Overview
These are training programs for people who can only commit 1.5 to 2 hours of total duration a week.
There are two distinct demographics here that will find minimalist programs useful.
- Beginners looking for the smallest possible time commitment. Anyone who has run through The Starter Program, for example.
- Intermediates who have other athletic pursuits as their priority, or are simply on a busy schedule. In either of these cases they may just be looking to just maintain progress in strength, hypertrophy, mobility, etc.
Advanced trainees will find any combination of 2 hours total training volume to be insufficient, but might still consider one of these two programs if life is very busy for a period of time.
Goals
As for your specific goals, it’s worth repeating the less time you are willing to commit, the more similar training will look. So whether your goal is health, muscle gain, fat loss, athleticism; the program will end up being similar if not identical at two hours a week. If you aren’t sure of your long term fitness goals at this stage this is a great use of time.
Finally, there’s an assumption here that time is a valuable commodity that is in short supply. It should be – otherwise other suggested programs here will be objectively better.
It’s worth repeating that there’s no secret shortcuts here. There’s no magic way of hyper optimising a specific sequence that will be magically and scientifically superior. As always, you’ll get what you put in.
A couple of caveats:
- It should be pointed out right upfront that a minimalist approach will lead to minimal results – this is a fundamental reality. Any minimalist program should be considered a compromise; refer to the Standard Programs as ones that I recommend.
- If you’re a novice, this does not replace the starter program. Start there.
- For beginners, I want to emphasis an intermediate will likely get more out of minimalist styles of training than beginners. This may sound paradoxical but goes back to the fundamental concept that it is much easier to maintain a physical attribute than build a physical attribute.
- To repeat, the newer you are, the more you need a commercial gym for appropriate regressions.
- So if you’re a beginner and not an intermediate, and you choose to scrape by with 90 minutes a week instead of 120, and you choose to skip a gym and go for the home workout option, don’t be surprised if the results you get are minimal.
Training – in the gym
There is one clear direction of programming I would recommend provided below. This requires access to any standard commercial gym.
For most people, this will likely achieve the goal of getting 60-70% of results with a fairly unsubstantial time investment of 2 hours a week.
A second option has been provided for those without access to a gym. This will be, objectively speaking, an inefficient option in terms of results. It should only really be applicable for folks who have a legitimate issue with going to a commercial gym.
Are these the only minimalist ways of training? Of course not; there are plenty of other good approaches. Some particularly great coaches espousing minimalism includes Dan John (most of his programs such as Easy Strength), K Boges, and GZCL. Any of these different approaches can also be mixed and matched depending on your goals and preferences.
- 2x a week – ‘Iron Giant’
- 7x a week – ‘The 365’
Training – outside the gym
Let’s go in order of priority.
- Hitting approximately 6000 steps daily. This is one of the most researched topics in fitness and one of the least controversial. If you’re reading this page you’ll already know the benefits. It’s simple – get your steps in as your first priority.
- 2-3 minutes of mobility work daily. You read that right, the long term goal here is to make this a daily routine 365 days a here. This is probably best done as a morning routine, and can take anywhere from 2 minutes if you’re in a rush to 10 mins if done right. Again, something is always better than nothing here.