I am getting older and metabolism is not the nuclear reactor that it used to be. Sometimes I need a flint and takes 5 mins to get that fire started.
Even Arnold couldn’t keep his Conan body forever. And us, mere mortals, forgettaboutit.
Going to gym 3 times a week for 2 hours is one way to stay in shape. Unfortunately that requires going to the gym 3 times a week for 2 hours. We have all tried it, usually after Christmas.
It almost never works for many reasons, so after 2–3 weeks, we revert to just buying the latest exercise gadget from shopping network to join that dust pile of 20 other gadgets in the attic.
So do you want to learn a secret to doing exercise and persisting? I am not talking about getting into shape that you see advertised on TV and in Magazines:
I am talking about looking your age, but healthy and energetic. Like the unshaved guy with the belt on the left in the next photo (not the guy on the right who somehow has 2 hours to work out with fitness instructor 2 times a day):
So now that we got the unrealistic expectations out of the way, let’s get down to business.
The 7 Minute Way
The 7 minute workout originated from a paper written in 2013, with name that just rolls of the tongue:
HIGH-INTENSITY CIRCUIT TRAINING USING BODY WEIGHT: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment
This paper talks about using body weight to maximize exercise benefits within minimal time. There are 12 exercises which take 30s each with 10s breaks in between. This way workout is high intensity, but still short enough to easily fit into most people’s busy lives.
Here are the 12 exercises in beautiful 2-D gif animation and techni-color:
You would think that finding 7 minutes a day and doing these exercises would be super easy.
Think again. I have tried starting this workout about 10 times, but after two weeks max, I would stop due to all kinda excuses:
- I was soar from day before
- It is too early (too sleepy)
- It is too late (too sleepy)
- It is Obama’s fault
- It is Trump’s fault
- Kids took forever to go to sleep
- Just one more episode of Walking Dead
- … (I am sure you can think of many others)
This time I just finished my first month of doing it every day and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. I don’t look like Zack Efron just yet, but I feel much stronger, have a lot more energy and have been sleeping better.
Here is what I do to keep doing workout every day:
- keep it short
- keep doing it
- keep it interesting
- keep it real
Keep it short
7 minutes. That’s all you need. I mean it takes 7 minutes for a good hearty yawn for god’s sake. It takes 7 minutes just to get trough half of the commercial break when watching latest Walking Dead episode. It takes 7 minutes to convince your kid to get into the bath tub (and 7 minutes to get them out).
If you don’t have 7 minutes for the exercise, then you either are working for a Silicon Valley startup, in which case you probably haven’t eaten in several days and have an odor of a fresh Morbier cheese that is described as “Sweetness on the edge of decay” and also “Baby poo. Seriously, it’s just like baby poo.”. The cheese looks like this if you were wondering:
The other reason you don’t have 7 minutes per day to do exercise is because you are addicted to Clash Royale, Candy Crash or one of the other dopamine inducing drugs. In this case, you are on Tablet/Mobile phone every free moment and sometimes even as you are doing other stuff, like eating, sleeping or making love. This is pretty serious so I advice you to see a specialist as soon as possible.
If you are not working for a startup or addicted to mobile games, you got no excuses. Having kids is not an excuse unless you have more then 10 (in which case the older take care of younger anyways).
Out of 24 hours every day you have 10 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, 4 hours for family. If I do my math correctly there is still 2 hours left, which means u have 17 chances to do 7 minute workout. And no you can’t do it while watching Gray’s Anatomy.
Keep doing it
Doing it daily makes scheduling easy.
Do I need to do it Monday? Yes. Do I need to do it Saturday? Yes. Do I need to do it on Labor Day? Yes. Do I need to it on <day>? Yes you do!
Finding the time of day is a bit up to you. I do it in the morning, but not right after I get up. You can do it whenever it is convenient for you and your body feels up to it. Try different times throughout the day and see when you feel good to do the exercise, not cranky and not too screechy.
The weekends are a bit tougher, so try to stay a bit flexible.
If you do 7 minute workout daily at the same time, it will become a part of your routine just like brushing teeth. So at some point you don’t even think about it, it is just something you do.
Keep it interesting
Going to gym is great if you like a certain type of comedy:
Doing exercise at home is not as exciting. So to keep it interesting there are a couple of things you can do:
- Use free IOS app called “Seven”. It is free. This app keeps track of your daily work outs and has nice animations for each exercise.
- Change the voice of the trainer in “Seven”. They have Cheerleader that has a secret crush on you, Kung Fu master who adds a little spiritual sauce and Sergeant who keeps yelling at you to keep doing better. Depending on how you feel you can change the voice to match.
- Play your “workout” music in background. 2–3 songs and you are done.
- Do it with your kids. My kids love doing the 7 minute routine with me. It is challenging for them and makes it more fun for everyone.
- Increase intensity after it starts to be too easy. You can do two sets of 7 mins or even 3 sets. Or you can increase each exercise duritation from 30s to 40s or 60s.
- Compete with yourself by recording how many of each exercise you do and try to do 1 more every week. With 30s time limit it gets harder and harder.
Keep it real
Improving your body and health by exercising is not something you do for 2 months and stop. It is something that you must keep doing from the moment you start till you die, or till the robots take over and hook us all into matrix to use us as AAAA batteries.
Ask yourself what do you plan to accomplish by exercising and how much of your time and effort are you willing to sacrifice?
Like for many of us, my original aim was a beach body for the summer. But after a bit of research and trials, I learned that I just don’t have time or motivation to do what it takes, at least for now.
Instead I decided to start with absolute minimum exercise that would give me the most benefit in the least amount of time. Even with this minimum, it took me about 10 false starts, to actually get going.
I have been doing “Seven” every day for one month now and I feel stronger and healthier. Now I am starting to do 2 sets in one day and fixing my nutrition. That beach body may happen after all.
Conclusion
If you are one of the millions of people who have had “Going to Gym” as New Year’s resolution for the last 10 years, you may be a good candidate for “7 minute daily workout”.
It is short, fun and becomes a part of daily routine, so anyone can do it.
Let me know about your experience with “Seven” and where the journey takes you.
