My Fitness Routine Pyramid

In a perfect world, my fitness routine would look like this:

•  Three or four 60- to 90-minute strength-training sessions each week
•  180 minutes of cardio each week (including one high-intensity workout and one long-duration endurance effort)
•  10,000 incidental steps each day (in addition to whatever cardio I might do)
•  Two or three targeted mobility/neurobics sessions each week
•  A daily outdoor walk within 30 minutes of waking up
•  A daily bedtime yoga and medita­tion practice
•  Seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night
•  0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of my body weight daily

Alas, the world is far from perfect. I can recall no single week during which I’ve been able to check each and every one of these goals off my list.

In the past, especially when I was new to training, I berated myself for failing to meet these demands. For years, my fitness to-do list — in hindsight more of a wish list — was a major source of stress and self-flagellation.

Like a child asking Santa for a real-life dinosaur, I set expectations that were unrealistic and routinely led to disappointment. Even as my efforts to get stronger and fitter blessed me with numerous gifts, all I could see was what I didn’t get — the perfection I never achieved.

Like a child asking Santa for a real-life dinosaur, I set expectations that were unrealistic and routinely led to disappointment.

It’s taken me years to get to a place where I can look at this daunting list as a source of inspiration rather than motivation. I no longer expect that I can or even want to make time for it. Instead, these goal behaviors serve as guidelines rather than hard-and-fast rules — nice-to-haves rather than can’t-live-withouts. For me, it’s been helpful to envision them in a pyramid format.

The base is strength training. No matter how busy my life gets, if I do nothing else, I lift weights. Why? Because it builds muscle, boosts bone density, improves cardiovascular functioning, balances hormones, inspires creativity and cognitive functioning, supports mood and mindset, keeps me mobile, and supports healthy aging. And I genuinely love to lift. (Learn more about these and other benefits at “6 Ways Strength Training Supports Overall Health.”)

The next tier is suffi­cient sleep, which is key to health, vitality, and well-being. Moreover, it’s an integral part of adapting to and recovering from my fitness pursuits. (Explore our collection of sleep articles at “Why Sleep Matters for Your Health.”)

Above that is conditioning, which I like to think of as intentional cardio. Cardio was once the base of my pyramid — which was great, until it wasn’t: I quite literally ran myself to injury by doing too much for too long.

Now, I understand that my best cardio routine is one with plenty of variety — in intensity, duration, and type. (Learn more at “How Much Cardio Do You Really Need?“)

The top of my pyramid is reserved for all the other fitness “treats” that make me feel extra good but aren’t quite powerful enough on their own to form the foundation of my routine. I integrate mobility and neurobics into my strength and cardio sessions to keep my body moving well and my brain on point. (Learn more about neurobics at “The Neurobic Workout.”)

I get outside, do yoga, and meditate when I can and want, rather than force those activities into specific times of day. I no longer track my steps or my protein intake, confident in my ability to move intentionally and fuel intuitively.

This is my right-now pyramid. It’s built on scientific evidence as well as personal experience. And it will almost certainly change over time.

More than anything, I’ve learned that, just as the world isn’t perfect, there is no perfect fitness routine that works for everyone or forever. As my priorities, circumstances, and preferences undoubtedly change, so too will the way I move and care for my body.

In this way, fitness is not my whole life, but I am able to integrate movement and wellness into a big, beautiful life I love.