Is there a way to stay in shape if I don't...

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I was told that I should be exercising an hour a day, for six days a week by a personal trainer, since I want to become more fit. But I find it very difficult to do this everyday almost though. Things just keep coming up in the day that I cannot avoid, work and errand wise, and I find myself not having enough time.

However, this is only on days I also work, and on my days off I have time to exercise for 3 hours per day. If I do this for two days off a week, I have then got the six hours of exercise per week. But the PT says I have to do it everyday though, because the body cannot suck it up in one go for two days, and then be fit for the remaining five days of the week I do not exercise.

Is the PT right though, and three hours per two days a week, is not as effective as 1 hour for six days a week, even though both are six hours a week still?

it is true that exercise is less effective in big binge sessions like that ant that it isn't worth doing, I would also say 6 days a week seems excessive if you are just trying to maintain your health and not get super cut or anything like that, for casual "maintenance" exercise I would say 3-5 days is more reasonable, if you truly cant fit that into your schedule i wouldn't sweat it because two 1-hour sessions a week is monumentally better than none at all, fitness is about sticking to a consistent routine don't overextend yourself and fall off the wagon.

What are your goals?

To build muscle, you need to lift weight and have enough protein (grams of protein per day = 0.8 * your goal body weight).

However, to lose weight, exercising a lot everyday isn't necessarily a hard requirement. You can do that through a caloric deficit too. Track your calories. A person could be gymming 6 days a week yet still not losing weight because they're consuming too many calories and not tracking it accurately.

Part of the athletic look comes from having a low bodyfat percentage (i.e. 10-15% for men). This is where your muscle definition will poke through your skin, and you'll also have a chiseled jawline. The saying "abs are made in the kitchen; not the gym" is largely true.

I want to loose weight and gain muscle. My PT says that things like weight watchers are a cash grab because the while calories in vs.. calories out is a scientific myth.. is that true?

Mmm it's a bit of a yes and no answer. If you consume fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight pretty rapidly. The issue is that your metabolism then reacts - it thinks that your prior weight was an equilibrium and tries to adjust itself so you get back to that equilibrium i.e. in this case it will slow down so you burn less calories. So it's not that helpful in that regard. You can shift the equilibrium however over time, it just takes discipline and you should really combine diet changes with exercise changes to turbo charge your calorie burning as well to facilitate this.

Put it this way - there's a reason endurance athletes are v skinny. It is almost impossible for them to gain any weight/fat because they are burning so many calories, even though they eat a shed load of calories. Some cyclists consume c. 7,000 calories a day when racing.

You don't need weight watchers or any specific program. You don't need to spend any money on any program. Choosing to eat less doesn't cost any money. You can use an app or a notebook to track calories yourself.

Calories in, calories out is not a myth. It works. Any type of eating plan will work as long as you're at a caloric deficit.

What is a myth is that people look for diets that falsely promise them that they can eat as many calories as they want so long as they only eat X, Y and Z type of foods.

Yes. Surprisingly few people are aware of the metabolic aspect, but it is crucial. That's why I was careful with how I explained the issue. Poster above glossed over that part though

To me it is also interesting that in terms of the exercise, your body also adapts so it becomes slightly harder to burn the calories. The trick here is never do just one form of exercise. This is why I dislike smart health watches. Loads of people then just focus on walking, and that is their one form of exercise. The body adapts, making each step less effective. In my view (I am not a health professional but have acquired a lot of knowledge from having a trainer when racing bicycles), best thing is to do some rough calorie counting and have an uptick in exercise and keep that varied e.g. mix of weights (or just lifting your own body, which is free) and varied cardio. That should tackle both of the adaptation problems I discuss and hopefully set you on a healthy and sustainable path. My tip is also avoid weighing yourself - it won't be meaningful if you increase exercise because fat >>> muscle which is heavier. Best weighing scale is the mirror.

I wonder if the problem is that you're getting your physical activity in the form of working out - ie, doing something for the sole reason of exercising. If you found an activity to do that involves exercise but has another purpose, it might be a lot easier to motivate yourself.

I've been told my current exercise level is good, by a dietitian, and I don't work out. Instead, I walk over to my parents' house most mornings because I've been keeping the mealworms I'm planning to sell as a home business there. It's about 7 blocks away. The mealworms need tending, that's the goal - well, that and spending time with my parents and their pets. The exercise is incidental.

If you can find something you're motivated to do for other reasons that also incidentally involves getting a lot of exercise, it's a lot easier to stay in shape. Either that, or if you find a way to make working out motivating. For extroverted NTs, one of the easiest ways to do that is to get an exercise buddy who hangs out with you and chats while you're exercising together. I also know some people who basically treat exercise as a form of meditation, and end up exercising when they're stressed as a way to soothe themselves. I personally find exercise a good way to relieve anger - when I'm so mad that I'm having trouble focusing on anything else and I'm feeling shaky with anger, lifting weights can get me calmer.

Oh well I tried martial arts to get me in shape to motivate me but I found I don't break near as much of a sweat doing that as actual exercise at the gym. Martial arts does break a sweat for sure, but just not near as much. The machines at the gym seem to work me out harder than anything else I can think of doing.

Oh ok thank you for your input. What counts as progressive overload?
Normally I lift the heaviest weight loads I can while being able to do full extensions slowly with them if that makes sense?

But even if I'm not sweating lifting weights and running for agood amount of time at the gym just feels like more exercise than martial arts.