Why Efficiency, Not Volume, Is The Key To Better Fitness Results
For many women, fitness has become synonymous with doing more—more workouts, more classes, more time logged at the gym. Yet despite all that effort, strength gains stall, body composition doesn’t shift, and energy remains frustratingly low.
On the mindbodygreen podcast, board-certified OB-GYN and mindbodygreen scientific advisor Jaime Seeman, M.D., offers a refreshing reframing: the issue usually isn’t effort, it’s strategy.
Her solution isn’t more workouts, longer sessions, or extreme training plans. It’s efficiency. Instead of volume, she focuses on what actually drives adaptation in the body: progressive resistance, sufficient stimulus, and recovery. In other words, you don’t need to live at the gym to get stronger. You need better workouts.
Why resistance training beats excessive cardio for body composition
“Most women are doing too much cardio and not enough resistance training,” Seeman explains. While steady-state cardio and long group fitness classes can feel productive, they don’t provide the muscular stimulus required to preserve lean mass, improve insulin sensitivity, and support metabolic health.
Muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body. It plays a central role in glucose regulation, hormonal balance, bone density, and healthy aging. When women prioritize cardio at the expense of strength training, they often struggle to build or maintain that muscle. Over time, that can lead to plateaus in fat loss, declining energy, and increased injury risk.
There’s also a hormonal piece. Long, aerobic-heavy workouts performed frequently can elevate cortisol, especially when paired with insufficient fueling, high stress, and inadequate recovery. While short bursts of high-intensity training can be beneficial, many cardio classes labeled as “HIIT” are actually prolonged moderate-intensity workouts, which can drive a sustained cortisol response.
From a body composition standpoint, Seeman notes, sprint interval training and true high-intensity intervals show far more benefit than long, steady cardio. But even those don’t replace the need for resistance training.
How two full-body workouts per week can be enough
One of the most empowering takeaways from Seeman’s approach is how efficient effective training can be. “You can get a really effective full-body workout in a short period of time,” she says. “You could do that two days per week.”
This concept, known as the minimum effective dose, focuses on delivering enough stimulus to trigger adaptation without unnecessary volume. In practice, that means choosing compound movements, lifting challenging weights, and training with intention rather than just logging time.
Two full-body sessions per week can stimulate muscle growth, maintain bone density, and improve metabolic health, particularly for busy women juggling careers, families, and stress. For those who enjoy training more often, Seeman suggests increasing frequency to three or four days, potentially splitting workouts into upper- and lower-body days. But she emphasizes that more is not always better.
“I have to be very efficient,” she says. “I get the stimulus that I need, and I leave.”
Actionable takeaways: How to train smarter
If you want better results with less time in the gym, here’s how to apply Seeman’s framework:
- Lift at least twice per week. Focus on full-body workouts that include squats or lunges, hinges (like deadlifts), pushes, pulls, and core work.
- Make your weights count. Choose loads that feel challenging by the final reps. You should finish each set feeling like you couldn’t comfortably do more than one or two additional reps.
- Limit excessive cardio. Swap long steady-state sessions for short, focused intervals or low-intensity movement like walking.
- Keep workouts efficient. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of intentional training rather than longer, unfocused sessions.
- Support recovery. Prioritize sleep, adequate protein intake, and rest days. Training adaptations happen when you recover, not just when you lift.
The takeaway
If your workouts have started to feel like another item on an already long to-do list, this approach offers a powerful reframe. You don’t need to train harder, longer, or more often. You need to train smarter.
By focusing on resistance training, prioritizing efficiency, and embracing the minimum effective dose, you can build strength, improve metabolism, and support long-term health, even with a busy schedule. Over time, those small, strategic choices compound, shaping not just how you look, but how you move, feel, and age.
And that’s a goal worth training for.