All You Need is a Wall, a Chair, and Seven Minutes

May 6, 2015   6 Comments

I recently hit a busy spell and found it incredibly difficult to get to the gym.

My partner was travelling and my son was sick. I found myself cancelling my workout and sitting down to eat a donut because HEY! – what is the point of trying to be healthy when I can’t make it to the gym?

It is funny how starting your day in the WRONG way leads to unhealthy choices.

The truth is that I didn’t need a trip to the gym for my Spinning class to get my exercise. I could do a “high intensity circuit training course” using my own body weight, a chair, and a table for seven minutes and get a great workout.

A scientific research paper in the field of Health and Fitness has shown that a high intensity seven minute workout can provide the same benefit of prolonged endurance training but in much less time.

Now, THAT is my kind of workout - free, short, and gets results.

You can check it out on the New York Time’s website or on 7-min.com. 7-min.com is a better source because you need a subscription to the New York Times to access the workout more than 10 times.

I have found this workout to be very challenging and painful for the seven minutes. Above, I shared a photo of someone doing a modified push-up because I can’t do very many of the real ones – so I simply put my knees down and keep going. Don’t worry, I am still in pain.

After doing my seven minutes, sometimes I get a drink of water and go for another seven because I feel like it. My children have joined me and get a kick out of watching my face contort.

This workout is awesome because I can't talk myself out of seven minutes. I may be busy but I have seven minutes to support my healthy journey.

What do you do when you feel like you have no time for exercise?

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