I came across an article about the importance of being active throughout the day for older adults. I am now basically an older adult. Or at least getting there fast.
In any case, there’s a lot of good reasons to get in the practice of doing shorter workouts.
This was one of the main mental shifts that 75 Hard taught me. 45 minute workouts 2X a day isn’t exactly workout snacking. But the program does allow one of those workouts each day to be brisk walking outdoors.
I didn’t get through the program but doing it for a couple weeks (aka a few days) I saw the mental shift knowing that walking was progress.
Courtland Allen, founder of Indie Hackers, talks about a post-it note he has in his office that he tries to avoid looking at but inevitably looks at. It’s not a dreaded programming task. It says “push-ups”. The rule: when he sees it, he does push ups.
Pat Flynn and Dan John, fitness coaches, have an episode with “back pocket workouts”. These are workouts when you have some constraints.
- If you’re constrained on time, have a full body workout that you can do in 10 minutes + 5 minutes for warming up
- If you’re constrained on equipment, have a body weight workout (Men’s Health had these basically every month for you hotel jetsetting business execs out there)
You should figure out back pocket workouts that you enjoy and can memorize. Some ideas:
- Just a pull up bar 1/4 Murph: 1/4 mile run, 25 pull ups, 50 push ups, 75 squats, 1/4 mile run
- Just 15 minutes: 5 minute warm up, 10 minutes kb swings
I’ve been trying to figure out some good 25 minute workouts (5 minute warm up + 20 minute workout). I like this because
- The pomodoro time block is a familiar time block
- It can fit in between meetings w a little buffer to get to the home gym or apartment gym without rushing
- It reminds me that I should warm up
It’s all a nice reminder that time shouldn’t be an excuse for skipping workouts. And practicing being flexible with these workout snacks now when I have time will make it easier in the future with kids and less time.