Less is More
How Doing Less Can Increase Your Rate of Success
Yes, I am applying this cliche to your health practices because, in my experience, committing to less wins. Every. Damn. Time. If I have seen it once, I have seen it a thousand times. A new client comes in hot, wanting 5 workouts per week to reach a very specific goal within an aggressive timeline. Or a client who has been consistent for a while falls out of routine and skips weeks of workouts and wants to “get back into routine” by going from 0-100 immediately.
I, of course, hear and understand the desire to get where they want to go in a timely manner, and yet I do advise against the balls-to-the-walls approach. I encourage starting with less, with the aim of consistency above all else. Some folks are able to get right back in at 100, and often these folks are those who had been consistent at some point or another for an extended period of tim. But they are the exception, not the rule. Let’s look at the “less is more” approach from the lens of two scenarios I have seen play out time and again:
Scenario 1:
At the start of every month of the year, you go all-in on a new health commitment, get halfway through the first week, and never get back into it until the start of the next month. For example, your aim was to do 5 workouts per week that are 60 minutes each, after having done little to no workouts in the past two months. You get your workout in Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then something comes up on Thursday, you’re under-recovered from three tough workouts in a row, your willpower tank is depleted and you miss your workout. Friday comes and you wake up still sore from the workouts earlier in the week and you don’t feel like working out. You’re hard on yourself about having missed your workouts and feel down about it. Then it’s the weekend and you want (or need) to do others things like spend time with family, run errands etc.
A new Monday comes, you are still feeling bummed about having missed workouts last week, and you weren’t into a consistent routine or habit, so you don’t go back to the gym or workout routine you had committed to at all for the rest of the month. “Next month, I’m all in” you say.
This scenario would equate to 3 workouts/month at 60 minutes each = 36 workouts/year or 2,160 minutes of exercise/year.
Scenario 2:
At any point in time, on any given week, you commit to doing 2 workouts per week that are 30 minutes each. You plan to do your workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays. You do your Monday workout, but something comes up on Wednesday and you miss your workout. On Thursday you wake up still feeling minor soreness from Monday’s workout, but rested and energized, ready to do your Wednesday workout on Thursday instead. You wake up on Friday feeling accomplished and excited to enjoy your weekend and you’re proud you kept your commitment to yourself.
A new Monday comes and you’re excited for your workout, you have better planned this week knowing that Wednesdays don’t work for getting a workout in so have planned to do your workouts Monday and Thursday. Because you fulfilled your commitment last week, you trust yourself to get to both workouts, and because there are only 2, this feels very manageable. The manageability supports the consistency of turning this routine into a habit.
This scenario would equate to 8.6 workouts/month at 30 minutes each = 103 workouts/year or 3,096 minutes of exercise/year.
In committing to 3 less workouts per week, it actually ends up being nearly 3x more days of workouts and 31% more minutes of exercise completed within the year. Not only does the measurable side of this check out, the far more meaningful bi-product is that you have committed to something consistently, thus building trust in your ability to keep your word to yourself. Workouts aside, that is an asset you can take and apply anywhere.
Set yourself up for success, commit to less.
xo Sydney