So in my book How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything (have I mentioned my book How to Be Better at Almost Everything–have I told you about that???) I talk about why frequency is so important for getting better at things and how silly it is that people don’t take advantage of shorter, but more frequent and focused, practice sessions.
Frequency is how often you do something. Volume is how much you do of something overall. You can have a higher volume but a lower frequency and still suck. That is entirely possible. It happens all the time. Imagine your typical weekend warrior type. Think of the person who only works out once per week but goes for the total destruction of every appendage. Say they spend 3 – 4 hours in the gym, like we all probably did in middle school, at some point, with every intention of crippling themselves. Great. You now have a clear picture of an idiot. Because here’s the thing: the person who spends 20 – 30 minutes, 4 – 5 days per week, is going to have far better results than the balls-to-the-walls weekend warrior, even if they’re not doing as much work overall.
Same with every other skill. If you only play guitar once per week (or skateboard once per week, or Tae Kwon Do once per week, or whatever), it doesn’t matter if you practice for six hours in one block. You’d be better off practicing 20 minutes a day, every day. You’ll retain more, and your focus will be better with shorter, but more frequent, practice sessions. Also: It is very difficult to practice for long periods of time and have most of that time be productive. This is especially true when it comes to exercise, and even more so when it comes to intense forms of exercise. Shorter, but more frequent sessions, are almost always best.
– Pat
PS – Shorter, but more frequent and intense. That’s how we do it in Strong ON!