Simple, Repeatable Workout

Originally published: 2/18/2013

For a while, I had all of these grandiose workout plans. Mostly bodyweight and Tabata style workouts, and even started using a Tabata timer which helped greatly. As long as I did the workouts regularly, the results were phenomenal. Therein lies the rub. It did not take much to derail my workout train. An injury, illness, bad attitude or some other obligation would take me off of my routine. Then it took even more motivation to get started again. Objects in motions tend to stay in motion, while objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Inertia was working against me.
I decided to create a simple workout that I can always do to feel like I worked out. In the past, I had regularly done a set of pushups or pullups each day, but that was too specific. To feel like I worked out, I needed to have completed a full body routine. However, most of the routines I had been doing were complex. Each routine was followed by a shower and at least a day of rest.
A while back I had played around with the Deck of Cards workout. I assigned an exercise to each suit of the deck and did the card value number of reps for that exercise when I flipped over that card. Let’s say I assigned Jumping Jacks to Hearts. If I turned over a 7 of Hearts, I had to do 7 Jumping Jacks. Simple. The problem with the workout is that there were 52 mini sets. Not repeatable. Felt like a real accomplishment when I went through the deck, but I didn’t want to do the Deck of Cards workout again for a while. However, I loved how I divided the 4 suits to get an all over workout. I would choose one exercise to get the heart rate up, one upper body, one lower body and one core/ab exercise. Maximizing these characteristics in each type of exercise was the natural evolution. Jumping Jacks or High Knees would get the heart rate up quickly. Pushups are the perfect upper body exercise. Body Squats or Lunges were the most effective lower body workout. Ab exercises were a challenge to make efficient, but more on that in a minute.
I decided that a 4 minute Tabata (4 rounds of 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest) was the best option. This was the magic balance for me. I covered each of the 4 exercises and could complete the set without getting drenched in sweat but still feel like I worked out. If I have the time, I will do longer workouts or do multiples of this Tabata, but that typically means a shower afterward. This Tabata is something I can do every day, without feeling like I need a day of rest. Also, if its been a few days since I was active, this Tabata is a good starting point.
I have been making adjustments, especially to address the efficiency of the ab work. I added 10 seconds to each work section, but the rest remained the same. Here is what I have been doing lately:.
1 min, Jumping Jacks, 10 secs rest
1 min, Body Squats, 10 secs rest
1 min, Push Ups, no rest
10 Crunches, 20 Cross Legged Crunches (10/side)
10 Reverse Crunches, Bicycle Crunches until exhaustion
10 Super Burpees (with Pushup and Jump)
Taking out the rest after the upper body section allows me to finish my workout at the end of the ab exercises in the allotted 4 minutes. The Burpees are the perfect compliment for this workout due to its full body activity.
This 4 minute Tabata has everything I need. Its simple, short, efficient and repeatable. I can increase the difficulty in many ways. This workout is not without its flaws. For example, back exercises are non-existent. Also, 4-5 minutes is not long enough for a real workout. I reply to that by saying that I know me better than anyone. Longer workouts will cause me to skip days due to recovery time, or skip the workout to prevent an extra shower that day. I can do this workout anywhere in my house, at any time and feel like I did something that day. This could be a cornerstone of my workout foundation. Let’s hope I can keep this up.