A friend recently told me about a 7-minute cardio workout that was supposed to be scientifically proven to be as good as other longer workouts because of the way the exercises were chosen and organized. When I checked it out online, some guy said he’d lost weight doing it just once a day.
Wow, even the New York Times reported on this thing. It must be scientific.
I am not an exercise junky like Adrian was. I exercise to live, not the other way around. I guess that makes me a prime candidate for the 7-minute cardio.
The cool thing is that it comes as a free app for your iphone, and Siri tells you when to start and stop each exercise. You do each of the 12 exercises for 30 seconds each, and then rest for 10 seconds in between.
I watched a video of the exercises on youtube, but it was animated, so not that helpful. I was pretty sure I knew how to do most of the exercises, anyway, so I thought I’d just give it a go.
You don’t need any fancy equipment to do these—just an ordinary kitchen chair or bench. A mat is nice for the ones you do on the floor, but not required.
Do I sound like a salesman for the thing? Yes, I immediately emailed my sisters about it, and then my daughter and granddaughter. I told them I was going to try it that afternoon.
One sister emailed back, “Good luck.”
So I assembled a kitchen chair, an exercise mat, and my iPhone, and got started. Jumping jacks were first on the list. I was breathing heavily after 30 seconds of that one, but you get 10 seconds to rest before the next exercise.
I discovered that 10 seconds is no time at all, especially when I had to get in position to start the next exercise, which was on the floor: push-ups.
This thing started to feel harder than Zumba, but I wasn’t going to give up. It’s only 7 minutes of your life!
I’d never done a “wall sit” before, but there was an image of it in the comics recently, so I gave it a try. Later after watching a video on how to do it properly, I realized I hadn’t. Then when I tried to do it correctly, my feet started to slide. Take off those socks or wear sneakers, I told myself.
The rest of the 7 minutes went similarly—I gave it my best and then found I was mostly doing things wrong. In lunges, for example, you’re not supposed to push your knee out past your big toe or it puts too much pressure on the knee.
And when you stand up on that chair, you’re not supposed to hold on to it like I had to. Guess I need to find a lower chair.
Does this mean I’m giving up on the 7-minute cardio workout?
Not a chance.
After all, it fills my basic requirement: I can do it alone in the privacy of my own home without talking to another soul.
And it’s only 7 minutes.
Adrian, my beloved fitness junkie.