Why I only do 20min workouts now

20 is plenty

Recently I started talking a little more about my own training. Generally I avoid this because what I do isn’t necesarily what you should do or my clients should do & my whole coaching ethos is built around looking at core principles and applying them to the individual in a way that suits them.

That is why my clients get great result that they achieve without sacrificing other areas of their life and that they can maintain.

So, with that context I am sharing why I only do 20min workouts.

This seems to have surprised people.

& given that one of my key messages I want to instil in people is:

Something is better than nothing & that you don’t have to be anywhere near perfect to get results

…I thought this would be a good topic to delve in to.

Here are some of the the benefits to shorter, more frequent workouts:

1) Routine.

It’s much easier to get into a routine if you do something daily Vs if you do it 3x per week.

Example.

I do 5-6x 20min workouts a week.

that = 100- 120minutes a week.

Most people would split this into

2x60min workouts a week

I would argue that not only will the quality of those 120min be far higher but the benefit to health higher too as you are stimulating muscle more frequently (more on this to come).

2) Improved recovery

I like to think of the ethos of my training as stimulate not annihilate.

Unless you’re a performance athlete there isn’t much need to push yourself to the absolute limit and then pile on a load of volume.

Don’t get me wrong, pushing your body out of its comfort zone IS important. That is the trigger for your body to adapt. This is why HIIT training is so effective despite relatively low volume of exercise.

3) The law of diminishing returns

Most of the benefits you get from your 60min workout come from the first 20mins of it.

Consider the principle of the law of diminishing returns. More is not better. And the biggest bang for your buck usually comes from the first 20min of exercise you do.

This principle holds true in many domains…

- you get the most joy from the first 2 splices of pizza
- you get the most work done in the first 30mins of focus
- you get the biggest health benefit from the first 7,000 steps you do

This isn’t to say that more pizza brings no joy, that you get no work done after 30mins and that there is no benefit to over 7,000 steps… it’s just that the returns aren’t as great per extra unit of effort.

4) Improved mood.

Extra endorphins!

If we compare 6x 20min workouts to 2x 60min workouts then you get a tonne more endorphins (the chemicals that make you feel good post workout) from the more frequent exercise.

You will also notice the days you exercise (especially if you exercise in the morning) you tend to be in a far better mood.

& improved mood transfers into all areas of life. If you’re looking for motivation - focus on mood first. What can you do to improve your mood? that will improve your motivation.

5) Focus

Exercise has been shown to improve your concentration, work output and focus. This has been something especially important to me. I am unsure of it’s an ADHD thing or just a me thing but I struggle to focus if I haven’t exercised.

6) Health

Some of the key benefits of exercise for health require frequency. It’s not just the total amount of exercise you do that matters.

Example: insulin sensitivity is elevated for about 48 hours after exercise.

It peaks after exercise & then slowly decreases over the next 2 days.

If you want to keep insulin sensitivity elevated (a key component of metabolic health so I would highly recommend) then you are going to want to exercise more often.

7) Quality of workout

Parkinson’s law:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
In other words - if you only have 20mins to get a workout done you’ll faff around far less.

I also find the quality of the workout is better as I get less distracted.

8) Time

It’s often easier to find 20mins a day than full hours a few times a week even if the total time is equal. The number 1 reason people don’t exercise is that they don’t find time so this is an important consideration.

9) The most important one

ANYTHING ELSE you could be doing with that time - time with family, time with friends, time building a business, time enjoying food, time relaxing - whatever is a priority to you.

There is no way I could do all the things I do if I still spent an hour + a day exercising.

Important extra notes:

Consistency is the key here.

I can’t remember the last time I didn’t do a minimum of 5x 20min workouts in a week.

I have also spend years training - predominantly with much longer workouts. I can’t say for sure that you could build as much muscle without this background. I have certainly found that maintaining my physique like this has been completely achievable - I would even argue I may be getting better results than when I did longer sessions.

If you would like to see a full week of training then subscribe to my paid substack for access.

You will get a full week’s example (6 day plan) of how I train along with examples of adaptations and suggestions of how you might tweak the plan to suit you.

& if you enjoy my writing it would mean the world if you would share with someone who may find it useful or interesting, thank you!