Time based vs. rep based sets
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:24 pm
A couple weeks ago, I started watching a dvd (ushpizin, to practice my hebrew) while shugging and noticed that either I kept losing count of what rep I was on or, if I focused on counting, couldn't pay attention to the dvd.
I decided to try doing "time based" sets rather than rep based sets, so I could follow the movie without getting distracted from my exercise: so instead of doing a specified number of reps per set, I'd do reps of each movement for one minute. I put a stopwatch on top of my tv. I was already staring at the tv, so it was easy to to give it a quick look every few seconds or so when I thought my minute was close to done. It worked surprisingly well. Some movements I had to slow down on, but with the exception of "hoist the sack," I could do each movement for a full minute per side (and I just switched to a lighter 12 pound hammer when I could no longer hoist 20 pound sacks). I was able to enjoy the movie, and (much to my surprise) didn't miss a single set transition.
Some issues remain:
1. One problem is that I couldn't do a minute per side of each movement I normally do in 14 minutes -- just the official movements listed on the movements page would take 10 x 2= 20 minutes. My tentative solution is to write my last movement on my daily punch card and pick up where I left off the next day. I don't find this entirely satisfactory because I don't like having to keep track of stuff. A better solution would be to do some math up front and assign set 14 minute routines to each weekday so all the movements get equal attention in the course of a week. But I haven't bothered to do this yet.
2. There is something about the idea of staring at a stopwatch that bugs me (although I have to say, it's mostly the idea, doing it has been surprisingly painless). In an attempt to avoid having to do this, I recorded a one minute mp3 of me saying "start!" and "stop!" to loop over and over again, but I found it too easy to zone out when I was absorbed in the movie and miss the transition (I didn't actually miss any, but I stressed about it the whole time). So for now, I'm back to staring at the stop watch.
Despite these issues, I think this is a promising new tactic. I'd be curious to hear what other people think, and I'll post any refinements I make myself here.
Reinhard
I decided to try doing "time based" sets rather than rep based sets, so I could follow the movie without getting distracted from my exercise: so instead of doing a specified number of reps per set, I'd do reps of each movement for one minute. I put a stopwatch on top of my tv. I was already staring at the tv, so it was easy to to give it a quick look every few seconds or so when I thought my minute was close to done. It worked surprisingly well. Some movements I had to slow down on, but with the exception of "hoist the sack," I could do each movement for a full minute per side (and I just switched to a lighter 12 pound hammer when I could no longer hoist 20 pound sacks). I was able to enjoy the movie, and (much to my surprise) didn't miss a single set transition.
Some issues remain:
1. One problem is that I couldn't do a minute per side of each movement I normally do in 14 minutes -- just the official movements listed on the movements page would take 10 x 2= 20 minutes. My tentative solution is to write my last movement on my daily punch card and pick up where I left off the next day. I don't find this entirely satisfactory because I don't like having to keep track of stuff. A better solution would be to do some math up front and assign set 14 minute routines to each weekday so all the movements get equal attention in the course of a week. But I haven't bothered to do this yet.
2. There is something about the idea of staring at a stopwatch that bugs me (although I have to say, it's mostly the idea, doing it has been surprisingly painless). In an attempt to avoid having to do this, I recorded a one minute mp3 of me saying "start!" and "stop!" to loop over and over again, but I found it too easy to zone out when I was absorbed in the movie and miss the transition (I didn't actually miss any, but I stressed about it the whole time). So for now, I'm back to staring at the stop watch.
Despite these issues, I think this is a promising new tactic. I'd be curious to hear what other people think, and I'll post any refinements I make myself here.
Reinhard