The 30 Minute Physique Experiment, Day 1

This is a series where I share each of my workout logs and track my progress of building my best physique while limiting my lifting sessions to just 30 minutes (or less) per day.

My training (lifting) frequency is anywhere from 3-6 days per week, usually falling around 4-5 sessions weekly. I'm not too anal (gross) about the exact frequency, one way or another. I simply make sure I train at least 3 days per week and I also make sure I take at least 1 day off from the weights each week. 

I like to share exactly what I'm doing so you can see how I make these brief, frequent, high quality workouts work for maximizing my body composition. I've been training like this since 2020 and I've improved my physique each year since then, while following this style of training. 

I've been lifting weights consistently (though, not always intelligently) since 2009. So I'd been lifting weights for 11 years before I got hooked on these frequent, 20-30 minute, hypertrophy–focused workouts. 

While Vince Gironda and Mike Mentzer had very different general philosophies on training for "cosmetics," they both agreed that most people trained too much and for too long, each stating that spending less time in the gym but lifting with more focus and intensity with intelligent exercise selection (higher quality) would result in better progress and less wear and tear on the body. 

Vince Gironda liked the training almost daily approach while Mentzer preferred lower frequencies (later in his life promoting frighteningly low frequencies). I have adopted the high frequency recommendation from Vince Gironda and combined it with the (relatively) low volume recommendations popularly associated with Mike Mentzer's programs. I find this 'best of both worlds' combination works most excellently for me – mentally and physically.

I spent the first decade of my lifting career training high volume AND high frequency, while prioritizing the barbell lifts (powerbuilding type approach that was really heavy on doing the Big 3 powerlifts frequently) and it sucked up lots of time, energy, beat up my body, and eventually resulted in some pretty serious injuries that left me unable to continue training the way I was. Those injuries and the years of recovery and experimenting how to train after my hip issues eventually led to this style of training which is now my entire brand.

I had to answer some questions:

1. What are my actual goals?

2. How can I go about achieving those goals without 

aggravating my injuries?

3. How can I train for my goals in a way that is time efficient and fun?

When I was honest with myself, I came to terms that my main goal has always been: body composition and aesthetics. But, for some reason my ego wanted to identify myself as a strength and barbell purist. 

Again, this false identity did not work well, long term, for my body and it didn’t help me achieve my deep-seeded goal of sporting an aesthetic, Silver era physique.

Anyway, since 2020 I've been committed to making the gym fit within my life, rather than squeezing a little bit of life around my gym and eating schedule. I experimented, researched, and tinkered with these 30 minute workouts and programs and, I think I've kinda mastered it now. 

The longer I train like this, the more fun I have, the more gains I make, and the more energy I have for the rest of my life outside my workouts. Maybe that's why I have the energy and passion to share these workouts with you, dear reader.

But, quite possibly the best part is that while I'm not getting any younger, I look better each year than the previous year since I've adopted this training style. I'm 34 and I look the best I've ever looked. When I see pictures of myself in my powerbuilding days, I'm astonished how much more aesthetic my physique is now than it was then. 

The length of your training sessions is not important. The quality and consistency of your training sessions determines results, not total minutes spent/wasted in the gym per session. 

Also, I find that short sessions that do enough to stimulate muscle growth, rather than simply annihilating the muscles, keeps me fresh to train nearly every day. I'll add that using training splits like upper/lower or PPL also helps me train frequently because I'm not hitting the same muscle groups back to back, allowing my muscles to recover while I train other parts of the body and still training very frequently.

Anyway, here's Day 1 of the series:

The 30 Minute Physique Experiment Day 1

08/07/2025 Training Log. Pull Session.

Ex 1: weighted pullups-4,4

Ex 2: single arm rows-10/10, 9/9

Ex 3: concentration curls-12/12, 10/10

Ex 4: incline hammer curls-12,10

Total Time = 22 minutes.

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