It’s true. I looked through my Garmin data and I spend slightly less than 4 hours on average in the gym lifting weights.
Of course, this is not to say I’m not otherwise active. And lifting weights alone does not make one “fit.” I walk, hike, bike, play with my dogs. I like to be active.
But to be strong and muscular, I’m spending an average of slightly less than 4 hours per MONTH (not per week) in the gym.
Does it work? Yes. I follow a Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty (ish) style plan of low rep, super heavy intensity to failure. I get stronger and I’m far stronger on average than most women who lift. I’m also muscular.
Is it the only thing that works? No. I’ve worked other programs and they’ve also worked.
The point is, to those who say they don’t have time, I spend 0.56% of my time in the gym lifting (this data is based on a year’s worth of lifting stats). And in this time frame I get stronger, build muscle which is healthy and anti aging and save myself tons of time for the rest of my goofing around, work and other responsibilities.
When I first began lifting in 2019 I was very fortunate that I immersed myself in good quality fitness content and didn’t waste time on stupid stuff. I was focused, diligent and consistent. Between 2019-2022 I worked out 6 days a week for about 35 minutes on average. A lot more than I do now, but probably still a lot less than most serious lifters.
And I made good progress. Not as much as I’ve made doing Heavy Duty. But I made consistent progress in getting lean, building muscle and getting strong in those years. So obviously it worked.
Discipline and consistency mean the most when it comes to strength training. There’s nothing else that can make up for the lack of them.
But if you are a busy person, or hate the gym, or have kids, or work 2 jobs or whatever else it may be, if you want to be strong, you don’t need to spend 6 hours a week lifting.
Granted, lifting 4 hours a month to be strong or jacked does not make one fit and healthy. That requires additional things, primarily a good diet and some decent active time like walking. But we should be doing those things anyway!
It is a privilege that God made our bodies so capable of being strong and fit and healthy. We should honor Him by sacrificing some time to being grateful for that gift.
I yearn to find a woman to train in this manner and see what I could show her she’s capable of in short, hard and infrequent training sessions!
Anna Farley 