Confession Time!

I have a confession to make.

And to be honest, I'm kind of confessing to myself as much as I'm confessing to you. My (very catholic) grandma would be so proud.

Over the past six months, I've only been working out three times a week.

I think I've been in a bit of denial about this. Like I've been convincing myself that I'm still doing the same routine I did two years ago where I'm consistently exercising five days a week and training for some big race.

In my brain, nothing has changed.

Except that I've reprioritized a bit, and just haven't felt like I have the time or energy to do more than three workouts a week.

And that terrifies me.

There's this feeling that, what if this is the slippery slope? What if three workouts a week drops down to two workouts, then one, and then zero?

We want to have kids in five years. What if this is just a precursor to that?

Naturally, these worries aren't super logical. Your fitness is not something that you lose and never get back.

Of course, fitness "results" look different in your 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's, but still, intellectually, I know from experience that this isn't a valid worry.

“fitness “results” look different in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s”

And now that I'm breaking this down for myself, I want to ease your fears a bit too—in case you're having some panic thoughts like I am.

1️⃣. Maintenance is much easier than building from scratch. Research shows that you can maintain muscle with as little as one strength session per week, as long as you're still pushing hard.* So even though I'm working out less, I'm still able to maintain most of my strength & aesthetic.

2️⃣. One of the tough parts of aging is that it takes our bodies longer to recover. What I've found in my own workouts is that the extra rest days I get from working out three days a week actually makes my body feel amazing.

3️⃣. Because I'm allowing my body proper recovery, I'm able to give high effort in every single one of my workouts. I'm not burnt out, and I'm able to get as much out of my session as possible.

• This is actually really important. The research shows that effort level in a workout is a huge indicator in results.** It's one of the reasons why we tell you to fuel well before your sessions. Because we know that if you have a lot of energy to push harder in the workout, you're going to get more out of it.

I'm not saying that I'm going to do three workouts a week forever. I'm not training for anything specific right now, and I'm in a particularly high intensity time at work. But what I'm trying to convince myself (and you) is that it's okay (dare I say, good!) that I'm getting less workouts in right now.

It's not the beginning of the end.

It's not going to magically zap me of all my muscle & strength overnight.

I'm managing my workouts in a way that is sustainable because I know that the only way that I will truly let myself down, is if I stop my routine altogether.

“I know that the only way that I will truly let myself down, is if I stop my routine altogether.”

P.S. I was taking a class this week, and I PR'd my Clean & Jerk (it's an olympic lift where you pick a barbell off the floor and bring it to your shoulders, then throw it over your head) by 25lbs for the first time in FIVE years. For the first time in my entire life, I clean & Jerk'd 265 lbs and I had room to keep going.

Get out of your head, Sam. You're doing great.

• A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that strength and muscle size can be maintained for up to 32 weeks with as little as one strength training session per week and one set per exercise, as long as exercise intensity is maintained. (Spiering et al., 2021)

• A study published in Life Sciences found that the level of effort during resistance training — not just the weight on the bar — plays a critical role in how much strength you gain. A high-effort group gained over 20% strength while a low-effort group training at the same intensity saw almost no change. (Jiang et al., 2017)