The minimal health week: what it needs when life gets busy

General information, not medical advice. If you have symptoms, discuss them with your GP or physiotherapist.

A minimal health week is the smallest bundle of habits you can still keep up during a busy week of work and family. It is not about a perfect schedule, but about what stays standing when your diary overflows, and about what you drop first.

What the guidelines ask as a minimum

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises adults to do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination of both. On top of that come muscle-strengthening activities for all major muscle groups on at least two days a week, and as little sitting still as possible. Since the 2020 guideline, short bouts count as well (Bull and colleagues, 2020). According to Gezond Leven, the Flemish institute for health promotion, brisk walking, recreational swimming or cycling count as moderate intensity: you breathe faster, but you can still talk normally.

The building blocks of an ordinary week

Strength training

As a practical guideline, aim for two whole-body training sessions of about 45 to 60 minutes. That duration is not a WHO figure, but it does cover the two strength days. Bending the knees, hinging at the hips, pushing, pulling and carrying, as in the farmer’s walk, together work all major muscle groups. How to build this up is covered in the starter plan on strength training for longer health.

Easy endurance

Cycling, brisk walking, swimming or easy running can all fit zone 2, a calm endurance pace at which you can still talk comfortably in full sentences. If you train specifically in zone 2, the practical rule of thumb is two to four sessions a week. If time is short, shorter bouts count as well.

Moving outside your training

Everyday movement counts too, such as walking to the station or doing your shopping by bike. Researchers call this movement outside sport and training NEAT. Gezond Leven advises alternating sitting, standing and moving. How many steps a day are useful is covered in a separate article.

A regular sleep schedule

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend at least seven hours of sleep a night for adults (Watson and colleagues, 2015). Choose a fixed window you manage almost every day, for example from 11 pm to 7 am, with your wake-up time as the fixed point. Why regularity matters is explained in the article on a regular sleep schedule.

Protein and legumes

In its 2025 dietary recommendations, Belgium’s Superior Health Council (HGR) advises eating legumes several times a week, such as lentils, beans or chickpeas. For people who train, the International Society of Sports Nutrition advises spreading protein across the day, roughly every three to four hours, in portions of about 20 to 40 grams (Jäger and colleagues, 2017).

An example of a minimal health week

On Monday and Thursday you do a 45-minute strength session. On Wednesday and Saturday you follow with an easy bike ride or a brisk 45-minute walk, and on the other three days you walk or cycle briskly for 20 minutes. Together that makes 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, the WHO lower limit, alongside two strength days. Every night you keep the same sleep window. According to the WHO, more activity brings extra benefit, although that gain shrinks the more active you already are.

What you drop first when things get busy

Research does not lay down a fixed order of priority, but a sober order helps. Drop the extras first, such as a third session or a long weekend outing. Next, shorten your sessions instead of cutting them. Sleep, daily movement and at least one strength session are what you hold on to longest.

A short review by Spiering and colleagues (2021) shows how far such a minimum goes. Endurance was maintained for up to 15 weeks with two sessions a week, or with a third to two thirds less training time, as long as the intensity stayed the same. In younger adults, strength and muscle mass were maintained for up to 32 weeks with one strength session a week and one round per exercise, as long as they kept training just as heavily. Older adults may need up to two sessions a week with two to three rounds to maintain their muscle mass. According to the authors, intensity, meaning how hard you train, seems to be the key. Maintaining is not the same as meeting the WHO recommendation, so such a minimum suits a temporarily busy period.

Sources

• World Health Organization (2020). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: WHO.
• Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S et al. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(24), 1451–1462.
• Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven. Bewegingsdriehoek and Matig intensief bewegen. Gezond Leven (in Dutch, accessed 16 October 2026).
• Watson NF, Badr MS, Belenky G et al. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult: a joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Sleep, 38(6), 843–844.
• Hoge Gezondheidsraad (2025). Voedingsaanbevelingen voor de Belgische bevolking (2025). Advice 9805-9807, Superior Health Council.
• Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 20.
• Spiering BA, Mujika I, Sharp MA, Foulis SA (2021). Maintaining physical performance: the minimal dose of exercise needed to preserve endurance and strength over time. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(5), 1449–1458.