Thursday, March 19, 2009

5 Minute Friday Workout


I thought I'd start a new little feature of sending you a quick workout every Friday that you can use on a busy day or as a mini-
program on the weekend.

Let me know what you think..."yay or nay" on this new feature?

This week's Friday Five Minute Workout comes from my buddy Mike Geary...

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Set aside 5 minutes either in the morning before work, on your lunch break, or after work for this "mini-workout".

NOTE: This is NOT for beginners.

If you are already fit, grab a dumbbell or kettlebell (or use the bodyweight alternatives listed below).

Now spend 5 minutes doing as many reps as you can of 1-arm dbell or kettlebell swings alternating sides.

After 60-90 seconds, most people will start to slow down, so start taking 10 second breaks to catch your breath enough to do another 5-6 swings with each arm.

Keep alternating for as many reps as you can get of each exercise with 10 second mini-rests.

Get as many reps as you can in 5 minutes. We're going for as much work accomplished as possible in these 5 minutes!

If you do this with intensity, you'll have worked your entire body VERY thoroughly in only 5 minutes and will be huffing and puffing for breath.

If all you've got is 5 minutes, this is a great way to work your entire body. And there's really no way that you can't fit at least a 5-minute workout into your daily schedule no matter how busy.

If you don't have a dumbbell or kettlebell available, you can substitute these exercises alternated with one another for the 5 minutes:

- Bodyweight squats alternated with pushups or bodyweight rows
- Lunges alternated with pushups or bodyweight rows
- Jump squats alternated with pushups or bodyweight rows

If you're not familiar with any of the exercises mentioned in this article, make sure you get a copy of the The Truth About Abs for all of the details.
 
Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

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Thanks Mike! I'll try to top that next Friday!

If you want more exercises from Mike, check out his newsletter here:

=> The Truth About Abs
 
BTW - Don't forget, if you get your copy of Mike's book before the end of today, we'll also send you a FREE copy of the TT AAA Abs program that will be ready on March 31st!
 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Over the past 2 weeks, I've found that 5 minute workouts every hour or so really makes an impression on your muscles by the end of the day. Good stuff!

Anonymous said...

I like the idea of the 5-minute workouts.
Just saw something similar at one of my favorite sites, they have video of Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel showing his 5-minute workout. http://lifehacker.com/5171115/the-five+minute-prison-workout-keeps-you-fit-in-any-space
What do you think about those exercises?

Laura said...

Keep these coming! They're great as stand-alones for busy people, and I also like tacking on this sort of thing to the end of a more traditional Meathead-ish workout for an extra metabolic boost.

Anonymous said...

I love the "idea" of a 5 minute workout, and I think a lot of people would gravitate towards it and give it good press coverage, but are there any scientific studies of this type of thing to see it's real benefit? Don't get me wrong - even if it does nothing beyond make you "feel" like you worked out, then that probably releases some beneficial chemicals, almost in a placebo effect. But could this work as a sustained program rather than just a "oh my gosh, I have no time today so I'll go all out for 5 minutes"?

And I do like the idea of you having a Friday post for short workouts!

Kelley Moore said...

I love this idea and please do keep them coming. My work right now requires a lot of sedentary time on the computer and I need some quick solutions to get a boost during the day in addition to my regular workouts, for my sanity if nothing else. However, I have to believe this would help with metabolism and overall daily calorie burn too.

Anonymous said...

Great idea CB! Definitely a keeper. Unfortunately you now have me trying to figure out how to turn today's 5 minute workout into a 20 minute workout. Take this one and multiply it by 4? Scary.

later

mikez

Anonymous said...

I just tried this workout using a 25lb db. I did 200 swings total.

I think, next time I will try with a heavier db. I finished tired but not winded or anything like that. I definitely never took a break, that leads me to believe that the weight was on the lighter side.