Since I work out of my home a lot, and work out mostly at home, I have a tendency to break up my day’s workout over the entire day. For example, I might do some one hand snatches in the morning (15 minutes), a few hours later do my chin-ups (another 15 minutes or so), some late afternoon GPP work, and maybe do my sets of incline dumbbell presses in the early evening. Is there anything wrong with working out like this, that is, is there anything wrong with not getting everything done in one single hour? Some acquaintances have said that I never will fully deplete my glycogen stores and raise my muscular endurance that way, but I have to say, the 15-minute single-move workouts are extremely intense. Furthermore, it breaks up the annoyance and boredom that sometimes comes with working in front of a computer for hours upon hours at home.
So, wrapping it up, any critiques of this method, or is it just as valid as training in one single block?
Well, it really depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Anabolism? Then, heck yes your technique is good - I’d guess you have a much better work capacity throughout the day vs. just one hour. As well, you sure will keep the catabolic hormones at bay!
Cutting? I’d only say that it would help, since you’d have a constantly elevated metabolism. This would be true if you were doing significant microtrauma or if you were not.
Sheer endurance? Maybe not. Maybe your ability to do better and better at one hour sessions would not improve even though your ability to do quick sessios would improve. ie. there might not be much carry over there.
Really though, the only person who can answer the question is you.
What about warm ups and warm downs. It doesn’t seem like you’re doing anything significant in that respect. Think about the long-term effects. Do you get many injuries working out on this schedule?
Thanks for the input so far…for nutrition, considering I work out every 3-4 hours or so, right after that is when I will generally have my small meal or snack, whether actual solid food or a protein shake or bar, some flax or fish oil, and a V-8 chaser.
Um, nope, no injuries, ever. I don’t start with my maximal weight, of course, on the first lift, but my body is pretty good at doing things ‘cold.’ I’ve been following a lot of Pavel Tatseloune (sp?)'s advice, and it’s been working ok in terms of injuries. I also have a few secrets for when I get a ‘twinge’ that might lead to an injury, and I’ve never had anything that’s led to next-day pain (other than occasional workout soreness) in over a year.
This type of working out is not bad at all, especially with your intensity, and enthusiasm. Warming up in this situation isn’t a problem, look at all the times we have to push ourselves at work, play, or chores (shoveling snow, etc). Of course, each start should be slow and light, but one can warm up with just a short walk, cleaning the house, body weighted exercises (pushups, jumping jacks, or anything like we used to do in school).
People who do hard or medium/light labor at work do this all during the day. Plus the main good point is it’s much better than doing nothing at all, in case one says, I don’t have an hour to spare, so I will wait to work out until I do. Days, weeks, months, may pass…
Well yeah, I’m getting results, plus it keeps the whole day more fun…as soon as my mind gets exhausted, I pick some exercise and spent 15-20 minutes killing my body. By the time that’s over, I get a snack and some water, my mind’s ready for more…plus my physique and strength is still making the types of gains I like. I was just wondering, since I have either option with my schedule, if I could or would be doing better by hitting for one intense hour rather than 4 really intense 15-minute exercises.