Daily minimum workout
A floor you never drop below: 20 minutes of movement and recovery on your worst day
Decide the smallest workout you will do no matter what, often 15 minutes of movement plus five of recovery, and treat it as the floor rather than the target. Good days run to an hour. Bad days still get the minimum, which is what kills all-or-nothing thinking and keeps the habit alive through travel and rough weeks. A brisk walk, a bodyweight circuit or a hotel stairwell all count.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Arnold SchwarzeneggerRecommends
Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club
Calls it the 20-Minute Insurance Policy and asks readers to adopt it: 15 minutes of movement and five of recovery, every day, however bad the day. On good days it grows into an hour; the point is that the floor never moves.
Source: Arnold's Pump Club newsletter: The 20-Minute Insurance Policy - Cristiano RonaldoRecommends
Footballer · Portugal captain and five-time Ballon d'Or winner
Fit in exercise wherever you can, is his advice: an abs session in the bedroom on waking or before bed counts. Get into a routine, he says, and it becomes a habit that is easier to keep than to start.
Source: Goal: What are Cristiano Ronaldo's diet, workout and fitness secrets? - Jennifer AnistonRecommends
Actor · Friends and The Morning Show
Her advice for days when you are not feeling it: commit to just 10 minutes, since anyone can do 10 to 20, and usually you are back in it after three. She adds that some days she skips the workout entirely and no longer pressures herself the way she used to.
Source: Bustle: Jennifer Aniston Completely Swears By This Low-Impact Workout“I always say to just do 10 minutes. You can do anything for 10 to 20 minutes. You’ll usually get through three minutes of it and you’re back.”
Bustle: Jennifer Aniston Completely Swears By This Low-Impact Workout (opens in a new tab) · 13 Jun 2023 - Pavel TsatsoulineRecommends
Strength coach · StrongFirst
Three exercises every day is what he calls the program minimum: the one-arm swing, the get-up and the goblet squat. They are the highest yield of the lot and the ones with the steepest learning curve, in his account, and he guarantees a great return on the investment.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Pavel Tsatsouline transcript“Now, speaking of specific training program, I recommend three highest-yield exercises that also have the steepest learning curve. They are: the one-arm swing, the get-up, and the goblet squat. Just do these three exercises that we refer to as a program minimum every day, and I guarantee that you’re gonna get a great return on your investment.”
The Tim Ferriss Show: Pavel Tsatsouline transcript (opens in a new tab)
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A fixed set of meals repeated for weeks so food needs no decisions
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The workout goes before the workday; a session planned for later tends not to happen
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High-protein frozen meals
Ready meals chosen for protein and fiber when there is no time to cook
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Gear$$$Expensive: Several hundred dollars and up.
Home gym
A private training space at home, from a garage rack to a fully equipped room
Backed by 4 of 44 stacks: 2 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
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Backed by 2 of 44 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 1 have discussed it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.