the other. You’ll hear me say this about million times but it’s just so true.
Lift heavy weights consistently over time.
Hit your calories and your protein consistently over time.
That may be oversimplified, but that’s the truth. Let’s all make some more time for the things that matter in life!