How Much Is Enough?
The question people ask about workouts is rarely the question they're actually trying to answer.
Do you ever wonder if you’re doing enough?
Maybe you’re training two days a week. Maybe you’re training five. Either way, you’ve probably asked yourself the same question:
“Am I doing enough?”
If you have, you're not alone. I hear that question a lot—not just from beginners, but from people at every stage.
They’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts, and followed the experts. Yet they’re still unsure whether they’re doing too much...or not enough.
It’s easy to assume that doing more creates more progress.
So we add another workout. More sets. More weight. More effort.
After more than four decades of coaching, I’ve come to believe that’s often the wrong place to start.
More Isn’t Better. Better Is Better.
Better isn’t a fixed number of workouts.
Better isn’t always adding another day.
Enough is the amount your body can adapt to and recover from.
The better question isn’t, “How much should I do?” It’s, “What’s the right dose for me right now?”
That answer depends on more than a workout plan. It depends on your body, your experience, your recovery, your schedule, your stress, and the season of life you’re in.
The workout you did last week may have been exactly right.
This week, your in-laws are visiting. You have early meetings, a couple of late nights, and you’re running on less sleep.
The Right Dose Has Changed.
If you try to force last week's plan into this week's life, don't be surprised if you get a worse result.
You leave the gym more fatigued. Recovery lags. Little aches show up. Or you skip the rest of the week because it suddenly feels like too much.
The workout didn’t change.
You did.
And that’s the point.
The right answer changes as your body and your life change.
The older we get, the more important that becomes.
Recovery changes.
Stress changes.
Life changes.
The goal isn’t to keep doing what used to work.
The goal is to keep choosing what’s right for you now.
Years ago, a client said something I’ve never forgotten.
“You always seemed to know when to push me...and when to back off.”
At the time, I took it as a compliment.
Today, I think it describes the real work of coaching.
The goal isn’t to teach people the perfect workout.
It’s to help them learn how to adjust, adapt, and keep moving forward.
That’s how you keep your rhythm.
And that’s how you keep making progress.
When you find the right rhythm, training starts to fit your life.
And when something fits your life, you’re far more likely to come back—week after week, month after month.
That’s where real progress happens. Because you found an approach you could actually live with.
So if you've been wondering whether you're doing enough, maybe it's time to ask a different question.
What's the right dose for my body and my life right now?
That single question has changed the direction of countless coaching conversations. It might change yours, too.
What question are you wrestling with right now?
Hit Reply and tell me.
If it’s something you’re trying to figure out, there’s a good chance other people are too. And if I can help, I will.
Here with you for the second half—Jeff