The No Time Commitment Workout

Over the past few years, a new kind of workout has been emerging. It’s a workout that doesn’t require special clothes, doesn’t cause massive sweat, and doesn’t even take up a block on your calendar. You can do it practically anywhere and it doesn’t require special equipment. And it is effective.

No, it’s not “exercise in a pill”. It’s the microworkout.

What is a microworkout? Microworkouts involve performing brief feats of strength during the routine course of a day.

Break It Down

Let's break down the microworkout into 3 parts:

Brief - up to 1 minute

Feats of Strength - any kind of movement. Push-ups, air squats, planks, wall sits, jumping jacks, running in place, crunches, high knees, burpees…basically any bodyweight exercise.

Course of a day - start by performing an exercise at least 3x a day and increase from there. You could easily get in 1 per hour between 8 am and 6 pm.

Simple & Effective

One of the drivers behind the microworkout is the overwhelming number of decisions required to do “normal” workouts. When you throw in a busy calendar, it's no wonder normal workouts get missed.

The microworkout simplifies things. Pick an exercise (you can do more than one) and do it for up to 1 minute and you are done. Repeat throughout your day when you have 1 minute of free time. See an example workout below.

Even people who have jammed packed schedules can find 1 minute in their day.

And there is mounting scientific evidence that microworkouts deliver nearly the same benefit as their more time and sweat intensive counterparts.

Another benefit of doing multiple microworkouts throughout your day is the incredible cumulative training effect. You can easily accumulate over 100 repetitions of a given movement over the course of the day without the need to recover.

For example, if you were to attempt to do 100 push-ups in 10 minutes or less, you would be spent, need a recovery period and probably be done with “chest” day.

But, if you did 10 sets of 10 push-ups throughout the day, you’ll get the same number of repetitions without the need for recovery. And you can hit your “normal” workout the next day (even a chest workout) without any concerns.The microworkouts also increase your “base fitness level” so in the push-up example, you improve your performance in your full scale workouts by adding in microworkouts.

Motion is Lotion

Another benefit of microworkouts which might be even more important is they help you avoid prolonged inactivity. If you haven’t heard, sitting is the new smoking. Increasing all forms of movement throughout the day should be prioritized over doing a workout and then sitting at a desk for 8+ hours (ideally, you workout regularly AND move throughout your day).

Example of a Microworkout Day

Assume you start your work day at 8:00 am and end at 5:00 pm.

8:45: Perform 20 seconds of push-ups, 20 seconds of air squats and 20 seconds of jumping jacks.

10:45 Perform a max set of push-ups.

12:00 Before lunch do 30 seconds of air squats and 30 seconds of marching in place.

12:45 After lunch, do a wall sit for 1 minute (or as long as possible if less than 1 minute).

2:00 Perform 20 seconds of jumping jacks, 20 seconds of air squats and 20 seconds of push-ups.

3:45 Perform 30 seconds of lunges with left leg forward, 30 seconds with right leg forward.

4:45 Right before you end your day, choose one movement and go all out for 1 minute.And that’s a wrap…7 minutes of exercise without ever blocking time on your calendar.Bonus: Do a microworkout before every meeting you have (in person or video) to increase your energy level and alertness.

Extra Credit: Once dinner is done and you are relaxing watching TV, drop and do a 1 minute plank or a set of push-ups.

What if I work in an office?

If you work in an office environment, this can be awkward BUT still doable. Find an empty office or conference room, close the door and 1 minute later emerge with more energy and a completed microworkout! Or, a closed bathroom stall is great for air squats or wall sits (laugh if you want, people do this). Before you dismiss it, give it a shot. And if your company culture emphasizes fitness, lead the charge by doing microworkouts! Recruit some of your colleagues and gamify it.

Microworkouts - the no time commitment workout that will make you Harder To Kill!

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