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The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

well.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#91

Post by jamesaguilar »

kyberias wrote: post #79
jamesaguilar wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never heard of that. To my understanding, the important elements are: - Recovery doesn't take seven days. - Squats target the biggest muscles. - The biggest muscles produce the most testosterone, enabling you to make gains in other muscle groups more easily. Given those and the constraints of safety and putting up the most weight you can for a decent amount of volume, you want to squat as often as possible. No…

Molecular biology student here. I've never heard muscles producing (synthesizing) testosterone. It's synthesized in male testicles and adrenal gland. Care to elaborate what do you mean?

Maybe its just bro science, but most natty lifters talk about the importance of squats in terms of the additional testosterone released by growing the largest muscle group.

Ex. http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/new-study-pi.... The muscle may not produce the testosterone, but it is produced by working the muscle.

That's all I know.

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#92

Post by bitL »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

I am doing the original 7 minute workout 3 times in a row every 2-3 days as intense as I can (e.g. 56 push ups in 30 seconds) and I saw huge improvements all around my body after 6 months (my body type is between ecto and mesomorph). Later I combined this with strength exercises with 20-25kg dumbbells, i.e. 1st day 7 minute workouts, 2nd day fast interval strength exercises (particularly chest and upper body) with dumbbells and 3rd day rest. The 2nd set of exercises in the article seems worth trying as well!

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#93

Post by wfunction »

bitL wrote: post #92
jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

I am doing the original 7 minute workout 3 times in a row every 2-3 days as intense as I can (e.g. 56 push ups in 30 seconds) and I saw huge improvements all around my body after 6 months (my body type is between ecto and mesomorph). Later I combined this with strength exercises with 20-25kg dumbbells, i.e. 1st day 7 minute workouts, 2nd day fast interval strength exercises (particularly chest and upper body) with du…

So it's a 21-minute workout?

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#94

Post by bitL »

wfunction wrote: post #93
bitL wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am doing the original 7 minute workout 3 times in a row every 2-3 days as intense as I can (e.g. 56 push ups in 30 seconds) and I saw huge improvements all around my body after 6 months (my body type is between ecto and mesomorph). Later I combined this with strength exercises with 20-25kg dumbbells, i.e. 1st day 7 minute workouts, 2nd day fast interval strength exercises (particularly chest and upper body) with du…

So it's a 21-minute workout?

Well, I take different breaks depending on how I feel so I can start new 7-minute set either immediately or have some time to recover in between if I feel not so great on that given day.

I basically started with the original set, for two months I tried to increase number of repetitions during each phase without hurting myself, then after I pushed to my peak intensity my body got adapted to it so I added a 2nd set at a lower intensity and was slowly increasing it. The same repeated later and I added 3rd set. Now I can push all 3 sets at the same intensity (actually, 2nd and 3rd are easier), and I tried adding 4th one but got an injury so I decided to stick with 3 as my optimum.

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#95

Post by bjxrn »

wfunction wrote: post #93
bitL wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am doing the original 7 minute workout 3 times in a row every 2-3 days as intense as I can (e.g. 56 push ups in 30 seconds) and I saw huge improvements all around my body after 6 months (my body type is between ecto and mesomorph). Later I combined this with strength exercises with 20-25kg dumbbells, i.e. 1st day 7 minute workouts, 2nd day fast interval strength exercises (particularly chest and upper body) with du…

So it's a 21-minute workout?

I can't find it in the NYT article so maybe it was in the original paper, but I'm pretty sure the 7-minute workout was always meant to be repeated three times (although maybe not directly after another).

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#96

Post by barrkel »

pingswept wrote: post #31
jordanpg wrote: post #28

My reaction to this is similar to this one: http://norvig.com/21-days.html (Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years) I've been exercising regularly for a long time and know pretty well what my "equilibrium" exercise time is, and it's about 5 - 6 times longer than 7 minutes. If I thought it could be shorter, then I would make it shorter because my #1 goal is to minimize the number of minutes of my life I spend on exer…

If it makes you feel better, each hour you spend exercising extends your life by around 3.5 hours (net 2.5 after the hour you spent) on average. These are just rough numbers, backed up by the Framingham heart study and an analysis of the Framingham data by Jonker, et al.: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/1/38.full.pdf They say 2.5 hours per week over a 75 year lifetime makes you live 3.5 years longer, and…

Question is, would you rather have an hour in your prime, or 2.5 hours in retirement.

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#97

Post by 31reasons »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

Too bad most gyms in my area (Los Angeles!) are not equipped for strong lifts. For example, just one barbell in the whole gym, No dead-lift platform etc. All of them just have machines . The only gyms equipped for Starting Strength / Strong Lifts workouts are Crossfit gyms but they somehow dislike the idea of only using weights. I offered my local Crossfit gym full membership fee just for access to the barbells and they declined.

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#98

Post by spoiler »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

I'm curious about your fitness level at the time of trying the 7min workout? I'm asking because it's sort of important. If you were fit before you started with the workouts, I'd expect these wouldn't be a big improvement for you.

Stronglifts looks very interesting (I've read most of thee content on the website), and it got me all excited about doing it, but quickly I realised that I can't even do basic shit.

I'd say my fitness level on a scale from 1 to 10 (where 1 is morbidly obese and 10 is an athlete) is about 2. I'm probably not obese morbidly, but I'm overweight (97Kg@185cm / 214lbs@6'1), and I've never done any real[0] sports in my life. most of my day is spent behind a desk, programming; be it at my job, or at home for a hobby. On, average, I probably spend about 20 hours (might as well be more) in a sitting position.

I tried a few of Skimble[1] workouts that were recommended for me (Easy to moderate intensity), I'd do them for 2-3 consecutively days. I'd be so sore the next few days that I couldn't lift a glass to drink; I ended up being on light painkillers to be able to do everyday things.

The 7min workout looks ideal for someone like me who's looking to take the first step towards a better life.

To conclude: Stronglifts would probably paralyse me for a few weeks after one workout. I know the author described himself as being weak at first, but people often underestimate themselves when we reflect upon our own pasts (I'm guilty of that, at least).

-- [0]: I did some sailing, which required once-a-week visit to the gym, but we mostly did warming-up stuff (which, in hindsight, was pretty tiring for me)

[1]: http://www.skimble.com/

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#99

Post by Pamar »

spoiler wrote: post #98
jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

I'm curious about your fitness level at the time of trying the 7min workout? I'm asking because it's sort of important. If you were fit before you started with the workouts, I'd expect these wouldn't be a big improvement for you. Stronglifts looks very interesting (I've read most of thee content on the website), and it got me all excited about doing it, but quickly I realised that I can't even do basic shit. I'd say…

Have you tried "5 Tibetans"? (see here for more: http://pa-mar.net/Main/Lifestyle/5TibetanRites.html) - it's not very strenouous, and you can increase the repetitions at your own pace (this should help considering the description of your current fitness state), does not require much time or any special equipment (just a yoga mat). I am fairly active (I practice Aikido 3/times week and been doing that for 25 years) but I still got some benefit from daily practicing these. Once you have reached the maximum number of repetitions and kept at it for a bit (say, 6 to 12 months) you could probably move to something more intense, if you want.

Re: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout

#100

Post by bitL »

spoiler wrote: post #98
jamesaguilar wrote: post #29

I tried the seven minute workout for a little while and saw no improvement in any dimension. This[1], on the other hand, has gotten me some significant results so far, five months in. [1] http://stronglifts.com/

I'm curious about your fitness level at the time of trying the 7min workout? I'm asking because it's sort of important. If you were fit before you started with the workouts, I'd expect these wouldn't be a big improvement for you. Stronglifts looks very interesting (I've read most of thee content on the website), and it got me all excited about doing it, but quickly I realised that I can't even do basic shit. I'd say…

Try to get enough electrolytes before training and ignore your personal trainer's suggestions to push hard from the beginning - initially go at 50% of what you think you can do and slowly increase this each new workout (personal trainers often want to show off and just kill the beginners). That way you'd avoid the "muscle week off" after a work out. Also, try to restrict soda, simple carbs and start slowly moving towards protein-rich foods, complemented with vegetables and fruits, so that you can build muscles. I started this a year ago, now my fitness is better than ever.
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