Short – But Intense!
Short – But Intense!
No I’m not talking about Gary Player, whose stature is as big as the Empire State Building in the golf world, or Steve Smith with the Baltimore Ravens (formerly with the Carolina Panthers…our favorite NFL team…We miss you Steve).
I am talking about my workout this morning in the gym. I usually head over at about 4:45 am to get there by 5. That way I am out of there no later than 6:00. Usually I do all my “stuff” in about 45 minutes and out the door I am.
Over the past few years, the “Fitness Gurus” have been preaching about Treadmills and Cardio Machines, and how they are a waste of time. The new cardio is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).
Well…I like walking fast (sometimes into a jog) on the treadmill to get warmed up. Depending on what I am listening to, I will go from 5 minutes up to 30 minutes. Then it’s off to the area with the balance balls and the mats to do my routine. I don’t use weight machines and I seldom use weights, except for the two eight pound PowerBalls that we donated to the gym.
My routine is based around lots of shoulder movements, squats, wall planks (I invented a new way of doing isometric poses along the wall that are really intense when done to the max) and lots of rotational movement patterns to help my golf swing, usually with the PowerBall. (check out some of the exercises at PowerBall Videos). I don’t rest in between, and I work hard to keep up the intensity. Hey, I’m 65 and my intensity is pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.
I do see a large number of people who get their Kindle or book set up on the little shelf on the treadmill, set the dial to “mosey” and spend the next 60 minutes on the thing to no real cardio benefit. Intense? Nope! That is what the Gurus are talking about. Going 60 minutes at a low intensity really is a bit of a waste of time. That is unless you are severely overweight and that’s the best you can do at the start.
My whole point here is to work on upping your intensity in whatever you do for exercise…even if it is for only 3 minutes. Check out the 3 minute workouts we put together. They will get your heart rate up.
That’s it for now.
Thanks for reading.
Ken