Your recovery demands are not as high but you are still doing a decent amount of good exercise.

I've backed off at times when my work required more of my time. To be at my peak, I needed to be very mentally focused on it. I'd been a competitive lifter, though; I wasn't just training for the heck of it. I'm quite a bit older now and hit it pretty hard (don't compete), and my career takes as much time as most anyone's. My career role is different, though, and doesn't require extended absences away from home, which make finding a gym and keep up at a high level pretty difficult.

Overall, I think anyone, no matter the career, can make time for fitness. Maybe Elon Musk doesn't, but Jeff Bezos and a host of others do. If you a have a demanding career, though, you probably won't be able to maintain peak performance levels but there's no real reason to. I've switched up my training lots of times. Sometimes more of a cardio focus, sometimes more of a maintenance focus, or just taken some breaks.

Calisthenics.

You are correct in one sense - gym use can become a substitute for a successful life. Young men in particular seem to think, well, I'm never going to own a property, get much pussy, have a Porsche, get a top education etc...so the one thing I can control is getting ripped.

And they obsess over it. Anyone that ends up on steroids has lost control of their lives. They are the mirror of women with eating disorders or women that do 'beauty treatments'.

Gym has a place in my life, but I limit it to 3.5 x 45 mins per week. That means I go to the gym every other day, and I only spend 45 minutes lifting. This really controls the time spent. My gym is right next to my grocery store, so I combine gym visit with grocery shopping, very little time lost.

For my gym programme: 45 mins is spent by doing 3 x 15 minute sections - compound exercise only. Each workout has either deadlift or squat + one push + one pull.

Example:

Workout A 15 mins Dead lifting 15 mins bench press 15 mins chin ups

Workout B 15 mins Squats 15 mins military press 15 mins barbell row

I know some people will say 'that's not enough, what about your delts / lats / pecs etc'

My answer to that is '3.5 x 45 mins is all I have time for in a week. I'm running a business and I have a family'

If you only have 45 mins in the gym, I really hit it hard. There is no time wasting. You have to put in 100% effort for 45 mins straight. Then go. No chatting, no staring at my phone, just lift and go. I use the timer on my phone to make sure I don't overrun.

If you throw in 2x 5km run (30 minutes) and 2x 1.5hr tennis per week, its enough to keep you healthy.

It's a balance, just like everything else in life.There is only so much time in a day for a man to sleep, work, work out, mess with women, and simply enjoy life.

There will be periods when your body tells you to hit the gym hard. Then there will be times when your brain tells you to to make more money. Just listen to your natural inclinations as a man, and you'll be alright.

Now, I know the gym is regarded as the Mecca in the manosphere but I'm starting to think that it's all bullshit designed to confuse people.

You have a penchant for thinking things are "bullshit" just because you aren't getting results or it's causing you hardship or confusion.

Because think about it.

Ah, the common refrain of flat-earthers, Holocaust deniers, and proponents of the moon landing Hoax.

Who are the people promoting fitness on the Internet? They're all personal trainers, people/companies who sell supplements, fitness influencers, etc. All of them have their entire lives dedicated to the gym.

Really, you're a business owner and you think that people promoting their business is some kind of hoax?

And of course, every motherfucker is doing steroids as well but then they'll convince you that it's their secret lifting program that caused a normal human being to turn into a gorilla, and that you, the little peasant, has the privilege of enrolling in the same magical program for only $4997 per month.

I'll agree with you here. It's dishonest and disgusting to promote steroid-fueled gains as legitimate gains. It's not only unethical, is dangerous and causes a lot of men to develop a negative body image. As someone who is natural, it's hard to go to the gym and see my progress stalled out compared to the guys who are clearly on gear.

Now, I'm not saying the gym is useless

But... You said... Nevermind.

I mean look at Elon Musk for example. If he goes to the gym, we're never going to Mars.

Elon Musk is fucking retarded. The problem with money is that retardation with the momentum of money behind it is still far more effective that inert genius.

(As an aside, I don't really knock neurodivergent people - as someone who is autistic and they thought I'd never graduate high school, I kinda showed them a thing or two.)

Any super busy people here who still manage to keep elite fitness levels?

I wouldn't say "elite", but I'm stronger than 85% of men, can damn near max out the ACFT (fuck that run at the end), and I actually have abs at 214 lbs.

And you know what my secret is?

I don't sleep. (At least not as much as normies do)

You just gotta cut out the shit that doesn't return value to your day.

Now, I know the gym is regarded as the Mecca in the manosphere but I'm starting to think that it's all bullshit designed to confuse people.

• Has unhealthy obsession with managing gym results
• Quits gym instead of finding balance, blames gym
• Misses and pines for the gym results he used to have
• Uses his hamster so badly to call gym encouragement hoax that PeTA could protest against him

Jesus man. Learn to find balance, this is one of the most extreme resolutions of cognitive dissonance I've ever seen

I have lost about 50 pounds in the space of 10 months ; and now down to BF 12% but only recently started going to the gym. I used to play soccer, middle distance running, hiking, basically lots of cardio, broad shoulders yet skinny frame.

I am working on my house in my free time. So living a reasonably healthy life, and getting close to jacked by digging, masonry, DIY at the weekends.

I go to the gym twice a week, for about an hour each session. I am not strict on bulking, diets, but I want to gain some muscle and I am slowly seeing it by moving up the machines at the gym, some lifting, but lots of kettle bell famers carries, free weights, pull ups, skipping - basically what a super fit cross fit female champ would do for a workout, haha and I can see gains.

I've only just started going to the gym regularly in the past 3 months and seeing small, slow gains. I will never be a HUGE guy, but my body frame has gone from skinny fat basically to 3 months away from Brad Pitt's fight club physique , I can see with my own eyes and its thanks to lifting, and I only go 2x a week for 50 minutes.

I have only ever been told I was skinny if complimented on my body, and rarely touched by women. Yet women keep touching my hands, shoulders, body or mentioning my nice shoulders or arms looking muscly. One person even said I looked strong ; I have never been told that, and believe my biceps, are tiny. Yet the gym - lots of farmer carries I think - has helped me build up a more toned, rugged, muscled look, my broad shoulders are now sticking up and looking healthy ; but I am dwarfed by many in the gym and tbh, IRL, so I have never had to go from your position of being big, respected, one of the biggest men in the room.

Boxing training once a week I think is what gives me the confidence to act like I do. It takes balls to live a red pill existence, so you are going to meet detractors on the way ; but doing some form of martial art training I believe gives you an extra bit of confidence that a)you can defend yourself in hopefully some sort of basic form if anyone ever attacked you and b)the more you stick up for yourself in situations ; you'll see 80% of people end up backing down, but you've got to watch/be good at reading people to realise you are dealing with an absolute psycho, yes back down to them!