Mies van der Rohe once said that \u201cless is more.\u201d The legendary architect was talking about distilling the essence of form, but his aphorism applies just as well to working out, according to New York City trainer and certified six-pack haver Dan Castillo: \u201cDue to the bombardment on social media of the rock hard bodies of fitness influencers, people believe that in order to achieve a certain look that they should be working out every day for multiple hours. This couldn\u2019t be more false,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s back up. As a baseline, the CDC recommends<\/a> that adults get 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week\u2014they describe this as a brisk walk. If you\u2019re willing to crank up the intensity, the time commitment decreases to 75 minutes (think jogging or running) weekly. The CDC also suggests combining your cardiovascular activities with two days of weekly strength training, working all major muscle groups. You\u2019re not going to see Arnold Schwarzenegger gains doing this, but this is a great starting point when thinking about overall health and wellness. And it\u2019s truly not a lot.<\/p>\n It also shows that the harder you\u2019re going, the less time you need to spend doing it. Research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise<\/a> cosigns: Study participants who did a single 23-minute HIIT<\/a> workout once weekly for a year saw similar improvements in body composition as those who did three different moderate-intensity workouts each week.<\/p>\n In real life, GQ\u2019s fitness and wellness columnist Joe Holder suggests that guys work out four times per week. \u201cThis typically allows someone to get in both a mix of high intensity and low intensity work coupled with a focus on different skills and abilities,\u201d he says. \u201cThe other three days I would suggest a mix of rest and active recovery, with one more workout if the person feels up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n