The 80/20 Rule: Exercise
In case you missed the first installment of the 80/20 rule, I will give a brief introduction to the concept.
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, was named after an Italian engineer, economist, and philosopher. It states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
Obviously, the term rule is slightly misleading, but the principle can be helpful so let’s not get caught up in the exact percentages. Rather, let’s focus on the implication of the 80/20 rule which might be easier to see if we look at its reverse. If 80% of effects come from 20% of causes, that implies that 20% of effects come from 80% of causes.
Still not clear? It means we are really good at wasting time and energy. Because we tend to spend too much of it on tasks or behaviors that have little pay off. Imagine you are a student. In front of you are a take home test worth 50% of your grade and a large homework assignment that you forgot to do and is worth 2% of your grade. Both are equally hard and would likely require similar amounts of effort and time. However, you my friend, have limited resources, both are due tomorrow. How do you spend your time? Hopefully, you decide to devote your mental energy to completing the take home test worth 50% of your grade.
When confronted with a situation like that, it can be easy to pick the right answer because we are told upfront how much weight certain tasks carry. Life isn’t always that friendly. Thus, I hope to shed some light on how I feel the 80/20 rule applies to exercise.
We all likely know someone or have been that person who always has an excuse why they cannot workout. Overslept, underslept, forgot to pack my shaker bottle, got out of work late, went out to eat with coworkers now there’s no point, “insert joint here” is bothering them, and on and on.
Unfortunately, we are always in the process of making habits, be they good or bad. And if we get in the habit of constantly making and accepting excuses why we cannot workout, then we likely are in store for a whole lot of not working out.
What if you simply focused on getting into the gym, be it a personal home gym or commercial gym? What if we didn’t worry about perfection? Keep in mind, I am not saying you should not attempt to orchestrate good conditions for your upcoming workout. I am saying that life throws you curveballs so you should be prepared to roll with the punches.
Let’s imagine one month in the lives of two people. Person “A” is the excuse maker and needs the world to be perfect to get in a workout. Now when person “A” does get into the gym, they have a fantastic workout because after all, the circumstances were perfect. But, during the month, person “A” only found 4 times where everything was just right. Person “B”, on the other hand, has accepted that he/she is better off just getting into the gym rather than worrying about perfection. Some of person “B”s workouts were not the fantastic, but at the end of the month, person “B” got into the gym 3 times per week for 12 workouts!
Who’s better off? Person “A” with the 4 perfect workouts or person “B” with 12 workouts? (Let’s assume that their workout plan was similar, we are simply talking about the circumstances of their day in terms of differences) I think it is obvious that person “B” did far more for their health than person “A” did.
We all have limited time and yet you still see so many people doing tiny isolation exercises. Look, if you are a physique athlete and you are going to be stepping on stage, please, by all means hit the isolation exercises. Or if you are working to correct or strengthen a very specific area either because you are an athlete or rehabbing an injury, then, of course, I understand the isolation movements. But for the vast majority of people, they simply do not need to spend much time doing tibialis raises or wrist curls.
Most people should spend larger amounts of time doing big compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once. Remember our example of the student deciding whether to devote his time to the take home test or the homework? Compound exercises are the take home test. They are worth a large percentage of your grade.
There’s a reason you see certain compound movements such as the squat, deadlift, press and row being performed across the spectrum of athletics and time. From old time strong men to today’s linebacker. From CrossFit athletes to professional wrestlers, track & field competitors to hockey players, you will see almost all of these athletes using some variation of those tried and true exercises mentioned above.
What don’t you see standing the test of time? Lots of exercise gadgets. Simply google “fitness fads” to see what I am talking about. We spend inordinate amounts of time and money researching and purchasing that one gadget that’s going to be the cure for all of our fitness woes. Surely we will be fit and happy once we find it, right?
One example? The thigh master. Many women are not pleased with their thighs and would like to firm their thigh muscles and lose fat. Ten million women thought the thigh master was the answer. A gadget that primarily works the tiny inner thigh adductors is going to make your legs like a fitness model? It’s not just women, we all do this. Why do we think that a gadget is the answer? Unfortunately, our focus is all wrong. We are focusing 80% of our energy on the 20% of the problem. It’s not because the inner thigh muscles are weak that you have flabby thighs. Its is because you are likely eating well (or you are eating well but still have more fat to lose) and that you need to work the overall thigh with challenging compound exercises like squats.
To summarize, the 20% that you should focus on to get 80% of your results with exercise:
* Getting into the gym regularly, not waiting for the perfect day to get the perfect workout. Caveat: This does not mean you should do haphazard workouts. It does mean that doing some activity is better than no activity.
* When you are in the gym, focus first on large compound movements to get the most bang for your buck.
* Stop looking for that one gadget or quick fix. Do not fall prey to fitness fads. Consistent good diet and basic exercises will work better than the newest TV infomercial product “guaranteed to give you abs in just 3 minutes without breaking a sweat!”
Get Focused!
