Althouse: Squat, plank, lunge, crunch.. and stop wasting your time.

May 9, 2013

Squat, plank, lunge, crunch.. and stop wasting your time.

"In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, [the 7-minute workout] fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science."

20 comments:

Henry said...: Squats kill your knees.

Those years that I'm not slacking I do push-ups and planks.; 5/9/13, 7:08 AM
Rae said...: Squats don't kill the knees if you do them properly. But standing up from a chair could be substituted if you already have bad knees.; 5/9/13, 7:21 AM
Nomennovum said...: I noticed this latest trend at the gym. I'll stick to my six-days-a-week, one hour a day routine with weights, dips, and chin-ups, thanks.

And let's see what the science says a year from now.; 5/9/13, 7:23 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Sweet! I'll be happy to experiment with this. I enjoy walking, but I prefer strength training to be as short as possible.; 5/9/13, 7:32 AM
edutcher said...: Sounds like a trip to the bathroom.; 5/9/13, 7:36 AM
Strick said...: Isn't an 8 on the discomfort scale ( the level of intensity the article says you should work for) a deterrent to people who aren't inclined to exercise otherwise?

I'm also concerned that the focus on interval training will turn out to be a bit dangerous in its own right due to the stress it places on the heart over time.

Finally, like so much around fitness, the key question remains fit to do what? 7 minutes a day might make it less likely you'll have a heart attack running to catch a bus, but it isn't going to prepare you to hike the Grand Canyon or spend all day chasing your grandkids. ;); 5/9/13, 7:53 AM
Shanna said...: That sounds a lot like the stuff recommended by some of paleo/primal bloggers. We're doing some of this with my running group too, but we haven't worked up to side planks.; 5/9/13, 8:07 AM
Patrick said...: Sounds like a trip to the bathroom.

Not sure what you're doing in there, but I'm positive I don't want to know!; 5/9/13, 8:48 AM
Expat(ish) said...: I have been lifting for >30 years now (you'd think I'd look better, but that's another topic) and I can't tell you the number of fads that have come and gone. This is not new, either, I just can't remember what it was called last time.

Frankly, the best shape i was ever in when I alternated jazzercize (no, really) with heavy lifting. Of course I was 24 at the time....

-XC; 5/9/13, 8:49 AM
Patrick said...: This looks interesting. I've mentioned before that I started doing push ups last year, and that I've been doing 100 per day (I've added sit ups too). Depending upon what you are trying to accomplish with the work out, I think the main thing is to do something nearly every day.

Over 10,000 push ups this year. I'm pretty sure that I hadn't done 10,000 push ups in my life before this.; 5/9/13, 8:50 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: It seems the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal isn't into sparking a dialogue.; 5/9/13, 9:07 AM
Henry said...: Squats don't kill the knees if you do them properly.

That's what someone says about every exercise that kills your knees.; 5/9/13, 9:18 AM
Nomennovum said...: I just can't remember what it was called last time.

Isometrics.; 5/9/13, 9:36 AM
Krumhorn said...: As a former Marine, I'm very committed to my morning exercises.

Up down. Up down. Up down. Up down. Uuuuup down

Then I do the other eyelid

Up down.....

Oh, that one is sooo old. Bob Hope vintage.; 5/9/13, 10:01 AM
rehajm said...: They aren't knocking using weights, they're saying body weight exercises are just as effective, especially for the major muscle groups. My strength workouts are a mix of free weights and body weight stuff and will vouch for the effectiveness of both.

Though with the body weight stuff, you also have to overcome the hit to the ego when you can't lift yourself off the floor.; 5/9/13, 10:09 AM
William said...: It only takes eight minutes but you probably go the whole day, every day dreading it.; 5/9/13, 10:56 AM
Shanna said...: A lot of people are down on machines, because free weights and body weight exercises use stabilizer muscles while machines just isolate.; 5/9/13, 11:28 AM
vnjagvet said...: Those of us old enough to remember Charles Atlas will recognize this "new" theory, which has been around since 1929. A lot of 90 pound weaklings bulked up after paying for Atlas's 50 page book touting "dynamic tension" aka isometrics.

The chair was his most utilized piece of equipment, btw. Charles is dead but his program lives on at charlesatlas.com. Check it out.; 5/9/13, 11:40 AM
Methadras said...: The illustration doesn't show how many of each of those exercises you need to do in the 7 minutes required.; 5/9/13, 11:41 AM
dbp said...: Methadras said...
The illustration doesn't show how many of each of those exercises you need to do in the 7 minutes required.

The article indicates that you do the exercize at an intensity of 8 for 30 seconds and then move on to the next one.

On the pro-side: No matter how out of shape you are, it will still take only 7 minutes to get through the workout. On the con side: It still takes 7 minutes no matter how fit you get.; 5/9/13, 1:13 PM