March 10, 2026 //
Thomas Conway //
Gym News //
5 min read
Follow this equation to build and sustain strength and fitness
At Project 13 we’ve worked with thousands of people over the years. And through that experience we’ve been able to pick up on trends of what really works to build strength and what doesn’t.
And there is certainly a common theme between those that succeed and those that fail.
The surprising result is that it’s actually much more simple to build strength than what typical messaging leads us to believe. There are a lot of reasons why that is that I don’t need to get into in this post but it revolves around what’s sexy and what will get your attention.
But the reality is that the best way to build strength isn’t sexy. Instead, it’s incredibly basic and I’m sorry to tell you not SUPER exciting. But instead of being bored by that you should feel assured that you don’t have to do some crazy bullshit to get the body that you want.
I understand that some of you may be disappointed by my answer because you wanted to be validated by some of the marketing you’ve seen over the years.
And I’ve been there too.
This desire to have found THE thing that will solve your problem.
But, you may be noticing a theme within our messages that we share with you.
Oftentimes when it comes to fitness, nutrition and even general health there is no straightforward single answer.
As much as we want that to be the case I am reminded of this every single day when I work with our members that each have their own individual needs, strength goals, injury history, life stresses, etc.
So, is there a BEST training method out their to get you results?
The answer is yes and no.
But how can that be? Let me explain.
If you ever had conversations with me about results you know that I believe in a very basic yet profound equation to get results guaranteed.
That is F + T = R or Frequency + Time = Results.
In all my years as a coach I have NEVER seen this equation not be true. The only time in which those two variables do not equal the desired outcomes is if one of those variables is not in check.
Take for example someone who has gone to the gym for two months and complains about not seeing results. I could wager a large sum of money that if we took a look at their gym attendance we would likely see something like the following pattern.
Week 1: 4 days attendance
Week 2: 1 day attendance
Week 3: 2 days attendance
Week 4: 0 days attendance (feeling overwhelmed)
Week 5: 1 Day attendance
Week 6: 4 days attendance
Week 7: 1 Day attendance
Week 8: 0 days attendance
If we did some quick math on that you would conclude that they only attended 13 of 56 days possible at the gym, yet in their mind they would probably tell you they’ve been training for 2 months.
And maybe this person said before they joined that they were going to go to the gym 4 days per week. If a newbie tells me that I usually talk them down to 3 days because I know that usually more than that is too much when trying to establish a new training habit.
You see, our mind tends to work in generalizations as opposed to specifics. I see it fairly often with my members and when we break down the numbers they usually come to a place of reason.
That’s where I then help them lay out simple steps to increase their frequency yet keep it manageable based on their schedule.
Compare the previous example with the one below where the person is willing to easy into things with 2-3 days per week:
Week 1: 3 days attendance
Week 2: 2 day attendance
Week 3: 3 days attendance
Week 4: 2 days attendance
Week 5: 3 Day attendance
Week 6: 2 days attendance
Week 7: 3 Day attendance
Week 8: 2 days attendance
In the last example, the person came 20 out of 56 days. But other benefits to this schedule go beyond just the raw numbers. This person after 8 weeks has also built a routine that they can likely stick to without feeling overwhelmed.
And, extrapolate both of these examples out further and I can guarantee that the person in the second example will likely stick with it long term.
We also have conversations about the importance of patience in this whole journey. When we think out how much time we actually have to work on ourselves and slowly build strength it can provide some much needed perspective.
Assuming we all have normal life spans, we have a lot of time to improve.
So remember, we don’t need to crush ourselves every time we train and instead think about what mindset we can have when we go to the gym that will allow us to build up our training frequency.
Remember, most good things don’t result from making aggressive and abrupt change in any aspect of our life and that especially applies with strength training.
So, start simple, start slow and let the magic happen with frequency and time.
Want to experience how we help you build consistency? Check out our website and click the get started link to book a call or jump into a session!
