Psychologist Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit, is now saying the quiet part out loud:

Willpower is overrated.

In a recent New York Times essay, she argues that successful people rarely rely on raw inner strength in the heat of the moment. Instead, they practice what she calls situational agency. They arrange their lives so they don’t need much willpower in the first place.

The moment that snapped it into focus wasn’t some grand epiphany. It was a stat on my training app:

Total workout time: 55 minutes
Active workout time: 22 minutes

I stared at it like it was a typo.

Because if I’m only lifting for 22 minutes… what am I doing with the other 33?

“Full-body” can sound like you’re doing a little bit of everything and spinning your wheels. Done right, it’s the opposite. It’s you saying: Every time I train, my whole body gets better. Muscles respond well to being trained often.

Somewhere after forty, most men get used to a low, steady background noise in their bodies. A tight hip that never really lets go. A back that complains after long drives. You can still lift, still grind, still “push through,” but you’re doing it inside a frame that feels more like armor than a home.

You tell yourself it’s age. Mostly, it’s neglect.

At some point in your forties, a quiet tension shows up in your training. You can still push. But the cost of every hard session hangs around longer than it used to. That’s where deload weeks stop being optional.

At some point after forty, most men feel a quiet shift. The weight on the bar isn’t the problem; getting into position is. Your hips don’t sink as low, your shoulders don’t open as easily, and your back complains when you bend to tie your shoes.

By your 40s and 50s, the reasons you train aren’t the same as they were in your 20s. Research on older adults shows that the biggest drivers of exercise are health, fitness, appearance, mental well-being, and enjoyment.