Is it Better to Be a Workout Minimalist or Maximalist?

If you were to take a poll of the world’s longest, most lithe bodies on their workout routines, you’d likely find that these women are equally divided among two categories: those deeply devoted to feeling the burn, or the ones who, maddeningly, never seem to put on gym clothes. So it makes sense that when you do your New Year’s check-in with your body, you might find yourself torn between aligning with the Gwyneth Paltrows of the world—those who emulate the woman who famously refers to her daily two hours of resistance training and dance cardio as being as essential as brushing her teeth—or the Salma Hayek Pinaults of the world, who just last year told Vogue.com that brushing her teeth is her workout. Is there one right way to get fit? For an answer, we turned to a Manhattan-based physical therapist, trainer, and naturopath to weigh in on the benefits of fitness maximalism and minimalism.

It seems intuitive that the harder you work, the more you’ll achieve. That’s exactly what trainer Stephen Cheuk had in mind when he founded Tribeca’s cult gym S10. “We’re very results-based,” says Cheuk, who designs bespoke high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) workouts for his female clients, like Hannah Bronfman and DJ May Kwok, looking to shape up. An hour-long, sweat-drenched session involves a full-body strength and conditioning routine ranging from dead lifts to battle ropes, band-resistance sprints to planks. And, with regular attendees in mind (Cheuk suggests five times a week for optimal results, three times a week at a minimum), the exercises change every three to four weeks to avoid allowing the body to adapt to repetitive movement, which would reduce calorie-burning potential. “HIIT is actually quite good for your heart,” says physical therapist Michelle Rodriguez, who works with members of the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and the Paris Opera Ballet. “If you have a sedentary life or job, you need to do that kind of cardio training to sculpt your body.”

 

 

In the other camp, there’s the incredibly appealing French-girl approach to fitness, in which sleeping in and taking a walk to work are enough to give girls like Lola Burstein-Rykiel a bikini-friendly frame. “Low-intensity exercise will keep you fit and active,” says Manhattan-based herbalist Daniela Turley, who tells her clients to listen to their bodies when it comes to working out. “If you wake up and feel like you don’t want to go, like you’re dragging yourself there, don’t go.” Turley, of course, isn’t encouraging her clients to be lazy, but rather urging them to avoid compounding adrenal fatigue, which can cause larger, long-term issues resulting from hormonal imbalance. “You don’t need to burn the candle at both ends,” says Rodriguez, who also agrees that excessive cardio or intense workouts can put your adrenal system and cardiovascular system at risk. “If you were to walk 3 to 4 miles a day [briskly] and stretch your body, you could look amazing as long as you have a clean and healthy diet.”

The solution, says Rodriguez, is to strike a balance between extremes. If your job is not active in and of itself, she recommends seeking out 12 minutes of interval training through running stairs, swimming, or jumping rope three to four times per week. “That’s all you need for cardiovascular training and weight management,” she says. Any additional toning and shaping of your muscles requires a larger time commitment. “Doing calisthenics designed for your body or something like Gyrotonics for an hour, two to three times per week, is the most efficient way to do it.” The rest comes down to diet. “Eighty percent [of how you look and feel] has to do with your diet, rather than how much you exercise,” she says. And with that, we’re recalibrating our resolutions—and our afternoon snacks.

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