05/23/2026
Somebody asked me how long they should work out. Good question. Wrong question. 🏋️
The second you put a clock at the center of your training, you already drifted. You start counting minutes instead of counting work. Measuring time served like it's a sentence.
That is the same trap as the feed that keeps you scrolling and the fridge that keeps you grazing. Ninety minutes in the gym feels productive even when half of it was wandering between machines. Feeling productive is not the same as being productive. I know that lie. I have lived in it at the kitchen table for years.
So here is the real answer. It is not minutes. It is volume.
In March 2026 the American College of Sports Medicine dropped its first resistance training update in 17 years. 137 reviews. Over 30,000 people. The number for muscle growth is about 10 hard sets per muscle group per week. You can hit that in focused sessions under an hour. And the line worth tattooing on the mirror: the best program is the one you will actually stick with.
Here is the part that got me though. When you push into the hard reps, your brain starts talking. It tries to quit early. That voice at rep 15 that says you can stop? It is the same voice at 9pm that says just one bite. Same negotiation. Same mask.
So I treat the hard set as practice. Not for my arms. For the thing the addiction does to me when nobody is watching. The gym is just another room where I practice not obeying that voice.
You are not training a body. You are training the man who has to live in it.
Full breakdown, including the exact lifting method the new science backs: 🎥 https://www.loom.com/share/8ed36df191c649f9a3afac06585c81cc
How long do YOU train, and is the clock the goal or the byproduct? 👇
📍 Santa Clarita, CA