Stop Aiming for “Normal”
When inactivity is the default, effort becomes the real separator
Most people assume the average adult is getting a decent amount of exercise.
It’s an easy belief to fall into because we see fitness content everywhere. We see people posting workouts, talking about steps, and signing up for races, so it feels like regular movement is the norm.
But that picture doesn’t match reality.
When you look at the actual data, most adults aren’t anywhere near the recommended levels of activity. Strength work is rare. Consistent aerobic training is even rarer. Daily life pulls people into long hours of sitting, short bursts of movement, and routines that don’t add up to meaningful progress.
This gap matters.
People quietly aim for an idea of “normal” without realizing how little that version of normal is doing for anyone. If the behavior you’re modeling isn’t producing the outcomes you want, following the average approach won’t get you any closer.
Normal habits won’t create the uncommon results most people aspire for in their lives.
Seeing that gap is the starting point. It gives you a clearer baseline and makes it easier to understand what you’re actually working with. Before you decide what effort you want to put in, you need to know what “normal” really looks like.
“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” — Michelangelo
If you’re ready to move beyond the habits that keep most people stuck, let’s talk. Book your FREE Discovery Call, and we’ll look at where you are now, what you want to build next, and the kind of steady effort that can actually move you into uncommon results.
Normal Isn’t the Standard You Want
Most people assume the average adult is fairly active. The picture in their head is simple - a few workouts a week, some walking or other light activity, and enough movement to stay generally healthy.
But when you look at what adults are actually doing, the numbers paint a very different picture.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an adult should get 150–300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week or 75–150 minutes of vigorous work, plus strength training two or more days a week.
For most adults, that adds up to only 3–5 hours a week, yet only about 23% of American adults meet the full federal guidelines for both aerobic exercise and strength work. Breaking it down even more, only 26% of men and 19% of women get the recommended strength training.
In other words, nearly three out of four adults are not consistently active at all.
And it gets worse.
Most adults spend the majority of their day sitting. The movement they do get comes in short, inconsistent bursts that don’t add up to meaningful progress. Even people who believe they’re active rarely reach the level where change happens.
So when people aim for “normal,” they’re aiming for a level of activity that isn’t producing health, strength, or energy for anyone. Normal isn’t balanced. Normal isn’t effective. Normal doesn’t lead anywhere people actually want to go.
Normal isn’t a target. It’s the pattern that keeps most adults stuck.
The Bar for Uncommon Is Shockingly Low
Once you understand where “normal” actually sits, the whole conversation changes.
Most adults are operating so far below the minimum needed for real health or strength that it doesn’t take much to step into a completely different experience of your life. A bigger life — one with more energy, more capability, and more confidence — starts the moment you move beyond the “normal” patterns that keep most people stuck and embrace being uncommon.
And the step to being uncommon is smaller than most imagine.
Maintain a healthy body composition (BMI < 25): ~30% of adults
Exercise 3+ hours per week consistently: ~25–30% of adults
Strength train at least twice a week: ~20–25% of adults
Reach an above-average VO₂ max for age: ~20–30%
Meet full aerobic + strength guidelines: ~23% of adults
Reach 10,000 steps per day consistently: ~10–12% of adults
Finish a 5K: ~4–6% of the population each year
Finish a 10K: ~1–2% of the population each year
Finish a Half Marathon: ~0.5–1% of the population each year
Finish a Marathon: ~0.2–0.3% of the population each year
Complete a Half Ironman (70.3): ~0.05–0.1% of the population each year
Complete an Ultramarathon: ~0.03–0.1% of the population each year
Complete a Full Ironman (140.6): ~0.005–0.01% of the population each year
Most people will never do everything on this list, and that’s not the point.
You don’t have to run an Ironman or chase extreme milestones to live an uncommon life. The real shift happens much earlier. Choosing to move more than the average adult, choosing consistent training, choosing habits that don’t leave you stuck in the same patterns—that’s what puts you on a different path than the average person.
Uncommon starts when you stop settling for the patterns that keep most adults in the same place.
Choose Effort That Sets You Apart
Uncommon effort isn’t about doing more than everyone else. It’s about doing more than the version of you that’s stuck with average. Once you stop aiming for “normal,” the next step is choosing effort that moves your life in an uncommon direction most people never explore.
Start with something simple you can repeat, like a few hours of training spread across a week. This is enough to build strong fitness, support long-term health, and create momentum that will build on itself.
It doesn’t need to be perfect. It needs to be steady.
That’s when uncommon effort starts to make a real difference. A little fitness makes your world bigger.
Challenges that once felt out of reach start to look possible. A 5K seems doable. After that, a 10K doesn’t seem unreasonable. As your capacity increases, your sense of what you can take on moves farther from “normal” and closer to what you want your life to be.
Once you see how reachable uncommon effort really is, the next step is choosing how you want to approach it.
Most people never get far enough from the norm to experience that shift. They stay in the loop of stopping and restarting, always feeling like bigger goals belong to someone else. Uncommon effort breaks that pattern. It gives you options and opportunities you didn’t have before.
Choosing uncommon effort is choosing a bigger life, built through the steady expansion of what you’re able to take on—and what you believe you’re capable of.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Aristotle
Normal isn’t wrong. It just isn’t built for the life most people hope to create. It keeps things comfortable, but it rarely leads to real progress or meaningful change.
Uncommon effort works differently. It gives your life room to grow. It opens doors you don’t see when you’re operating at the baseline.
And the shift starts with small decisions—moving a little more, training with intention, choosing to be a little different even when it’s not convenient. Over time, those decisions reshape what you believe you can handle.
Keep going long enough, and uncommon stops feeling out of reach and becomes the way you move through your life.
What uncommon life are you moving toward?