Minimalist Fitness Strategy: Achieve More with Less

How This Minimalist Fitness Strategy Was The Mindset Shift I Needed To Transform My Body

One simple shift in my thinking transformed my body forever.

There was a key mistake I made over and over again, for almost two decades, that kept me from seeing the results I desired in my body.

You’ve probably made this mistake too.

There’s a flawed pattern of thinking that believes addition is better than subtraction. That the pursuit of perfection trumps consistency. That more must be better than less.

Look around at any area of your life and you’ll see this at play.

It sounds great in theory, but here’s why this strategy doesn’t work:

Doing more, chasing perfection, grinding harder — all of it is attractive in today’s world. Yet it isn’t sustainable for most people, and the aggressive climb usually leads to a harder fall.

I know, because trying to do more always led me to a dead end.

My Story: Why It Took Me Over a Decade To Adopt A Less Is More Mindset

From the time I got into fitness around age 14, until I turned 34, I had a goal: drop body fat and get lean.

It wasn’t my biggest focus during high school and college football years — when I was trying to get strong and fast — but it was always in the back of my mind.

Once football ended, and I no longer had a weight requirement, I was ready to finally get lean.

It took over a decade to reach my goal of getting under 10% body fat.

I had failure after failure after failure.

I’d see success for a little while, only to find myself back at square one a few months later.
If you’ve been there, you know how frustrating that is.

Here’s why it took so long (and what changed everything):

I was obsessed with addition — trying to do more.

Where I Focused (Addition)

• Adding in more workouts each week
• Adding more exercises to each session
• Doing more (abs, arms, cardio)
• Combining multiple workout programs
• Trying more diets (keto, paleo, carnivore, fasting)

What I Ignored (Subtraction)

• Reducing instances of overeating or binging
• Spending less time sitting around between workouts
• Drinking less alcohol and eating out less
• Managing stress and getting better sleep

What Changed Everything

Once I shifted my mindset from doing more to doing less (better), my body transformed.

In just three months, I noticed a huge change.

By six months, I looked and felt completely different.

Here’s exactly what I changed:

• I removed all the “fluff” from my workouts.
  • I trained no more than 3x/week.
  • Each workout had 3–5 exercises: squats, deadlifts, bench presses, pull-ups, overhead presses, rows.
• I stopped chasing perfect dieting.
  • Instead, I simply reduced how often I overate.
  • I focused on not overeating week after week instead of strict perfection day after day.

One bad day no longer sent me into a downward spiral like it used to.

Addition vs Subtraction (Why It Matters)

Addition:

• Requires more willpower
• Demands bigger lifestyle changes
• Forces you to learn something new
• Creates more chances to fail

Subtraction:

• Requires consistency (but not perfection)
• Makes only small tweaks to current habits
• Needs little to no learning curve
• Allows more flexibility when life happens

Addition puts all the pressure on you to be perfect.

Subtraction gives you breathing room to succeed, even when life isn’t perfect.

Practical Examples

Workouts:

• Addition: Go to the gym more often or add more exercises.
• Subtraction: Stick to your schedule, miss fewer workouts, master a few core lifts.

Nutrition:

• Addition: Try a new diet, carb cycle, track every calorie.
• Subtraction: Simply reduce the number of days you overeat each month.

Stress:

• Addition: Meditate or journal daily.
• Subtraction: Say yes to fewer things, limit social media time.

Lifestyle:

• Addition: Set a 12,000 steps/day goal.
• Subtraction: Stand up and move every 30 minutes (sit less)

Final Thought

Have you felt stuck trying to reach your goals?

Maybe you’re not broken.

Maybe you’re just focused on the wrong thing.

When I stopped trying to do more and started focusing on messing up less, my results skyrocketed.

What would happen if you focused less on perfection — and more on simply avoiding the big slip-ups?

If you want to follow a plan, that removes the fluff and focuses on what really matters, sign up for the Body [re]Building Playbook.