Everyday Systems

What do you all think about splitting shovelglove into two seven minute sessions: one in the morning and one in the evening?

Some mornings, I get kind of crunched for time. I don't like to leave the house without at least some shugging, so have done a short session, then finished later in the day.

The obvious solution, of course, is to get up a bit earlier, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on whether or not the Seven-Minute Split is a good idea.

I've never tried it, but the potential cons I see are:

1) the hardest of doing a workout is starting. Now you've got to start twice.

2) 14 minutes gives you something approaching a minimal "cardio" workout. Many people would say even that's not enough. A mere 7 is even farther off...

That being said, it's possible you personally don't find startups so hard and that #2 is total pseudoscientific BS.

Reinhard

Hey-o! For what it's worth, I've read that some studies show that there's no real difference between a straight period of work, and several smaller periods spread out throughout the day (unfortunately, I've mislaid the book where I read that. It was something published by Men's Health Magazine). Obviously, there's a limit - 14 one-minute workouts probably won't get you very far.

One advantage worth considering is that, because you'd be rested, you could maintain a much higher intensity level for a second 7-minute session as opposed to what you could do during the second 7minutes of a longer routine. Which is good, because more and more research shows that short, intense workouts are generally better for your overall health than longer, slower sessions.

I agree with Reinhard, though, that the second start could be difficult to get motivated for, but then I'm pretty lazy as a general rule, so that might not be as much of a problem for other folks.

I have been doing 7-7 for a bit and am finding it works really well for me. There are several things going on that steered me toward this:

-- I adore Shovelglove! It really invigorates me! It gets me going in the morning, even the 7-minute version! And now I have found that the 7 minutes in the evening seems to keep my energy level up over the course of the evening, and makes a nice boundary between daytime and evening activities as well. (On nights when I won't be getting home until late, I plan on doing the full 14 minutes in the morning).

-- Not to worry, Reinhard: because I like it so much, I don't have a problem with starting a second time, especially for only 7 minutes.

-- I also walk for 40-45 minutes 6 days a week, and do a 30-minute weights routine 3 times a week, so I'm not looking to Shovelglove as my only source of cardio or strength training.

-- I recently added Z-Health's neural warm-up to my program. It takes about 10 minutes right when I get up. I am also enjoying that routine, but that 10 minutes, plus the 14 minutes of shugging, put me just beyond the degree of complexity I want in my morning. (There are lots of other things that go on besides exercise!) 7-7 solves that, plus there is the bonus of added evening energy from the second session.

phayze wrote: ... I've read that some studies show that there's no real difference between a straight period of work, and several smaller periods spread out throughout the day ...

One advantage worth considering is that, because you'd be rested, you could maintain a much higher intensity level for a second 7-minute session as opposed to what you could do during the second 7 minutes of a longer routine.

Phayze -- Thank you for that encouragement. I think I've also heard of those studies, but I didn't think of them in this context. And, although I wasn't really thinking about of it, you're right about the intensity of the evening set: it is definitely more intense that the last 7 of 14! Your thoughts are much appreciated! (BTW, I hope you are feeling better ...)

Having said all that, I do recognize that there might be some pitfalls down the road in terms of getting to that second set, so I wouldn't suggest that anyone "try this at home" without really thinking through the commitment, and I'll be on my toes to insure that this doesn't mess up my Shovelglove mission.

Again, personal preference. I know they say it doesn't matter if the work outs are done in parts.

I tried doing that for a while, but it wasn't working out for me. Sometimes I would do half and then skip the other half, etc.
(I only did that very briefly, just a week, cos' I could see right away it wasn't my cup of tea)

I find it easier when you get going and then you do the whole routine at once, since getting started is the hardest part...
but I say you do whatever works out best for you, not everybody's the same.

They say for cardio the minimum to aim for is 20 minutes ... so you would get less benefits by splitting the workout obviously ... maybe you could do 10-10 instead of 7-7,

....Or you do the shovelglove plus 5 minutes of cardio each time, extra ... which is similar to what I do now ... Shovelglovin' for 15 minutes in the morning and then the cardio workouts in the early evenings, 40-45 minutes.

Marc

Good luck, Winnie! Sounds like it might really make the most sense for you.

Let us know how it goes,

Reinhard