2860: Short Daily Workouts vs. Full Body 3x a Week: Which One Actually Gets You More Results?

Summary

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Mind Pump Podcast: Episode 2860

Short Daily Workouts vs. Full Body 3x a Week: Which One Actually Gets You More Results?

Date: May 18, 2026
Hosts: Sal Di Stefano, Adam Schafer, Justin Andrews, Doug Egge

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into a hotly debated fitness topic: Are short daily workouts more effective than doing full body workouts two or three times per week? The Mind Pump crew takes on practical, behavioral, and physiological aspects, sharing their personal experiences and professional insights to help listeners find which approach might fit their lifestyle and deliver the best results.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Stage: What’s Being Compared?

• Short Daily Workouts:
  • 15–20 minutes per day, 5–7 days a week
  • Same total weekly volume as less frequent workouts
• Full Body 2–3x/Week:
  • 45–60 minute sessions, 2–3 times a week
  • Each session covers all major muscle groups
• Important Context:
  • Both options are designed to deliver the same total volume and intensity over the week
  • Home gym access is a gamechanger for short daily workouts
  • The choice often comes down to behavioral and lifestyle factors

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The Rise of Home Gyms (06:00–09:00)

• COVID-19 pandemic led to explosive growth in home gym setups. Adam and Mike note how more people found working out at home more sustainable and convenient.
• Adam Schafer shares:

  “Pre-Covid, if you listen to the podcast far enough back, I used to debate these guys that, oh man, I’m a go to the gym guy all day long… And then I learned to love [home workouts].” (06:32)

• Stats:
  • Home gym products’ US sales were up 50% in 2022 (vs. 2019).
  • Households participating in home workouts: 24% (2019) to 33% (2022).

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Pros of Short Daily Workouts (09:00–15:00)

1. Greater Consistency & Adherence

• Missing a Day Is Less Costly:
  • With daily workouts, missing a day means missing 1/7 of your total volume vs. 1/2 if you miss a full body day.
  • Over months and years, this adds up to more workouts completed.
• Mike:

  “Over the course of six months or a year, overall, [people doing daily workouts] are working out more. Because when they miss a workout, they’re not missing a lot, they’re just missing a little bit.” (11:06)

2. Easier Habit Formation (‘Habit Stacking’):

• Justin Andrews:

  “For a beginner to get on track... and really like stack these wins, I think 15 [minutes daily] is great.” (11:22)

• Practicing a little each day builds momentum and weaves fitness into everyday life.

3. Time Efficiency:

• 20 minutes a day is easier to slot into busy schedules than longer sessions.
• Mike:

  “Carving 20 minutes out of your day... is easier than carving an hour, two or three days a week. It just is.” (12:58)

4. Reduced Physical Stress & Better Recovery:

• Shorter bouts of exercise create less systemic fatigue, which is crucial for those with high life stress or limited recovery.
• Adam Schafer:

  “There is a stress accumulation when a workout gets longer that you don’t get from short workouts...” (13:54)
  “The short daily workouts tend to be less stressful.” (15:08)

5. Daily Physical Activity Benefits:

• More frequent physical exertion supports movement needs, especially for sedentary jobs.
• Adam Schafer:

  “Simply just going for a walk is not enough. Having at least getting a couple of lifts in there... makes a bigger difference...” (15:48)

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Cons & Limitations of Short Daily Workouts (16:44–18:55)

1. Requires Convenient Gym Access

• Driving to a gym daily for 20 minutes is inefficient. Home gyms are almost essential.
• Justin Andrews:

  “You just burn a lot of empty time [driving].” (17:31)

2. Potentially Less Enjoyment for Some

• Some lifters don’t hit their groove until 20 minutes into a workout and may find “just warming up when it’s time to stop.”
• Mike:

  “Some people just find these kind of workouts less enjoyable. You’ll talk to some people and say, you know, I don’t really get into the workout until I’m like 20 minutes in, and then you’re telling me I need to stop.” (18:40)

• Adam Schafer flips this point, arguing that getting attached to the “feeling” of soreness or a pump may be mental, and results show even short workouts can be effective. (19:11–20:22)

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Pros & Cons of Full Body 2–3x/Week Workouts (20:22–26:07)

Pros:

1. Enjoyment & Depth:

   • Many find satisfaction in long, “immersive” workouts, often likening gym time to therapy or meditation.
   • Adam Schafer:

     “I used to call it my church. It was a time where... everything else just dissolved…” (21:23)

2. Strength Stamina & Endurance:

   • Longer, full-body sessions can develop muscle stamina differently than shorter bouts.
   • Mike:

     “Probably better for strength stamina, because strength stamina is built with workouts that challenge your stamina. And a short workout that lasts 20 minutes doesn’t challenge it much, but an hour workout will challenge it more.” (24:39)

3. Lower Frequency, Less Frequent Commitment:

   • Easier for those who prefer to focus their time into fewer, longer sessions.

Cons:

1. Lower Consistency In Practice:

   • Missing just one session means losing a significant chunk of weekly total volume.
   • Adam Schafer:

     “This is harder to be consistent…if you miss a full hour, I’m going to do nothing at all, versus if I only had to do [a little].” (26:07)

2. Greater Stress per Session:

   • Longer workouts, even at the same total weekly volume, are more taxing and recovery-intensive.

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Tailoring to the Individual (22:38–26:34)

• Know Yourself:
  • Some thrive on the “workout is my therapy” vibe; others prefer quick bursts to punctuate busy days.
  • Primary question: Which format are you likely to stick with consistently?
• Justin Andrews:

  “You gotta know if this is you, you gotta ask yourself, like, which one feels better to me? Which one do I feel like I'm going to be more committed to or more consistent with?" (22:38)

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Personal Testimonials: The Mind Pump Experience (26:34–29:46)

• Mike and Adam both recount how trying short daily workouts—originally with skepticism—led to surprises, including strength gains and PRs in advanced age.

  • Mike:

    “At the age of 45... I hit a PR in deadlifts, which is one of my best lifts at 45 years old. I broke my old PR, not even trying...” (27:45)

  • Adam Schafer:

    “I remember coming back... like, dude, I’m tripping out right now on how little I’m lifting... and the strength... coming.” (27:53)

• Even those with years of traditional training benefited from the routine and recovery of shorter daily workouts.

  • Adam:

    “I think if you are already into working out... Scaling the volume down would probably be a good idea...” (28:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “For a beginner to get on track to gain momentum... stack these wins, I think 15 is great.”
  — Justin Andrews (11:22)

• “Carving 20 minutes out of your day... is easier than carving an hour, two or three days a week. It just is.”
  — Mike (12:58)

• “There is a stress accumulation when a workout gets longer that you don’t get from short workouts...”
  — Adam Schafer (13:54)

• “I used to call it my church. It was a time where I could kind of... everything else just dissolve.”
  — Adam Schafer (21:23)

• “At the age of 45... I hit a PR in deadlifts, which is one of my best lifts at 45 years old. I broke my old PR, not even trying...”
  — Mike (27:45)

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Conclusions & Final Recommendations

• Short daily workouts excel in consistency, habit formation, lifestyle fit, and recovery, and are highly viable for both beginners and advanced lifters—especially those with home gyms.
• Full body 2–3x/week sessions may provide a more immersive, deeply satisfying workout and develop “strength stamina,” but are harder to stick with if time or motivation wavers.
• Self-awareness is key: Consider personal preference, lifestyle, and which approach you can maintain long-term.
• Both approaches are effective if executed consistently and matched for total volume. The most successful workout is the one you’ll actually do.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [06:00] – Home gyms surge & behavioral shifts
• [09:00] – Pros of short daily workouts (consistency, habits, time)
• [11:22] – Short workouts for beginners
• [13:54] – Reduced stress & recovery
• [16:44] – Daily workouts require home gym access
• [18:40] – Psychological enjoyment & “feeling the pump”
• [21:23] – Gym time as meditation/therapy
• [24:39] – Strength stamina in full body workouts
• [27:45] – Mind Pump hosts on trying short workouts with breakthrough results

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For more training insights and programs, visit Mind Pump Media on Instagram or mindpumppodcast.com

Transcript

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If you want to pump your body

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[Mike]

most downloaded fitness, health and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode we're comparing short daily workouts to full body workouts two or three days a week. So workout a little bit every day or go to the gym and spend an hour doing a full body workout two or three days a week. What's better for who? We break it all down. Now because of this episode, we have a sale. Buy any Maps 15 style workout program. Get any other Maps 15 style workout program for free. It's buy one get one free right now. Go to Maps 15 BOGO. Now this episode is brought to you by a sponsor, Legion. So Legion makes supplements for muscle gain, for fat loss, for longevity and health. It's one of the highest rated supplement companies on the Internet. Why? It's super high quality. The products taste good, they work good, they're third party tested. So what it says on the bottle is in the bottle. And you know the supplement industry is notorious for lying to you. Allegion is a company that we work with and trust. Go check them out. Go to buylegion.com mindpump use the code mindpump and you can buy one, get one 50% off if you're a new customer. All right, real quick.

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[Mike]

In recent years, there's been a bit of a debate, so this has been popularized recently. Short daily workouts. Instead of like two or three full body workouts, which one is better? Which one gives better results? What are the pros and cons of each? Short daily workouts or longer two to three day a week full body workouts? That's what we're talking about in today's episode. Let's get to it.

[Justin Andrews]

Each has their benefits.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, I feel like I can make a strong case for each of these. And looking back at the last three, four years, these are the two things that I bounce back and forth between.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Yep. So toggle between the two.

[Adam Schafer]

I don't think there's necessarily a wrong way here. I think it's really understanding who you are, what works best for you and your current life. And maybe where you're at now is not where you'll be at in a year or two or where you were just say a year or two ago. And so understanding the context I think is, is important because they, they do have their own pros and cons.

[Mike]

They do. And it's one. One piece of context we need to paint here is that the short daily workouts would equate to roughly the same total volume as the two or three day a week full body workouts. Okay, so essentially all things are equal here. Okay, so same total sets, same similar exercises. The difference is instead of going to the gym for 45 minutes to an hour, two days a week or three days a week, you're doing a little bit every day, let's say 20 minutes a day. And so that's the comparison. And so we're going to talk about like, which one's better. And a lot of this, in my opinion, rests on kind of human behavior. Like you said, Adam, who you are, what we've seen in application. And I do want to add that the short daily workouts has become more of a recent thing that people are really starting to figure out as, especially as home gyms become more popular, people are finding that this works really well for them. And we've written a lot of programs around this philosophy.

[Justin Andrews]

It's taken out a lot of objectives too, about getting to the gym or, you know, committing to this certain amount of time throughout your day that you really have to carve time out to, to acquire. And now it's like, you know, if you have a 15 minute availability anytime during the day makes that much more achievable.

[Adam Schafer]

Any idea, you know, as you're bringing this up right now, Mike, you know, we have seen quite the increase of at home gyms.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Adam Schafer]

Do you any idea, Doug, what the, the increase of that is that exploded?

[Mike]

Yeah, it was during COVID that really took off.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Right. And I think it's still, it's sustained. Right. I mean there was obviously a wave or a percentage of people that came back to the gyms, but I think a large portion of people found a new love. I mean, I'm one of those people pre Covid.

[Mike]

Yeah, you're a gym guy.

[Adam Schafer]

If you, if you listen to the podcast far enough back, I used to debate these guys that, oh man, I, I'm a go to the gym guy all day long. Just motivates me to be around other people. The music, if I drove all the way there, like. And so I advocated for a gym over at home. Then Covid hit. I was forced to train at home. Then I had my son too, around this, around the same time. And having a newborn at the house, you know, kind of forced my hand a little bit. And then I learned to love it.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

And so. And I've kind of never looked back.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah, it's gotten so much better too.

[Adam Schafer]

That too.

[Mike]

I was going to, I was just going to say that. So people who worked out at home used to be no equipment or like, like a, you know, couple, you know, pieces of garbage or Something like that. Right.

[Justin Andrews]

Like you know, bench with those sand filled weights.

[Mike]

Yeah. But now what we see is a lot of people are getting actual weights at home. So it says up here in 2022. So there was a big surge, but it sustained, so sustained growth, you know, Covid. And then after. So in 2022, U.S. wholesale sales for home gym products were approximately 50% higher.

[Adam Schafer]

Wow.

[Mike]

Than in 2019. And the percentage of U.S. households participating in home workouts increased from 40, 24% in 2019 to 33% in 2022.

[Justin Andrews]

Wow.

[Mike]

Yeah. And the commercial gyms are getting more expensive as well in this, in the sense that people who go to gyms now want more of that country club feel. You got the real low cost gym.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And then you get the high end in the middle season.

[Adam Schafer]

There's no real middle.

[Mike]

Yeah. And, and the number one reason is convenience is what most people.

[Adam Schafer]

And maybe what the middle has become has become the at home.

[Mike]

That's right, yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. The at home people are probably the people that. Cuz you can do things too, like companies like PRX that we work for where you, you can actually set it up to where you're making payments on it.

[Mike]

Just like a membership.

[Adam Schafer]

So it's like a gym membership. And then now you have all this equipment at home. And so I think that, that this has a lot to do with even this, this conversation that we're going to have right now about short workouts versus the three, the full body. I mean from day one we've, we've advocated for full body routines for most people. And I think it is for the most part typically one of the better strategies. But because of how popular at home gyms come, it makes it more realistic to go inside your garage and just do two movements that become where working out daily short workouts, if you had to go to the gym all the time would be a major inconvenience.

[Mike]

Yeah, we'll get to that. Right. That's, that's definitely one of the, the deciding factors. But let's talk a little bit about the pros of these short daily workouts and the things that we've observed. So over time it appears just from our experience that the short daily workouts lead to more workouts on average. Okay. So what I mean by that is let's say your routine is two or three full body workouts in the gym. Let's just say it's two. So for most people, two days a week, full body, you could progress that for a long time and get pretty darn Good results. And most people are looking to look fit and strong. They don't want to look like bodybuilders. And it works really well. Combine it with daily activity like walking and you've got yourself a nice routine. But if you're doing two full body workouts a week and you miss one half of your training, volume is gone in that week. And that happens. That's life. Right? So most people miss a workout here and there. Most consistent people miss a workout here and there. Most people miss more than a workout here or there. And when you miss one workout, you miss quite a bit. If you're doing a little bit every day, what it tends to look like in our experience is you'll miss one or two of them. But it's not a full, you know, half your volume is gone. It's 1/5 or 1/6 or 1/7 of your volume because it's only one of those short workouts. So over time, what it generally looks like is over the course of a year, I got more workout, more, more volume in there, more volume and more consistent workout than if I did. By the way, this is this, this was this one of the reasons why full body workouts are even better than a traditional body part split. For a lot of people, body part splits, you miss a workout, you miss working out your legs for a whole week. Full body, you at least hit your legs.

[Justin Andrews]

It's always the one that you, you're trying to avoid.

[Mike]

Right. So with the short daily workouts, again, just when we, when we follow people, because now we have programs that are like this, that are written this way, when we're following our customers and our trainers with our clients, what we see is over the course of six months or a year overall, they're working out more. Because when they miss a workout, they're not missing a lot, they're just missing a little bit.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Justin Andrews]

Really hits that main factor of consistency being so important. And I think too, like, if we were going to stack like benefits too of like beginner versus, you know, advanced lifter or I mean, you could, you could make an argument. Obviously this is great for advanced lifters as well.

[Mike]

But I.

[Justin Andrews]

For a beginner to get on track to gain momentum and really like stack these WINS, I think 15 is great.

[Mike]

Yeah. Well, what it does is this is a great strategy for developing a consistent behavior.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Habit stacking.

[Mike]

Yeah. Because if you do, if you practice a little bit of something every single day, momentum builds it built into your lifestyle. And what you tend to see is it's an easier Behavior build versus the two workouts that I got to go to the week, which isn't bad. But when it's every day, just like anything else, like if I had to practice any skill for a long period of time, once or twice a week versus a little bit every day, you'll notice the every day. You'll get better every day, and you tend to become more consistent. So it's better for behavior modification. Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Would you. I mean, I would say that this leans. Leans better for the person who has the. At home gym, because I find it much easier to go and just get two. Two little workouts in there. Of course, that's. I think that's part of what leads to that consistency is like you. You're more likely to be consistent because you just gotta go in your garage real quick, it's always there already, knock out two exercises real quick, and then. And then you're done, I think. And then that's so good for. To the point, I think Justin was trying to make with the beginner because it's like we're always trying to build good habits. I mean, if you're trying to learn a language, learn a new skill, we have plenty of research to support what the consistency, like short bouts of it consistently versus trying to cram it all in one or two or three days in the week. And so those consistent every single day, doing a couple things I think would be much better for the person who's trying to get into the habit of working out.

[Mike]

It is. It's obviously. Now here's this, the big one. Uh, it's. It's easier for time constraints. Yeah. You know, carving 20 minutes out of your day, a day out every day is easier than carving an hour, two or three days a week. It just is. Yeah. If you're a busy parent, if you have a busy life, you know, this, you know, I could. I could find 20 minutes a day, no problem. Oh, you want me to take a whole hour a couple days out of my week? I got to schedule that and plan it. So for people with busyness issues or time constraints, the short daily workouts tend to be superior. Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, especially if you're factoring in the drive time to go to a gym too, because that's. You're not. You don't have to factor in just the 20 minutes of the working out. You also got to factor in the gym time. Whereas if again, I'm at home doing these short workouts, it's pretty much 20 minutes, the time it takes you to walk from your Living room, over to your garage or wherever you have your setup. I mean, you're in and out of there within 20, 25 minutes.

[Mike]

That's right. It also tends to be better for overall stress. So I know at the beginning of the episod, I said both styles have the same volume. Okay, we have to control that in order to make a fair comparison. But here's the deal. There is a stress accumulation when a workout gets longer that you don't get from short workouts with strength training. So for recovery and for people who have high stress lives, even if the volume is the same, it tends to damage the body less. It tends to cause less stress on the body when you're doing the short workouts. And if you've ever experienced both, you know this, by the way, this is not new. We've known this with strength training for a long time. High level strength athletes use this to their advantage where they'll do workouts that are all day long, but they're doing a little bit here and then wait a lot and then do a little bit again and wait a lot rather than cramming it all in and 12 hour blast, it just results in less damage on the body. So if you're somebody that's like, man, I'm stressed. I have. My sleep is like, okay, maybe I got a busy life. I got all these little kids. What do I do, you know, to. Because I know exercise is a stress on the body. Is there a way to, to make up for that? Well, the short daily workouts tend to be less stressful.

[Justin Andrews]

Well, yeah, a lot of times it's really elusive for people. They don't really pinpoint specific stresses in their lives. Like it's. They have a lot of accumulated stress, but it's not as obvious to them. And so to reduce and then kind of do a shorter workout schedule, like sometimes that's what really presents itself is like, oh, wow, I feel so much more energetic now going into the next workout and I feel the effects of that recovery.

[Adam Schafer]

I would also make the argument that we lack enough physical stress daily. Like, we tend to have a lot of mental stress. Like, instead of overwhelming, throwing a little

[Mike]

bit daily is probably good.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Yes. I mean, I've. This is one of the things that I've connected the dots personally from toggling between different types of workout modalities and routines like this and working out. One of the things I notice is, and I've brought this up many times, if I don't get a workout in and, or 10,000 steps in. It disrupts how well I, I'm restless, my body needs that some. I need to exert some sort of energy daily. And, and simply just going for a walk is not enough. Having at least getting a couple of lifts in there with the walking tends to make a bigger difference than just me moving around and walking. And so. And I think there's a lot of people that have sedentary jobs. This doesn't maybe apply to the, you know, carpenter or the plumber or somebody who's, you know, laying tile all day long where they're probably exhausted physically. But for a lot of people, especially where we live, there's a lot feels

[Mike]

good to move daily.

[Adam Schafer]

Yes. And so it doesn't need to be so crazy intense. It has to be an hour long, but some sort.

[Mike]

Sort of a little bit.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Physical, stressful activity like that, I think plays a big role in how well that you sleep at night.

[Mike]

Yeah. When you look at the benefits of activity. So you have the health benefits, I should say, because with strength training, we're trying to build muscle that has its own health benefits outside of that daily movement. Just because you're moving has benefits. And the short daily workouts are probably better for that. Now, you know, here's some of the cons, and you've been mentioning this since the beginning, Adam, is that it probably does require easy gym access. Like, it doesn't make sense from a time saving perspective if you're going to go do a 20 minute workout, but you have to drive to the gym, do the workout and then drive home. When you add that all up, all those drives, you're better off going to the gym a couple days.

[Justin Andrews]

A lot of empty time, you just burn.

[Mike]

Yes. But if you have a home gym, if you got dumbbells and adjustable bench, or if you're, if you're really great, you got a squat rack with barbell, adjustable bench and dumbbells. Now you just go in your garage or go in your room or your backyard, wherever you have it set up. Super convenient.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Mike]

So I think these daily workouts definitely lend themselves well or much better to having a home gym.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. It's tough to justify going to the gym and working out when your drive is longer than your workout.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

You know, that's just, that's.

[Mike]

Even if it's as long, let's say what am I doing? Right. Right.

[Adam Schafer]

That's what I mean. And this, I think this is what led me to think I was more of a going to the gym guy was because my workouts were Long. At that time, they were hour, hour and a half long. I'm training all the time. I was in the thick of competing. And so I just like that, you know, being in the. At my house for an hour, hour and a half every day in the gym, like, I needed the external motivation and stuff like that. And so. And so to me, it made a lot more sense. I have to drive 15, 20 minutes there. I'm gonna spend a solid hour, hour and a half there. But when my work, when I reduce the amount of volume that I was training, like, and I'm only doing things two exercises a day, like, man, that makes way more sense to be doing that out of my garage and going to a gym.

[Mike]

Yeah. Here's another con. Some people just find these kind of workouts less enjoyable. You'll talk to some people and say, you know, I don't really get into the workout until I'm like 20 minutes in, and then you're telling me I need to stop. Like, that's when I start to feel good.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And I start to get into the groove, and I'm, you know, I'm feeling good. I get a little bit of a sweat. And I totally get that. Like, that's fair point. That's a fair point. Like, I know what that feels like. I like. Like, when I'm getting into my workout, it's true. About 15 to 20 minutes in, it's when I really start to enjoy what I'm doing. And you're going to tell me, I'm done.

[Adam Schafer]

This is okay. So I'm going to. I'm going to argue that, because I agreed with that. That fact. That was my original challenge, was I especially being a pump guy.

[Mike]

Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

You know, and. And you don't get as much of a pump doing two exercises. And so I think a lot of it is mindset. I think we have a mindset. If you're. If you were a bodybuilder or you identified like that, and you love the pump and you love the sweat, and, you know, a lot of that is my. You've attached that feeling. Once I saw the results I got from the just two exercises, and, yeah, I didn't have the pump, but I didn't get drenched in sweat and stuff like that. But I saw the results from just that little bit of. Of volume. I was my mindset shift. And now I love that. And now it's like, wow, I could go in, not even get a crazy hard sweat, and get an incredible workout that elicits incredible results. And so even Though this is technically a con, it's only a con, I think at first for somebody, if you've, if you've learned to attach how good your workout feels to how exhausted, sweaty, pumped you are, then this becomes a con. As soon as you realize how effective this could be for you, that con can switch into a pro.

[Mike]

That's a good point. The workout that works the best for you with your schedule and results tends to be the one that you enjoy the most. Nonetheless, there's a lot of fitness fanatics out there that are like, I just love it. I just love, you know, the feeling I get going doing a 45 minute hour gym, which, you know, it's actually one of the pros of a full body workout. Right? Full body workout. You go to the gym, you're training the whole body. And there's something that feels good about that, about training everything. My legs, my chest, my back, my shoulders, my arms, a little bit of core.

[Justin Andrews]

Yeah.

[Mike]

And for some people. And look, I'm not going to knock the enjoyment factor because the enjoyment factor is an important factor.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, wouldn't you say that's what drives you to go to the gym? You go to the gym.

[Mike]

I love it. Yeah.

[Adam Schafer]

You know, so I think I love

[Mike]

the feeling of it. And for. And you can't knock that because when you look at consistency, if somebody likes what they're doing, they're far more likely to be consistent than when they don't. So if that's you and you know yourself, then you may want full body. But back to what Adam said. For a lot of people, if the other style works better for you in terms of results and then you've had more time on your hands, it's not

[Adam Schafer]

a hard switch, you know, I mean, I can argue the other side too, because I remember how much I enjoyed going to the gym for an hour and a half and plugging in, you mean. I used to call it my church. It was a time where I could kind of everything else just dissolve. I wasn't thinking about any stress with work or what was going on at home. It was like my music, my workout. It was very meditative for me. So in some people, I know that can be very cathartic. I know that is for you. I know that's something you enjoy like that.

[Mike]

I think some people are like, I want to get out of the house.

[Adam Schafer]

Right.

[Mike]

And be gone for.

[Adam Schafer]

And 10, 20 minutes is not enough.

[Mike]

That's right.

[Adam Schafer]

So I need more of a break. And, and a lot of people, that's people that Some people are like this. I know people that work from home, right. And they're home all the time and actually go to the gym. It feels good. It gets them away from that. And going, working out in their home is just like, oh, my God, it's hard because I'm always home. I want to be somewhere away. Then that makes sense. I can, I can make that argument for that. Although, like I said, like you said, I think sometimes a lot of. Because I believe I was this person too. You're attached to the results that thing gave you. And so you start to identify as like, oh, this is my thing. Where it's like sometimes getting out of that and like, well, maybe this would be more beneficial. And then you see the results from. It's like, okay, I can shift that mindset totally.

[Mike]

It also takes daily. Less daily commitment. And for some people, that's better. For some people, they'd rather have less days that they're working out and just have a couple days, well, this is the time I'm working out. And you got, and you got to know if this is you, you got to ask yourself, like, which one feels better to me? Which one do I feel like I'm going to be more committed to or more consistent with?

[Justin Andrews]

Because sometimes I'm like a bit scatterbrained and it's like I want to devote my entire focus, you know, and you can select like, okay, it's three days a week. This is my main day of an intense, like, output. And yeah, I think it just kind of depends on your goal too, and, like, what you're after. But. And if you enjoy it, I mean, for me, even, like, you're talking about the pump. Like, for me, it was always like the intensity and feeling like I really just like, my body, like, was tired and I was like, I felt that, you know, from that full body workout versus I had to do a major shift with my mind with the, the shorter workouts.

[Mike]

Yeah, it's. It's. These workouts are better suited for gym workout. Now you can do it them in your garage.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, yeah. I think of when we, when we were trainers inside gyms, most people that we did assessments on and you asked them how many days a week could you commit to the gym? Almost everybody said two. Two to three.

[Mike]

That's right.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah. Sometimes even one. Right. So this is more likely that person. Right. So if you're already telling yourself, I can only commit to one to three workouts in a week, that's obviously a, you know, little bit. Every day is not you, you're the person who, okay, well, we need to probably do a full body. And then that makes a lot of sense, especially when you think three days is stretching it. If you think three days of, of committing to lifting weights is already stretching your commitment towards weight training, you're way better off that way because then if you miss a day or two, at least you still got one full body workout in. And so yeah, knowing yourself and are you that person who has to go to the gym and can only commit one or two or three days to the week that will.

[Mike]

Then this is the way totally from an adaptation perspective, probably better for strength stamina, because strength stamina is built with workouts that challenge your stamina. And a short workout that lasts 20 minutes doesn't challenge it much, but an hour workout will challenge it more. So both of them are strength training. Both of them build muscle. When you cut fatigue out, probably a little better for strength, but some people want some strength stamina as well. And the singular longer workout is a little bit better suited for strength for sure. Here's some of the cons. For a lot of people, it's harder to become consistent week in and week out because it's a couple days a week versus a little bit every single day. We said this earlier, missing one workout takes a lot away versus a short daily workout where you miss one. It doesn't take a lot away at all. And then it is more stressful in the body. All things being equal, if you have an issue with being overstressed and you were doing the same total volume, the short daily workouts seem to be better.

[Adam Schafer]

Yeah, this is, this is harder to be consistent because I think everybody can relate to, you know, oh, today's my, you know, my gym day or my hour workout of Maps Anabolic or whatever full body routine you're running and you just are not feeling it. Yeah, I'm just man, and, and an hour full body routine, it'll take some out of you. It, when you don't feel like working out, feels like a major commitment. Two workout or two exercises does not.

[Mike]

You're fine.

[Adam Schafer]

And so they're, they're. I, that was one of the things that I really appreciated about the shorter workouts is when I, when I have those moments where I'm like, man, I know today's the day I'm committed to go to the gym and boy, a full, full bodies. And, and a lot of times what happens is people are all or nothing. They go, well, if I can't do, if I just can't see myself doing a full hour. I'm gonna do nothing at all, versus if I only had to do an exercise or two. Much easier to. Okay, yeah, I can make this happen. I can. I can get through a quick exercise or two. That's it.

[Mike]

Totally. Now I'm going to share my experience, my personal experience with the shorter workouts. Because had I not experienced this, I think I would have been more like a. Well, that's better for kind of beginners and time constraints. But I prefer to do the longer workouts. Well, we wrote and we have a lot of programs like this. They're called our maps. 15 style workouts. So 15 for 15 minutes. So 15 to 20 minutes a day. And when we created the first ones, I experimented with the short workouts. So what it looked like for me was like two lifts a day. And the reason why I'm communicating this is because there's probably an advanced lifter or somebody who's a fanatic, who's like, that's not for me. I'm not going to get results on that. I need to be in the gym for an hour, an hour and a half. What was weird was at the age of 45, I followed this protocol and without even. This wasn't even a goal. I was just testing it out, see what happened. And I thought, well, let's see. If I don't lose muscle, that'll be a huge win. I hit a PR in deadlifts, which is one of my best lifts at 45 years old. I hit. I. I broke my old PR not even trying to hit a PR in deadlifts. I just got so strong following this, which showed me the viability. Like, this is an effective way of working out, even if you're advanced.

[Adam Schafer]

Well, if. If you've lived. Listen to the podcast long enough, you heard this unfold in real time. Because it started with me.

[Mike]

Yep.

[Adam Schafer]

And my son being born and doing this. And I remember coming back to you guys and reporting like, dude, I'm tripping out right now on how little I'm lifting right now. And the results and the strength and everything. I'm coming. And I remember you kept commenting on it and you're like, you know what? I gotta. I haven't done that I'm gonna try and do. And then I remember you applying it and doing that and then hitting a PR and being like, this is crazy how much I've reduced volume and just doing two lifts a day, seeing PRs from that. And so, yeah, even for the advanced. In fact, I'd make the argument that if you would were. If you are the person who's very consistent and you train five, six days a week, hour long workouts all the time and you haven't done something like this.

[Mike]

Oh, you'll get, you'll get gains.

[Adam Schafer]

Yes, I think you absolutely will see that. Because I think if you're, if you are like, I think our audience is, is already in that, that group of people that are already into working out tend to lean towards more of a fitness addict or person that loves to work out. Scaling the volume down would probably be a good idea and just doing like a two workout or two lifts a day type of deal.

[Mike]

Now what we have is we have a whole series of these style of workout programs. A whole series. We have the original Maps 15. We have Maps 15 performance. This is more of an athletic bend. We have one called Muscle Mommy. This is geared towards women and the muscle groups and type of body type that they're looking to develop. We have strong, which is strong, man inspired type training. We have symmetry. So lots of unilateral training to help balance out the body. We have a 40 plus version which is great for people over 40 with their considerations. And then we have a power lift version with the focus is bench, deadlift and squat. So those are all the 15 style versions we have. And what we're going to do is we're coming, we're doing a what's called a Bogo sale. So if you buy any one of those Maps 15 style workout programs, you can get any other Maps 15 style workout program for free. Your choice. So buy one, get one free. It's happening right now. Go to Maps 15 BOGO. You can also find us on Instagram, it's Mind Pump Media. We'll see you there.

[Mind Pump Announcer]

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