Can You Achieve Fitness Success Working Out Just One Minute A Day?

There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to training: An “old” school of training, in which you go to failure on every set as often as possible, and an even older school of training that championed a more moderate-intensity workout done more frequently. I’m not sure why or how, but somehow this system of moderation got pushed out of the public conscious in the past forty years or so, but fortunately was not completely forgotten.

While visiting South Korea for two months back in March and April of last year, I developed a serious shoulder injury, ironically, from doing too much climbing (a pulling movement), and not enough chest and shoulder exercise (pushing). After spending all summer slowly rehabbing to the point where I could do more than a single push-up without my shoulder screaming at me in pain, I was determined not to let such a serious injury befall me again if I could help it.

While I knew I would be too busy to partake in a serious body weight training regimen during this latest trip to Korea, I remembered the advice of Matt Furey (he was relatively popular a few years ago for a body weight training system he was trying to sell called Combat Conditioning) that instead of trying to go from zero to hero, a new trainee should just try to work out for “one minute a day," This is where my big experiment got its start.

Taking from the idea that weight training exercise done for shorter periods, but with more frequency is, is more effective than longer bouts of exercise, done less frequently (more on this concept in a future post), I decided that I would endeavour to do just one set of sub-maximal push-ups per day, every day, for the remainder of my stay in Korea – about four and a half months.

I chose to use the same type of push-up each workout, and during each test, so that my experiment would remain at least somewhat scientific. The type of push-up I chose involved having the hands positioned directly under the shoulders, fingers pointing forwards, elbows staying tight to my body throughout the exercise. I chose this type of push-up because I felt it would protect my shoulder/rotator cuffs better than the more standard, elbows out, hands wide-apart version.

During a fitness test I took six weeks before the start of this experiment, I managed to score 41 push-ups in the same manner described above. I took 41 to be my current max, as it was consistent with other tests I had done before my injury.

The protocol for my workout involved completing 30 repetitions without touching my knees to the ground, or taking a hand off the floor. However, I allowed myself to take as many rests as I felt were necessary to complete the 30 reps while still being able to feel somewhat fresh at the end of the set.

In this experiment, my philosophy was that the intensity of the exercise was of far less importance than the total volume of work I would end up completing in a week or month. As the days and weeks progressed, I found it easier and easier to complete the 30 repetitions, and eventually got to the point where I could complete all 30 without resting once. (Note: I chose 30 repetitions because it was a nice round number that was fairly close to my max, but still easily attainable.)

After one month of daily workouts I retested myself. I completed the test in exactly the exact same form described above, and in the exact same manner as I completed each workout. The result of my first test was a score of 52 repetitions. This matched my second highest score ever, and was only two off of my all-time record of 54 set back in high school.

My motivation bolstered by what I considered a fantastic result, I continued on with my plan to complete just 30 repetitions a day, every day, for another month. However, about halfway through this second month, I felt that 30 repetitions had become too easy to complete, and so I increased my daily workout number to an ambitious 32 repetitions.

My second test resulted in a score of 60 repetitions – my highest ever total by a score of 6, and nearly 20 more repetitions than I could complete at the start of the program. For the next two weeks I completed 32, and then later 35 repetitions each workout (still just one workout a day).I then tested myself again and still scored 60 repetitions, but I had stopped a few reps short of my max on this test.

Confident that I could have probably eked out at least three to four more reps during my last test, I continued on training at a daily volume of 35 repetitions performed in one continuous set.I was also still performing the repetitions without a break at this point because the jump in reps from 32 to 35 was so minimal, and I had the capacity for much higher numbers. About a week before the next test I increased my workout repetition number to 37. Three weeks after the last test, I tested myself again and completed a whopping 70 repetitions, nearly twice as many as I could do when I started.

I believe though, that in my quest to hit 70 reps during the test I pushed my mind and body to their limit (or at least it felt like I had). Despite the elation I felt after performing a hitherto unthinkable number of push-ups, I remember feeling a bit fatigued during my next day’s workout (something that had not happened in any of the other workouts that followed a test day in previous months).

Furthermore, rather than following the “time-tested” formula of continuing to do the same number of push-ups as I was doing in my workout just before the test, and then slightly increasing the number of reps a couple of weeks later, I must have decided that my new 70 rep test score made me the king of working out, and that I could do whatever I pleased and get away with it. After just two post-test workouts at 37 repetitions, I decided to change my formula to working out with 2/3 of the max repetitions from the recently completed test. In this case that meant jumping from 37 repetitions per workout to 46 repetitions. It turns out this was a big mistake, as my workouts started to go from bad to worse.

At first I seemed to be able to tough out all 46 repetitions with only a minimum of trouble.However, as the days went on, and quite quickly I might add, that slight fatigue began to increase, and the “minimum of trouble” I was experiencing a few days before started turning into a lot of trouble. As the workouts became harder my motivation started to drop, and about a week after I made the change, the unthinkable happened, and I skipped two workouts because I didn't want to do them.

I was unhappy with this latest turn of events, and I decided to get back on track and figure out what had gone wrong. I remembered that when I first started the experiment I took multiple breaks during my work set to complete the repetitions fatigue free. Immediately after re-employing this work-rest-work method, I found that my motivation to workout had returned, but that the damage to my nervous system had already been done, as the speed and vigorousness with which I could complete the repetitions just a month earlier were now gone.


Analysis

I didn't start my experiment originally with the intention to prove anything, I was merely too lazy to work out more than a few sets a day, and I thought it would be interesting to see if I could still build up enough “total reps” to improve my push-up maximum with only one sub-maximal set a day. That said, I think it’s interesting to note that despite my decline in push-up proficiency near the end of the experiment, I did in fact improve my push-up max number significantly and consistently for three straight months.

If you are just new to working out, or know someone who is, you/they may find it comforting to know that you can do just one set a day, even for just one minute a day, and still achieve fitness success.

I have since started this experiment over again from the beginning and am currently working out with 30 pushups a day. I will carry the program out over a the course of this upcoming summer, with the ultimate goal to see if I can achieve 100 pushups a day performing only one training set a day.

Episode 38: In Which DFM Sees A Flying DeLorean And Dances On TV For Over 3000 Koreans.

It just so happened that my stay here in Seoul coincided with the 2009 Seoul Motor Show.  MandDFM and I are big fans of motor shows (as regular readers will know) and so he was sure to remind me about this one.  It's not every day you get to see a major International Motor Show, in the second largest urban agglomerate in the World no less.

I had convinced Yoo Sung Bok to come along with me, and he said it was his first time to visit a Motor Show so he was very excited.  Here he tests out an A/C motor for me and later suggested I get one for my new gosiwon since it is always boiling hot in my room.

Sung Bok later admitted that he was really interested in seeing the models and trying to get pictures with them.  It was win-win though, because while I rushed around trying to get the perfect pictures of the cars, I always knew where to find him afterwards (I just had to find the nearest booth with a model).

The best exhibit of the Show by far!  This is a revolutionary new plastic, electric window mechanism and casing that will be on the new Sonata.  A woman working the booth, who spoke quite good English, tried to ask me if I was interested in door technology but I had already responded "YES!!!" before she could finish her question.

Hyundai and KIA dominated this year's Seoul Motor Show.  Together they had about 25% of the display space, and they had the largest number of cars and concept cars (each) of any company there.  It took me over an hour just to explore all of the Hyundai and KIA cars on display.  That's not a complaint, mind you, just an observation.

  

KIA and Hyundai also introduced some very neat concept cars (the first time I've had a chance to see a concept car at a Motor Show) including the World's first LPG-hybrid car (the yellow-green one).  The best part about the Hyundai/KIA hybrid cars is that they don't look like a Prius.

Being a big fan of public transport I was ecstatic to see this Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered city bus,  by who else but Hyundai?  Better yet for Hyundai, the line-up to get in on the other side was longer than the bus.

This is a Korean pick-up truck.  These things are everywhere making deliveries, and they get quite annoying when they try to go down narrow back-alleys full of people (which is often).

These guys, with their giant DSLR cameras and zoom lenses, were everywhere.  They looked ridiculous and kept getting in the way of important amateur bloggers, and I'm pretty sure they weren't professionals either since the media day was last week.

There were a lot of models at the show trying to attract attention to the cars, but only two of them were males.  It's especially fitting though that both male models were working the Audi booth.

  

At least I finally got to see my boyhood dream car in the sheet metal: the Audi S8.

I should say this about the models standing by the cars, though.  Many people will object to their presence at the show for religious, sociological, or any number of other reasons, but they were consummate professionals.

I came here on the second last day of the roughly 10 day long Motor Show, but this model still took time to give me a smile and a thumbs up even though she had been standing there in those high heels all day and must have been absolutely exhausted.

My favourite model was this girl who gave me an exclusive.  That's right, you won't find this shot anywhere else!  Look at how happy she is too, and now some pesky labour law is going to prevent her from having "fun" for ten hours a day, ten days straight.  What a shame.

 

The Seoul Motor Show also featured an Automotive History Museum section with such classics as the Model T, whatever the white car is, and...

A flying DeLorean!  (I haven't seen one of those in... thirty years!)

By this time I had taken over 400 pictures and was starting to run out of battery, not to mention we were starting to get tired.  Sung Bok and I decided to leave because Yi Woojin (Sung Bok's friend) had invited me out to a baseball game and we needed to go get something to eat first.   Sung Bok originally had a date with his girlfriend, but figured that since he and his girlfriend had been in a fight recently that gave him a good reason to skip their date and come to the game instead.

While we were waiting for Woojin to meet us, I introduced Sung Bok to the wonderful world of body weight conditioning drills at the park where we stopped to rest.  Soon though, Woojin showed up and it was off to get some snacks to sneak in to the ball park with us.

I admit that I have not been a big baseball fan since the Blue Jays won the World Series (that's not entirely true, I watched every game during their fall from grace from 1994-1996 before I finally got fed up and quit) .  That being said, watching Korean baseball is an amazing experience and I'm now hooked!

Unlike normal baseball, where the fans are left to decide amongst themselves the best time to cheer, Korean baseball requires fans of one team to sit on one side of the stadium, while an equal number of fans from the visiting team occupy the seats on the other (the furthest trip away is only 3 hours on the KTX, so most of the fans come along to support their team on road games).  Each team has its own cheer leader who is an energetic guy with a whistle that stands on the dugout and whoops the fans up in a frenzy, with a well-timed series of unique cheers that everyone seems to know (I think each team has its own unique set of cheers).  There are also some massive Korean drums that are thumped during the cheers to make even more noise.

I soon ran out of battery, so I was not able to take many pictures at the game, but in this picture you can see the dancers who would come out between innings, our cheer leader (in the white, 08 uniform), and the inflatable plastic whacking sticks we received.

The team I was cheering for was called the Woori Heroes.  The team they were playing against were one of the best in the league, from Incheon.  I was told that one of the fans from the Woori team yelled "Incheon rubbish" after another of their numerous home runs, but this statement was rather ironic since the Woori Heroes were originally located in Incheon.  

The Incheon team clobbered the Woori Heroes, but that didn't matter.  Every time our team went up to bat the Woori faithful would rise up to cheer as loudly as possible.  My favourite cheer was "Home Run, Boo-room-ba!"  We would chant this whenever the DH, Cliff Brumbaugh (the Korean language doesn't always have all of the letter combinations/sounds to make Western names), came up to bat.

Originally Sung Bok, Woojin and I were down low, but beyond third base.  It gave us a great view, but put us away from the main cheering section.  That didn't stop me from dancing and cheering and whacking my sticks along with everyone else though, and soon Woojin said I was in the wrong section - everyone around me was sitting down and silent.

I asked if we could move closer to the main crowd, but I was told I had to go first for it to work.  Apparently if Woojin or Sung Bok went first, they would be told any open seats were already taken, but since I was a foreigner I could just act like I didn't understand and go sit down anyways.  I thought it seemed a bit silly, but I wanted to cheer, so off I went.  With our new seats secured I was able to really get going on my cheering.

I used to be a former professional sports mascot, and so once I got myself dancing and cheering I drew so much attention that my antics earned me 20 seconds on the big screen monitor on the main scoreboard.  Everyone around me recognized me and there were many laughs.  Eventually though I was able to raise the spirits of everyone around me (who, up until this point had been relatively reserved) and soon we were all standing up and cheering.

After the game the president of the Woori fan club came over and he was so impressed with my cheering that he asked me to join his crew.  If I ever come back to Korea I will go to every Korean baseball game I can.  It's probably the best version of something American that the Koreans have modified yet, and I love it.

I enjoyed myself so much at this game that I'm going to another game on the 26th.  Woojin said that the best team in the league were hosting a team from Busan, and that it was sure to be a good match.  More importantly, people from Busan are very intense people, and I was told that they have the best cheering section in the league.  I'll be there sitting in the Busan section on the 26th, losing my voice, come hell or high water.

After the game, Sung Bok marvelled at my energy since I was still going strong and humming the songs and cheers while he was exhausted.  He made a comment on how much benefit my frequent exercising and consequent fitness levels must be for my quality of life.  I have to agree.  (... The More You Know.)

Ladders For Rapid Strength Increase

Another post influenced by a request I received from a reader. This reader wanted information about strength training. Here's is a strength training method I have found to be quite effective. The workout is referred to as a "ladder workout" and involves doing sets with the same weight, for progressively more repetitions, until you reach or approach your limit. Then you take a short rest, start over at the beginning and work up to a similarly high number of reps. You can repeat this process as long as you like. In practice, your workout might look something like this: 2 reps, 4 reps, 6 reps, 8 reps, 10 reps. Extended rest. 2-4-6-8-9. Rest. 2-4-6-8. Rest. 1-3-5-7. Done.

Note: you also rest in between each set, but the Rest between "series" (a sequence of sets of progressively higher reps) is the longest. Also, there are no set number of sets or series to be done, you can do as many or as few as you'd like. Furthermore, you may make the jump in reps/set within a series as great or small as you'd like.

This program operates on the theory that the greater the volume (total amount) of work you do in a given exercise, the more you will improve the efficiency of the nervous system to provide electric impulse to the muscles (more electricity = more muscle fibres able to contract). The point of the easier sets is to continue to increase the volume while remaining fresh and not tiring out, thereby allowing you to complete more total reps than you would if you went all-out on each set.

To prove the effectiveness of this method for increasing the total volume of work you can complete in a workout, I propose you perform a self experiment. Take any exercise you would like with any weight you would like. For the point of demonstration I will choose push-ups. Choose a time-limit (say 15 minutes) and start doing push-ups until you can no longer complete a rep (your maximum effort). Rest until you feel fresh enough to do a high number of push-ups again and repeat the effort until you once again reach your fail point. Continue in this manner until the fifteen minutes is up. Record the sum of all the reps completed in each set within the fifteen minutes time limit. Now, rest a number of hours until you are fresh again. Choose the same exercise, with the same weight, for the same time limit. Run a series of "ladders" from a low number to a high number. The higher the number of reps in your "max" set, the greater you can make the jumps in reps/set values within a series (i.e., 3-6-9-12 vs. 5-10-15-20-25). This way you won't spend your entire fifteen minutes increasing the reps/set by one each time if your max is 40 push-ups. Continue running ladders until the fifteen minutes is up. Compute the sum and compare this value to the total number of push-ups you completed using the traditional all-out method. I am confident that you will be pleasantly surprised.

I am currently using this method with a 53 lb kettlebell to great effect. Roughly three weeks ago I struggled to shoulder press the bell three times with my dominant arm. By performing two series of ladders three times a week I have since increased my maximum effort to 8 repetitions. In the first week I performed the ladders as follows: 1-2, rest, 1-2. The second week was completed using a 1-2-3, rest, 1-2-3 pattern. The third week involved two series of ladders with a top set of 4 (1-2-3-4, rest, 1-2-3-4). That's a 267% increase in less than a month. Try it out for yourself.



(You might want to think twice before you say "bite me" to this guy)

The Wonders of Kettlebells

A kettlebell is essentially a cannon ball with an iron suitcase handle welded onto it. It is a traditional Russian strength and conditioning tool and there have been some wild claims made about its effectiveness. Kettlebells have been described as "weightlifting time ten," and are purported to add muscle to "hard gainers" and shred fat from "hard losers." Additionally, dedicated kettlebell users have been known to complete marathons without running a single step in preparation. When I first heard these claims I thought it was just a fad, and I continued to refuse to believe the hype for another three years. When I finally did order my first kettlebell to test out the claims, I was immediately turned into a convert.

Kettlebell exercises are divided into two different categories. Heavy kettlebells can be lifted slowly to build strength, and lighter kettlebells can be moved in various arcing patterns for ludicrously high repetitions as a way to boost cardiovascular fitness.

Any exercise that can be done with dumbbells can also be completed using kettlebells, but the same cannot be said about the reverse. Because of the shape of the kettlebell it can be swung between your legs - with no fear of having a wide dumbbell take out your knees. Furthermore, every exercise can be completed with the "cannonball" above the handle or below, effectively doubling the number of exercises that can be completed with a dumbbell before even considering the new and novel exercises that can only be performed with a kettlebell.

I won't waste my breath trying to convince you any more, since you if you are not yet intrigued by a device that is "weightlifting times ten," then nothing more I can say will interest you. Suffice it to say you owe it to yourself to check out Russian Kettlebells and see what all the hype is about.



(Even ferocious, man-eating Alpacas know the value of kettlebells, do you?)

Bar-barians

For those of you interested in becoming more fit, a goal is vital to keeping you motivated. I suggest at least one of your goals be related to a bodyweight exercise such as pull-ups, push-ups, dips, one-legged squats etc. The nature of the goal can range from completing just one repetition of an exercise (e.g., your first pull-up), or to setting a new record (e.g., my own goal of holding a handstand for one full minute).

Body weight training is something that is largely independent of location, money, or time, which makes it a great fitness tool. Even a stressed out accountant can do some push-ups on his or her coffee break. The top of a door can be used as an impromptu pull-up bar, and dips can be completed between two chairs or in the corner of your kitchen where counter tops meet.

Whatever exercise you choose to work on, or wherever you decide to do it, I have come across a couple of great sites on body weight fitness that may help you attain your goal(s). The first is a blog created by Mad Money for the calisthenics troop, Bar-barians. The blog can be accessed here. The Bar-barians perform unbelievable feats of strength on what can best be described as standard playground equipment. They have an official website of their own which can be accessed here. I strongly recommend checking out the forum where you can access training ideas and any information on any other fitness concern.

Handstand Training

I am writing this post in response to a request (yes, I actually take those). I have been working diligently the last couple of weeks and this morning popped up into a 40+ second handstand without any fuss. At the risk of sounding like a motivational speaker, I wasn't always this good and I had to work very hard to become so. But, unlike a motivational speaker, I will now share with you the secret of my success.

Before you even start doing any handstand training you should have at least a base level of shoulder strength, otherwise you're trying to run before you can walk. These numbers aren't set in stone, but I would think that being able to bench press at least 135 lbs (or something similar) or complete over 30 push-ups would be a decent starting point. If you're lighter, a smaller bench and more push-ups is acceptable, and vice versa for the heavier readers.

You can complete this program by just kicking up into handstand after handstand while you fall over, and it's possible that you will eventually learn to hold it, but this is like throwing spaghetti at a wall. My method is tried and tested (on myself) and I'm positive it will work for you.

Your first step is to learn how to do a headstand. Get something very soft for your head - like one of those folding mats at the fitness center, or a couch seat cushion. Place your head on the soft item and your hands should be at least a foot to a foot and a half behind your head and roughly shoulder width apart (a triangle is what we're going for here). Next, either balance your knees on your elbows and then straighten up into the headstand, or for the more gangly or impatient of you just try kicking up against a wall or otherwise. Obviously this will put a lot of strain on your neck, so if you don't think you're up to it, then work on strengthening your neck first (various ways, perhaps that will be another post).

Once you've mastered the headstand, you can begin learning the handstand, the DFM Way. The trick is to find a lot of couch cushions, mats, etc. that you can stack up on top of each other. One idea might be a stack of text books on top of which you place a pillow. Balance in your headstand on top of your tower of books/mats (if it's a folding mat, then just fold it up)/cushions, etc. Once you've accomplished this feat then violently push yourself up into a handstand (or as close as you can get). You do not need to hold this handstand for even a second. Just pushing up hard is all that matters (note: the higher your stack, the easier this will be). Once you've pressed up, then fall over or step back down and try it again, and again, and again. Eventually, after a few days perhaps, you will improve to the point where you can push up, balance momentarily, and then lower your head back down to the start. When you can do this, work to the point where you can go up and down, up and down, for at least 8 or more reps (a rep, or repetition, is one complete cycle of up and down).

Once you have accomplished your 8+ reps, then remove one book, mat fold, cushion, etc. from your stack. Repeat the entire process. By the time you have gotten down to the ground in this fashion, you should have no problem holding a 20 second handstand or more. Good luck.