Why 16 weeks?
Why not a 4, 8, or 12-week fitness plan?
After thousands of scientific studies, over a few decades, we now have a detailed understanding of human body and mind.
Let me explain.
Fitness is not a destination, it's a lifestyle
Fitness is NOT equal to weight loss and six-pack.
REALLY? Let's see what science says.
Fitness is generally divided into two main categories:
1. Physical Fitness
Physical fitness includes various areas such as
a) Flexibility & balance,
b) Strength,
c) Endurance,
d) Power,
e) Speed and agility,
f) Cardiovascular capacity,
g) Muscle mass
g) Optimum body fat %
All these areas are equally important.
If you have "six-pack" but cannot bend over and touch your toes, you're NOT fit, because you may have low body fat %, but your muscle and joints flexibility sucks.
Any healthy person can get a flat belly, by starving himself/herself to death, that is NOT fitness.
2. Cognitive & Mental Fitness
The role of exercise on brain functions and the endocrine system is well documented. Physical exercise provides significant cognitive, mental, and emotional positive effects.
A. Regular physical exercise can help us improve memory, reduce the risk of cognitive decline, including dementia.
B. Your mood and emotions are all controlled by hormones. By far, the best medicine for regulating your hormones is doing physical exercise. Do you want to feel happier, less stressed, less anxious, less depressed, and sleep better? The best way is to incorporate regular exercise into your lifestyle.
So, What to do?
Based on the above, your fitness goal should never be losing weight because your body fat percentage is only a small part of your fitness.
The ultimate goal of fitness is in fact feeling young as long as possible, and preventing the diseases and cognitive decline as long as possible.
But this is not something you can achieve by exercising one week. So, your goal must be making fitness a lifestyle.
How to make fitness a lifestyle?
1. The science of human psychology
If we want to make fitness a lifestyle, we need to form habits so that it becomes automatic and habitual.
But how long does it take to form habits?
In her book “Good Habits, Bad Habits”, Wendy Wood, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California, refers to a scientific habit-formation study performed by Dr. Phillippa (Pippa) Lally and her colleagues at the University of London.
The study reveals that different behaviors require varying amounts of repetition to become habitual and automatic, with duration ranging from 18 to 254 days, depending on the person and the behavior. Notably, physical exercise demands over 90 days of consistent practice to become a habit.
Therefore, if your goal is to form lasting habits and a healthy lifestyle, a minimum of 14 weeks is advisable.
2. The science of physical fitness
We already mentioned that fitness includes different areas, all of which are equally important.
In order for a fitness program to cover all essential areas of fitness, it must include two fundamental principles.
In the textbook, Essentials of Personal Training (2nd edition, p. 374), the NSCA (National Strength & Conditioning Association) introduces the concept of the 16-week fitness program, emphasizing the importance of sequencing and progressive overload—the two fundamental principles supported by numerous scientific studies.
A 16-week program represents the ideal balance, offering enough time to effectively incorporate both sequencing and progressive overload.
Shorter duration, such as 4 or 8 weeks, are too brief to fully apply these principles, while 12 weeks is better but still limiting. Conversely, extending beyond 16 weeks can lead to plateaus.
This makes 16 weeks the optimal duration for sustained progress.
Download a 16-week fitness plan and let's make fitness a lifestyle.