Gamed the System!

[Nimdyd]

Desire: I really want to run 5k every day. AND I really want to do bodyweight routines three or four times a week.

 

Obstacle: I find that doing them back-to-back diminishes both the pleasure and the benefits I get from both. And I also find that managing two completely separate get-changed-work-out-cool-down-shower-get-changed sessions in a single day to be very challenging.

 

What's a ginger to do?

 

Proposed Solution: my place of business has a little exercise room. So, every hour or so, I figured I'd get up from my desk, go to the room, bust out a set of two exercises (pull-ups & push-ups / squats & leg lifts) and then go back to work. That way I get the reps in but I don't sweat enough to require changing clothes or showering. And while not warming up is less than ideal (especially at my age), the actual exercise I'm doing isn't intense enough to seriously risk injury, so long as I'm careful.

 

Result: I'm finishing up week two of this plan and it's been working like gangbusters. I average five 'mini sessions' per day and I'm already getting a sense of what I can do and what I can't to just barely not break a sweat.  And the in evening I do my more formal 5k.

 

It's like getting a 'free' workout. Each individual piece is so small and easy it doesn't feel like anything at all, but over the course of a whole day, it's almost a full work-out.

 

Woot!

[Guzzi]

Ha! Brilliant idea! I did something similar when I was trying to do 100 push-ups a day. It sounds like a lot until you break it down and do 10 here, 15 there etc, etc. It made huge improvements to my push-up abilities. By the end I could *almost* do them military style. (As opposed to on my knees or an incline). 

 

Here's hoping you get the same kind of improvement.  

[Benbear]

That is a great idea.  It's sometimes called greasing the groove.  The idea of doing a little bit of exercise all throughout the day really adds up.  As part of the rehab after my back surgery, I practice standing on one leg for 30 seconds each leg every hour on the hour just about to help build core strength, leg strength, and balance.  It really adds up after a while.