Hey, it's Mike Geary from TruthAboutAbs.com
I told you last week that I'd be
sending you out a training challenge this week.
Well, here it is. I
challenge you to try to beat my results at this little 5-minute routine.
You'll see my results below.
I'm sure if you've been reading my
info for some time that you know I like to get creative in the training
routines that I recommend trying. I think trying different training
styles and routines keeps things more interesting and can be motivating
if you set specific goals for certain exercises.
In fact, if you didn't already see
it, one of my unique training ideas was recently featured in the popular
international magazine, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Jul/Aug issue pg.
18.
So my boredom buster this week is
something I just thought up recently. I set a challenge with a couple of
my training partners at my gym to see who could do the most repetitions
of bodyweight squats in 5 minutes. I will qualify that these are meant
to be full squats all the way down to thighs parallel with the ground,
not the little "half way down" squats that you see so many people doing.
You basically just keep squatting
for as many reps as possible in 5-min. You only rest a couple times here
and there for a few seconds if you need it to help you keep squatting.
I liked this idea because I thought
it would be drastically different from the normal 3 sets of 10, 5 sets
of 5, 7 sets of 3, and so on. No matter how you break it down with
weighted squats, you're usually in the range of 20-40 total repetitions
in a given workout.
However, with max repetition
bodyweight squats in 5-minutes, your numbers easily can get up to well
over 100 reps. Let me tell you... even though you're not squatting heavy
weights with this unique training style, the high volume of repetitions
really pumps your legs and gets you dripping with sweat. Also, if
you're not used to this high volume, your legs will be in for some deep
soreness for about 2-3 days afterwards.
So the results? Well, in my first
attempt at 5-minute squats, I pumped out 157 reps. About a week later, I
tried it again, and beat my 1st number by repping 163 squats. Then the
following week, I once again beat my former scores by blasting through
169 squats.
I've set the goal that I'd like to
get up to 200 squats within the 5-minute time frame. Considering that
you have 300 seconds in 5-minutes, I figured 200 reps might be about at
the maximum possible capacity as you really need to be repping quickly
to do 200 parallel squats in 300 seconds.
Anyway, you can see that this is
just one of the many quirky training challenges that I think up on a
regular basis that keeps me interested and keeps things fresh. It's a
good idea to pick a goal like this and work towards it for a month or
two and then pick something totally different and work towards that for a
month or two. This gives your body some good variety while also
allowing for progression because of the short term consistency.
For example, this muscular
endurance goal of 200 squats in 5-minutes is on the totally opposite end
of the spectrum when compared to a different goal that I trained for
last year when I was training in a pure strength mode working up to a
405-lb deadlift. Changing things up like this and training for wildly
different goals at different times can really help keep you interested
in your workouts.
Alright, so go ahead and give this little 5-minute squat challenge a try (remember full squats, no halvsies).
Update: several weeks after running this article, I ended up beating my goal of 200 bodyweight squats in 5 minutes by pumping out 214 reps! Oh my, the burn!!
Good luck!
Feel
free to share this link to any friends, training partners, or family
that you think might want to try this training challenge.
Mike Geary
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com
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