Why a stopwatch is the most important piece of fitness equipment you can own

Your workout.

If you pay any attention to my blog and Facebook posts you already know what you need to do. Learn how to do squats, pushups, pullups, deadlifts and sit-ups and then run, row, jump rope and bike. When you master these movements then learn some of their advanced variations. Do these at a high level of intensity.

Intensity. It's in bold so it must be important. Why? Because speed equals intensity and intensity equals results.

How do you measure intensity?

That's where the stopwatch comes in.

Regardless of your fitness level, you can do some form or squats, pushups, pullups, deadlifts, sit-ups, running, rowing, jump roping and biking. If you need ideas on how to pick an alternative that you can do just visit my website (www.ActivePersonalFitness.com/videos.html).

"Running" a mile can look many different ways. As can doing a defined number of squats (let's say 1 set of 30). Moving your body a mile is a defined amount of work. Running that mile in 12 minutes is a different level of fitness than running it in 8 minutes. Covering the distance in less time indicates better fitness for that event. Basically, doing the same amount of work in less time means you are more fit.

That is why the stopwatch is so important to your workouts. My pet peeve is hearing people say they worked out for an hour but when I watch them I see them resting half the time. The BEST way to improve your workouts is to limit your rest time!!

For some people 1 set of 30 squats comes easy. I know people who can do 30 body weight squats in 30 seconds. For others, the set may need to be broken up into sets of 10 with a short rest in between. The people doing 30 in 30 seconds are more fit. They can do the work in less time. The key to improving your fitness is to constantly try to do the exercises FASTER WITH PERFECT FORM.

Here are three straight forward workouts you can use to measure your fitness. Use the stopwatch. Try to get better every time you try it.

Workout #1

15 squats

15 pushups

25 jumping jacks

10 lunges on each leg

15 dips

Workout #2

4 rounds of:

Move 0.25 miles

25 squats

Workout #3

50 sit-ups

40 walking lunges

30 squat jumps

20 pushups

Set your stopwatch. Record your time. Do it again in a few days...faster.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz

Active Personal Fitness

www.ActivePersonalFitness.com

267.626.7478

"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."

The fastest, hardest one mile you'll ever run

Today's workout was all about intervals. My friends at CrossFit suggested the following workout. It turned out to be the fastest, hardest one mile I've ever run.

After a full warmup (see below)
Sprint for 20 seconds
Then rest for 40 seconds
Repeat for a total of 15 sprints. Total workout takes 15 minutes.

Do this workout at a track and start each new sprint precisely where the last one left off. I carried a stopwatch in one hand and a playing card in the other. When the stop watch hit 20 seconds I dropped the playing card and then walked back to it during my recovery period so I knew where to start the next one.

That is a total of 5 minutes of running and 10 minutes of resting.

The challenge is to go all out during the sprints and then recover hard during the rest time.

Based on the results I saw posted online I set my goal for 1 mile total over the 15 sprints. I reached 1 mile and 20 yards.

Benefits of this workout
1) Intervals are a great way to optimize your cardio workouts. It improves your bodies ability to work at a high or even anaerobic heart rate and improves your ability to recover faster from intense efforts.
2) For distance runners, running at a faster pace rather than a steady slower pace will teach your body the mechanics needed to run faster and help you improve your distance times.
3) This workout can easily be used as a benchmark workout to see how your fitness has improved over time.

Remember, all fitness levels can do this workout. If you can't sprint then run, can't run then jog, can't jog then power walk, can't power walk then walk. Just go as intensely as you can within your fitness level.

Suggested Warmup
2 sets of:
15 body weight squats
25 jumping jacks
15 supermen
15 pushups
15 walking lunges
30 second plank

Can you really get a good workout in 5 minutes?

Monday was crazy busy for me. Starting with an adult boot camp at 5:45am and ending with my last one-on-one session at 8pm with all sorts of sessions and meetings in between, I literally had 10 minutes to get in a workout. But you can't really get a workout done in 10 minutes so why bother, right?

Wrong.

I warmed up for 5 minutes with body weight squats, lunges, jumping jacks and jump ropes. 2 rounds of about 30 seconds each just to get my blood flowing, muscles warm (not hard on a 90+ degree day) and lungs open. Then I hit it hard.

Here is the workout I did:
3 rounds of:
100lbs barbell ground to overhead - start with the weight on the ground and end with it overhead using any method you choose (snatch, clean and press, clean and jerk, squat/reverse curl/press, etc)
200 yard shuttle sprint (50 yards out, back, out and back)

5 minutes and 15 seconds.

Is this really an effective workout? Really, what can be accomplished in 5 minutes?

Yes, it is a great workout. Here's why:

1) Something is always better than nothing. Raising your heart rate and contracting your muscles will always have a health benefit over not using them.
2) The exercises chosen utilize all of your muscles. As a general rule, the more joints moving during an exercise the better that exercise is. Multiple joint exercises are called compound exercises. Moving a weight from the ground to overhead requires movement at your ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and elbow joints. You can't get more compound than that. Compound exercises are the most efficient for getting a total body workout. Use them frequently and definitely when you have limited time.
3) Short workouts done at high intensity (repeat....high intensity) will improve your anaerobic conditioning. You know when you're in a rush and forget something at the office and the elevator is taking too long? You have to run up 4 flights of stairs and you're out of breath at the top. You are likely using your anaerobic system. Your body is operating in oxygen deficit. It can only do so for a short period but the more you train in your anaerobic zone the longer you can sustain a high intensity effort.
4) The workout establishes a benchmark for you to try and beat the next time. I recorded my time so that when I do that workout next I have a time to shoot for. Always try to better your best on benchmark workouts.

Here is another suggestion for a short workout. Use the Tabata method. Choose an exercise. I suggest body weight squats, lunges, pushups, pullups, situps or running sprints. Perform as many of that exercise as you can in 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds (just 10 seconds) and repeat that sequence 10 times. That is a 5 minute workout. Remember, when doing the exercise don't sacrifice form for speed but do focus on doing as many reps as possible. I can hold at 21 body weight squats for 10 rounds. I can start at 24 pushups but my numbers tail off as the rounds get higher.

I guarantee you will feel a Tabata workout the next day.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
http://www.activepersonalfitness.com/
267.626.7478
"You give us the effort...we'll get you the results."