re: I quit doing cardio

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I’m sorry I shouldn’t have drug body builders into it, you’re right, they are extreme examples.

I just feel like you underestimate your bias towards strength for complete fitness. You obviously are promoting a level of strength that is well beyond what is needed for a person to retain grip strength and stability in old age. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is a preference.

I’m not trying to pick a fight, I benefit from a ton of the stuff you post. I’m just suggesting that there are likely diminishing returns for overall fitness when you are talking about 5 plus hours of intense lifting in a week. The same could be said for a guy running 6 hours per week, he would be better off spending half of that in the gym.

My kids aren’t old enough for me to compare. Hopefully it’s a short season of life and you free up some time in the future.

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5 hours is about 1.15 for 4 sessions a week and about what is needed to maximize benefits or come close. and its not just intense lifting, most guys over 30 should be doing about a 10-15 min warm up and prehab routine.


but i usually tell people this, if you are looking to maximize overall health

3 days lifting. 4-5 exercises with A day and a B day based around compound exercises and progressive overload. should take an hour including warm up. think GSLP of some form

10k steps per day

2 days of hard conditioning. 10-15 min max plus 8-10 min warm up. think full sprints, sled pushes, sandbag work, things like those found in the greyskull viking conditioning book


as far as over estimating and bias towards strength...yep because i have been on both ends and seen which one is much better. what you are not factoring in, is quality of life. im very much anti jogging and think its a shitastic way to spend time. either walk(even can use a vest or carry kettlebells) or hard conditioning. jogging doesnt do anything but make you better at jogging and slower at everything else that matters like power. been proven tons of times. also recipe for getting hurt

if you want to zone out wathcing tv at home on a bike cool. if you like jogging cool. if you like racing cool, do what you like.


but from a health and aesthetics view its dog shite when compared to either lower intensity or much higher intensity.

and there are other studies on strength and mortality besides just grip strength. they have them on pushups, pullups, being able to run a true sprint


like i said though, if you like jogging do so if you are not in search of aesthetics. nobody is going to stay disciplined if they are always doing things they dont like so do the things you enjoy just make sure you include something of the other side.

right now im crazy busy so i only get lifting in as a true training stimulus so i make sure i get plenty of steps in and when at the fields/courts with my kids i run around and play with them. only way i can get any vo2 training in.

but yes their are diminishing returns. what i laid out is about the minimum to do to see big time returns. 4 days plus more walks and more hard conditioning is certainly better but again you eventually bump into diminishing returns.

2-3 days lifting, 2-3 days true hard conditioning is about right for most really really busy people like myself.