Resistance training
Lifting weights 2-4 times a week to build and hold muscle
Barbells, dumbbells, machines or bodyweight, usually two to four sessions a week. Beyond looks, the case made across these stacks is muscle and bone as a retirement account: strength and lean mass predict independence and injury resistance decades later. It is the most widely shared item in this directory, recommended by people who agree on almost nothing else.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Adam GrantDoes it
Organizational psychologist · Think Again
Weights twice a week, he told Tim Ferriss in 2019, plus a target of three cardio days.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #399 transcript - Ali AbdaalDoes it
Doctor turned YouTuber · author of Feel-Good Productivity
Three weight sessions a week, programmed by a coach, as part of a goal to build muscle.
Source: aliabdaal.com: 5 lessons from improving my health - Andrew HubermanDoes it
Neuroscientist · Huberman Lab
Alternates resistance training with endurance work weekly, and treats strength as non-negotiable.
Source: Huberman Lab: Fitness Toolkit - Arnold SchwarzeneggerDoes it
Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club
Still trains every day at 78, and says the reason is the daily win rather than any finish line. Some days that win is a great workout; other days it is only that he showed up when he did not want to, and he calls himself addicted to it.
Source: Arnold's Pump Club newsletter: Arnold Schwarzenegger Still Trains at 78 for One Reason Most People Miss“I keep going because no matter what, no matter how much I ache, no matter what’s weighing on me, no matter what’s going wrong, I get a win every single day.”
Arnold's Pump Club newsletter: Arnold Schwarzenegger Still Trains at 78 for One Reason Most People Miss (opens in a new tab) · 13 Apr 2026 - Bryan JohnsonDoes it
Founder · Blueprint longevity protocol
Weights three times a week sit inside a fixed six-hour weekly exercise block, tracked and adjusted like every other input.
Source: Blueprint protocol site - Chris BumsteadDoes it
Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia
Lifting has been his job for a decade. Coming back after a six-week break in late 2024, he wrote that a dumbbell fly made him feel 20 years older and half as strong, so the plan was more time in the stretched position, slower negatives and maybe 2.5 to 5 percent more load each week. Jumping straight back to the heavy dumbbells, he says, is how you get injured.
Source: The Standard newsletter: My Training Reset - Chris HemsworthDoes it
Actor · Limitless and Centr
The Centr Power program is inspired by the training he does for Thor with trainer Luke Zocchi. A long time ago, he says, he would train all day and get nowhere. Zocchi's approach, in his telling, is to structure each workout to get the most out of a minimal amount of time.
Source: Centr: Chris Hemsworth's workout routine to build muscle - Chris WilliamsonDoes it
Host · Modern Wisdom
Began lifting at eighteen, obsessed with gaining muscle, and has trained ever since. He now describes it as identity rather than discipline.
Source: chriswillx.com: 3 Minute Monday, Obsession, Time & Love - Cristiano RonaldoDoes it
Footballer · Portugal captain and five-time Ballon d'Or winner
Admits on the Whoop podcast that he does not like going to the gym every day, nobody does, but that you have to do it. Discipline and consistency are the hardest part, in his telling, and he says he fights against his own mind to keep the routine going.
Source: Goal: Ronaldo explains secrets to remaining unique and stopping his crown from slipping - David GogginsDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL · Can't Hurt Me
The gym is the second block of the daily routine he described in 2019, after the run and before the stretching.
Source: Outside: David Goggins Wrote the Game Plan for Peak Performance - Dwayne JohnsonDoes it
Actor and former WWE champion · The Rock
Lifting is the fixed point of his day and has been since childhood. He told Men's Health in 2022 that he now trains shorter but gets more from it, listens to his body, and stopped worrying about ego and the weight on the bar once he hit 40. The gym, he says, became his best friend during his bouts of depression, though he adds that it helps rather than fixes anything.
Source: Men's Health: Dwayne Johnson December 2022 cover interview“the gym for me, and this physical activity for me, is my anchor. … It is my balance. … It just allows me to block out the noise and clear my head.”
WW: Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour with Dwayne Johnson, full transcript (opens in a new tab) · 27 Jan 2020 - Greg DoucetteDoes it
Coach and IFBB pro · Harder Than Last Time
Back in his powerlifting years he described training the whole body every four to five days, squat, bench and deadlift on separate days, with about half of each session spent on those three lifts. Intensity rather than volume is what he said gets people strong, and he ran higher reps in the off season to let joints and old injuries settle.
Source: Critical Bench: Interview With Powerlifter Greg Doucette“I believe that intensity not volume is the key to getting strong. One other factor that separates my workout from most is that I believe in doing higher reps in the off season in order to build bigger muscles and allow for joints and injuries to heal.”
Critical Bench: Interview With Powerlifter Greg Doucette (opens in a new tab) - Hugh JackmanDoes it
Actor · Wolverine and The Greatest Showman
Progressive overload built around the classics: barbell bench, deadlifts, squats, weighted pull-ups, presses and dips, split by muscle group across the week, with supersets and circuits added to finish the muscles off. Form and smarter prep, he says, are why the later films came without the injuries of the first ones.
Source: TRAIN: Hugh Jackman Workout and Nutrition Tips - James ClearDoes it
Author · Atomic Habits
141 workouts logged in a year of regular lifting, and training runs as the example throughout his work on how small habits compound.
Source: jamesclear.com: 2018 annual review - Jeff BezosDoes it
Amazon and Blue Origin founder · Six-page memos and eight hours of sleep
On a good day he does about forty-five minutes of weightlifting, rotating a pull day, a push day and a leg day. Almost every day includes some lifting, and he says he can tell on the days he skips it because he feels less alert.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #405 transcript: Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin“My routine on a good day, I do about half an hour of cardio and I do about forty-five minutes of weightlifting, resistance training of some kind, mostly weights. I have a trainer who I love who pushes me, which is really helpful.”
Lex Fridman Podcast #405 transcript: Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin (opens in a new tab) · 14 Dec 2023 - Jeff NippardDoes it
Natural bodybuilder · Science-based lifting
Lifting is his job and his hobby. He writes that he does not mind spending one to two hours a day in the gym. With his focus on bodybuilding for now, he keeps his power lifts ticking over by squatting and deadlifting once a week at high effort with relatively heavy loads.
Source: jeffnippard.com blog: How To Train Like A Minimalist (More Gains In Less Time) - Jennifer AnistonDoes it
Actor · Friends and The Morning Show
Every session with trainer Dani Coleman includes some form of weight or resistance work, she says, with heavier lifting on some days. Her reasoning is that muscle mass drops with age and bones depend on muscle to stay strong, so the strength share of her training has grown over the years.
Source: The Zoe Report: Jennifer Aniston Is In Her Strength Era“As we get older, we lose our muscle mass, … And that is so important because our bones depend on our muscles to keep strong and keep our skeleton strong”
The Zoe Report: Jennifer Aniston Is In Her Strength Era (opens in a new tab) · 15 Oct 2025 - Jocko WillinkDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL officer · Jocko Podcast
Pull-ups, press-ups, dips, deadlifts and squats, first thing every morning: fixed infrastructure rather than something to be motivated for.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #107 transcript - Kelly StarrettDoes it
Doctor of physical therapy · The Ready State
Says he loves to lift weights and calls himself a big strong guy. The bias toward heavy squatting came from years around Mark Bell, Jesse Burdick and other powerlifters. Loading yourself somehow is the part he insists on, even if that means pressing heavy dumbbells overhead rather than push jerking.
Source: Legion Athletics: Kelly Starrett on sitting, mobility and having a movement practice - Layne NortonDoes it
Nutrition scientist and powerlifter · Biolayne
He is a masters powerlifter. He squats over 600 pounds and deadlifts over 700. If your spinal cord works, you can lift, he tells people. His own back pain flares when he is stressed, he says, and he has learned to adjust the movement rather than stop training.
Source: FoundMyFitness: Dr. Layne Norton on Building Muscle - LeBron JamesDoes it
Basketball player · NBA all-time leading scorer
Strength work has run through his whole career, he says, using many different machines and methods over the years. In 2021, when he became a Tonal investor and brand partner, he praised the machine for getting a full session done quickly with three kids competing for his time.
Source: Tonal blog: LeBron James interview on strength and efficiency with Tonal (October 2021) - Lex FridmanDoes it
AI researcher · Lex Fridman Podcast
Lifts as part of a deliberately spartan daily routine built around training, work and reading.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast: Andrew Huberman transcript - Mark HymanDoes it
Physician · The Dr. Hyman Show · author of Young Forever
Came to lifting around 60 after years of assuming tennis, biking and yoga counted. Now he runs a home program he can finish in half an hour, and says he feels fitter and stronger at 63 than he did at 40.
Source: The Doctor's Farmacy: The Benefits Of Strength Training And How to Get Started - Mark WahlbergDoes it
Actor and producer · The 2:30 a.m. daily routine
Has lifted at 4 a.m. five days a week for years, with Thursday as the heavier leg day. In his YouTube series, filmed at his house, a session runs from back squats, hip thrusts and Bulgarian split squats through curls, calf raises and ab work, and he calls it not a normal workout.
Source: The Daily Beast: Inside Mark Wahlberg's 'Not Normal' 4 a.m. Fitness Routine - Michael PhelpsDoes it
Olympic swimmer · Most decorated Olympian in history
Lifts weights three days a week, sixty to ninety minutes a session, as part of training six or seven days out of seven since retiring. He frames it as what lets him keep up with golf and have enough energy for the kids.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript“I lift weights three days a week, for anywhere 60 to 90 minutes. And then, the other four days, … either swimming, riding a stationary bike, or I am on an elliptical.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #494: Michael Phelps and Grant Hackett, transcript (opens in a new tab) · 23 Jan 2021 - Nick BareDoes it
Hybrid athlete · Bare Performance Nutrition founder
A bodybuilder at his core, in his own description, even mid-endurance block. Lifting never leaves the plan; when a race build takes over he cuts strength work from five days a week to three rather than dropping it, and he says he loves the pump too much to give it up.
Source: InsideHook: How Nick Bare Pioneered the Hybrid Athlete Revolution - Oprah WinfreyDoes it
Talk show host and producer · The Oprah Winfrey Show
Two summers and two new knees ago she added strength training, she wrote on Instagram, because muscle has to be held onto as you age. Flexibility and strength matter most for women and their bones, is the reasoning she gave. Deadlifts and weighted planks are in the sessions now.
Source: TODAY: Oprah Winfrey, 72, Finally Nailed This 1 Fitness Move After Setting a Goal to Master It 2 Years Ago“As we age, and we want to age well, one of the things I’ve learned is that flexibility and strength is the most important, particularly for women and our bones. And so I’ve started strength training”
TODAY: Oprah Winfrey, 72, Finally Nailed This 1 Fitness Move After Setting a Goal to Master It 2 Years Ago (opens in a new tab) · 18 Feb 2026 - Peter AttiaDoes it
Physician · The Drive · author of Outlive
Strength training several times a week, on the framing that muscle and bone are assets you bank decades before you need them.
Source: Outlive (official book page) - Rhonda PatrickDoes it
Biomedical scientist · FoundMyFitness
Thirty minutes of lifting three times a week with progressive loading, and she frames muscle mass as central to metabolic health and to aging well.
Source: FoundMyFitness: her strength training and cardio - Ryan HolidayDoes it
Writer · The Daily Stoic
Has added more weight training in recent years, though he lists it after swimming, running and riding. His line is that the form does not matter much, as long as there is one.
Source: RyanHoliday.net: You Need This Practice In Your Life - Sahil BloomDoes it
Author · The 5 Types of Wealth
Strength work four or five times a week, cardio on five or six days. That is his published regimen now. He says health and human performance have interested him since he was 16.
Source: sahilbloom.com: About Sahil Bloom - Sam SulekDoes it
Bodybuilder and YouTuber · Spring Bulk gym vlogs
One muscle group a session, six exercises deep, mostly machines and cables. Fitness Volt watched him run a back and rear delt day where every set finished at failure rather than at a rep count, opening on lat pulldowns with the full stack plus plates and stripping weight from there.
Source: Fitness Volt: Sam Sulek Full Day Of Eating And Back Workout - Stacy SimsDoes it
Exercise physiologist · Women Are Not Small Men
Lifting is the first thing she names when she looks back on a busy 2025, ahead of ocean swims and gravel rides. She reads the growth of her audience the same way, as more women training with intention.
Source: Dr Stacy Sims: Gratitude, Growth, and a Rare Share“Those are the big rocks, the sprint interval training, the heavy resistance training, the jump training, and the protein.”
Huberman Lab: Female-Specific Exercise & Nutrition for Health, Performance & Longevity (opens in a new tab) · 22 Jul 2024 - Steven BartlettDoes it
Entrepreneur · The Diary of a CEO
Physical training is directly upstream of how he performs at work, he says, and he trains with weights regularly.
Source: Sustain Health Magazine: Steven Bartlett interview (PA Media)“It’s super important. It’s non-negotiable at this point … I’ve pretty much been to the gym 90% of the days for the last two and a half years. In the last 250 days, I’ve been 230 times.”
Sustain Health Magazine: Steven Bartlett interview (PA Media) (opens in a new tab) · 28 Jul 2022 - Tiago ForteDoes it
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
Lifting is the one habit he says he could never make stick, flagged as his weakest area in review after review. In 2025 he logged 52 sessions and more than 500,000 pounds moved, and he reports he can no longer reliably get into deep focus on a day he has not trained.
Source: fortelabs.com: My 2025 Annual Review“According to my exercise tracking app, Fitbod (which I love and recommend), I lifted over 500,000 pounds this year, across 52 workouts, mostly in the latter two-thirds of the year. That is definitely the most consistently I’ve ever exercised, and I’m now in the best shape of my life by far.”
fortelabs.com: My 2025 Annual Review (opens in a new tab) · 12 Jan 2026 - Tim FerrissDoes it
Author · The Tim Ferriss Show
Once or twice a week is the whole lifting plan, on a minimum-effective-dose principle, and he frames it as injury prevention rather than performance.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Q&A with Tim transcript - Zac EfronDoes it
Actor · the Baywatch body and what it cost him
He wanted to keep training militantly after the Australian break, the cover story says, but to do it more mindfully. He says he enjoys pushing himself hard, to the point where he sort of has to, or he does not feel like himself.
Source: Men's Health: Zac Efron Interview on His Career, His Health, and His Next Movie - Andy GalpinRecommends
Exercise physiologist · Perform podcast
He splits the two reasons to lift. Push-ups and sit-ups can drive hypertrophy if that is what you have; strength pushes you toward barbells, dumbbells and machines you can actually load. On fat loss he reads the evidence as lifting keeping weight off rather than taking it off.
Source: Perform: The Fundamentals of Training for Muscle, Strength & Longevity - Daniel AmenRecommends
Psychiatrist · Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
Strength training closes out the Amen Clinics list of five exercises for brain health, behind table tennis, swimming, dancing and yoga. The post cites a University of Sydney trial in which six months of lifting tracked with protection in brain areas hit early by Alzheimer's.
Source: Amen Clinics: These 5 Physical Activities Improve Brain Health - Pavel TsatsoulineRecommends
Strength coach · StrongFirst
His line on gym time is blunt: you have one goal there, get strong, and everything else is distraction. He tells readers to drop what a colleague calls random acts of variety, skip corrective work nobody prescribed, and spend the hour on a few time-tested lifts.
Source: StrongFirst: No Distractions, The Occam's Razor Training Plan - Valter LongoRecommends
Biogerontologist · The Longevity Diet
Weights or bodyweight work for all the muscles is on his exercise page, followed an hour or two later by a low-carb meal carrying a decent amount of protein.
Source: Valter Longo: Exercise and Longevity - Novak DjokovicDiscusses
Tennis player · Record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
Between the two hitting sessions sits an hour of weights or resistance bands, taken after lunch. That is the outlet's reading of the training chapters in his book, not his own words.
Source: EssentiallySports: All You Need To Know About Novak Djokovic's Training Routine - Tom BradyDiscusses
Former NFL quarterback · The TB12 Method
Argues in his book that lifting heavy weights and moving fast at the same time is not sustainable for long-term performance, and that younger athletes who manage it are trading away durability. Heavy lifting, he writes, is at odds with keeping muscles pliable.
Source: Boston.com: 12 excerpts from Tom Brady's new self-help book
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under fitness, longevity or energy.
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Zone 2 cardio
Easy aerobic work you can hold a conversation through, 3+ hours a week
On record from 12 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it, 5 recommend it, 2 have discussed it - Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Cycling
Steady riding, outdoors or on a stationary bike, as daily low-intensity cardio
On record from 9 of 62 tracked people: 9 do it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
High-intensity interval training
Short all-out efforts with full recovery in between, a few times a week
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it, 1 has discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Daily cardio
Around half an hour of aerobic work most days, at any pace you can sustain
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Polarized training
Most sessions easy, a few genuinely hard, almost nothing in the middle
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Protein-forward eating
Roughly 1g of protein per pound of target bodyweight, spread across meals
On record from 21 of 62 tracked people: 15 do it, 5 recommend it, 1 has discussed it
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