The power of microworkouts

At the start of 2022, I was feeling unfit. I’d previously been very active, doing a lot of running and martial arts. But due to a hectic work schedule (working three part time jobs while going through the due diligence process of selling my business), I was finding it hard to make time for exercise. In desperation, I started experimenting with microworkouts. 

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The idea of a microworkout is to do a 30-90 second set of exercise every 30 minutes or so. Think dropping down and doing a set of pushups every so often. 

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Over the course of the day, this actually adds up to a decent amount of exercise. I didn’t feel like I could justify doing a 20 minute workout in the morning but doing 40 x 30 second workouts was completely fine. 

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It surprised me how much exercise I was able to fit in. In 30 seconds, I’d typically manage about 25 pushups/squats/lunges/situps. Over the course of a day, that adds up to hundreds of pushups! I experienced fitness improvements pretty quickly as a consequences of doing this. 

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The other thing that surprised me was the benefits in mental clarity. I was pretty used to having a massive energy slump in the afternoon where I couldn’t get anything productive done and would end up mindlessly reading emails even though having a nap would’ve been a better choice. I found that by doing microworkouts throughout the day, my energy levels actually remained much more consistent. I still had a slight slump in the midafternoon but it wasn’t the colossal trench I had in the past.

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Hopefully I’ve enticed you to give microworkouts a try. Obviously they don’t work that well in an office environment but if you’re working from home they’re a fantastic option. I use the Focus Bear app to remind me to do these microworkouts. In fact as I write this sentence, I’m being prompted to take a break 😅

When the break starts (I can postpone it if needed), my whole computer reminds me to do the microworkout.

It plays a short video during the workout.

When I’m done, I can log how many squats I did.

Ok all done - where was I? Oh yeah, I was going to invite you to try the microworkout feature in Focus Bear 🙂

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You don’t have to use my app of course. You can set timers on your phone. I just find they tend to go off at inconvenient times (e.g. when I’m in a meeting with my boss) whereas Focus Bear is smart enough to know when I’m in a meeting and doesn’t bug me.

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To sum up, I’d like to summarise a recent article that was published in Nature recently. The research indicates that doing 2-3 very short, high intensity bursts of exercise (sounds like a microworkout) significantly reduces the risk of an early death (at least in people who do no other exercise). Give it a try!