We’ve been doing quick, at-home workouts for this month’s Lifehacker Fitness Challenge, and today we’re going to try one designed by the scientist who made high-intensity interval training popular. It’s just called the “Go-To Workout,” and you can change it up however you like.
We mentioned it recently as one good example of a micro-workout. Its designer, Martin Gibala, says that if he could only do one workout, it would be this one. You can find a full description here, but it’s pretty simple and adaptable:
Do 30 seconds of jumping jacks or other easy-ish cardio, like jogging in placeDo 30 seconds of a strength exercise like push-ups, air squats, pull-ups, or lungesRepeat for a total of ten minutesI liked the flexibility of this one, since you can pick your own exercises. I did mostly push-ups for upper body segments, and lunges for lower body ones. (so 30 seconds of push-ups, 30 seconds of jogging in place, then 30 seconds of lunges, 30 seconds of jogging, and repeat).
The strength exercises are supposed to take you to failure within 30 seconds, if possible, but the upside is that if you pick something hard—let’s say you’ve done as many push-ups as you can but there’s still time on the clock—you get to rest for the remainder of the segment. I found this made a nice little workout that was as challenging as I wanted to be, no more and no less. Pretty nifty. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
