Ready For Your Workout?

Filed Under Exercise, Healthy Habits, Work Out

Thisentryis part 6 of 6 in the series SERIES - Common Workout Mistakes

This post is part of a series

Maybe you read 60 in 3 in the morning, right before you head to work. Maybe you read it in the evening before you go to sleep. You might even read 60 in 3 during the day, while you’re at work. Whenever you read this article, it’s still a good time for your ten minute workout. Yes, that’s right, you’re going to get up and workout regardless of time of day and where you are.

Lunges - Start with the lunge, one of the best exercises ever invented. If you don’t know what a lunge is, click on the link and you’ll get instructions complete with a video courtesy of Cooper’s guns. One note, we’re not going to be going as fast as the guy in the video. We’re going for a 5 by 5 rep. That means it takes you 5 seconds to go down and another 5 seconds to come back up. So while the guy in the video takes about 2 seconds to complete a lunge, you’re going to take 10 seconds.

Deadlifts - We’re going to follow the lunge with the deadlift. Again, click on the link if you don’t know what that is. Unlike the video, we’re going to do this with no weights. We’re also going to use the 5 by 5 rule again. So stand up and then slowly bend at the waist for 5 seconds until your fingers dangle down and hopefully touch the ground. If you can’t touch the ground, that’s fine, just try. Then take 5 seconds to straighten back up.

Leaning Press - Keep going with the press. Now the video shows a man lying on the ground doing these. We’re not going to do that. This is supposed to be a workout you can do anywhere and lying down at work is probably not acceptable. So instead of a lying press we’re going to do a leaning press. All you need to do is lean forward against a wall and then press yourself back into an upright position. Again, take 5 seconds to go forward and 5 seconds to push yourself back up.

Trunk Twist - Now lets work out that core for a minute with the trunk twist. It’s a very simple exercise as you can see from the video, and when you slow it down with the 5 by 5 rule, it becomes even more effective. Make sure you have some room around you since you don’t want to hit anything as you swing those arms; trust me, I’m talking from experience

Squats - And we’re going to finish it up with the squats. From a standing position start bending your knees until you reach a squatting position. Now stand up. Rinse and repeat using the 5 by 5 rule to make sure you slow it down.

A Note On Weights

This is supposed to be a quick workout that you can do anywhere. It’s halfway between a workout and a warmup routine and isn’t supposed to be very challenging. It’s just supposed to get you up off your butt and doing something physical. However, if you want to increase the difficulty a bit, feel free to hold something in your hands while doing this. I just did this routine while holding my laptop in my hands.\

Medical Disclaimer

Again, I’m not a doctor, nor do I know your specific medical issues. If you have some kind of problem, don’t be silly and attempt this workout. For example, if you have a serious back issue, don’t do the deadlift just because “that guy on 60 in 3 told me to do it!” Know your body’s limitations and check with a doctor before you do something dumb.

Time

5 exercise, 10 reps each at 10 seconds per rep. That’s less than 10 minutes. If you’re at work then think of it as a break that will make you more productive. If you’re at home, think of it as something a bit more productive than catching up on that last episode of American Idol or checking out new pictures on cuteoverload.com.

Not A Workout Substitute

Again, this is supposed to be a simple workout / warmup. It’s not a substitute for a real workout. This is something you do in addition to a regular workout.

Repeat

Don’t just do this once. You need to keep active all through the day and if you have a desk job like me then you should do something like this at least once every two to three hours. So bookmark this page and then come back to it every two to three hours. Make this a habit.

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Our bodies were designed with regular physical activity in mind. They are not meant for sitting behind a desk for 8 hours. Make sure you break up that monotony with a quick workout.

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