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I’ve always loved cardio but found weight lifting to be impossibly boring. Then one day I decided to do 2-3 minutes of power sets, once in the morning and once

I’ve always loved cardio but found weight lifting to be impossibly boring. Then one day I decided to do 2-3 minutes of power sets, once in the morning and once at night. Every day. I very quickly became stronger than I’ve been before. It’s such a small time commitment that consistency is relatively easy, but you still accumulate a decent amount of volume per week.

xyzzy_plugh 5y ago
2-3 minutes sounds sublime. What sort of lifts are you doing? I only have free weights at home and have struggled to find a good routine that doesn't take too much time.
- brightball 5y ago
  FWIW, push-ups + rowing will give you a virtually full body workout plus cardio.
  - stevesearer 5y ago
    The place I go is a structured workout with row, bike, versaclimber, and strength stuff (free weights, push-ups, core). Agree that row and push-ups would be a great combo.
  - popotamonga 5y ago
    Proper form is also a problem. I went up to 1k pushups a day but started with shoulder pain. No matter you many youtube videos i watch i guess i would need a personal trainer to teach me.
    - koonsolo 5y ago
      Why would you want to end up with 1k pushups a day? That doesn't add strength but endurance. Try to work towards the 1 hand 1 leg pushup, or planche pushups. Way better and more efficient.
    - slazaro 5y ago
      That's an insane amount that will most likely destroy your shoulders if you don't do any pulling to compensate. It might not be the form, but the imbalance between push/pull.
- emerged 5y ago
  I do a power set of shrugs, curls, and one other I forget the name of. Then I put on a weighted vest and do a power set of ab roller, dips and decline push-ups. My cardio (cycling) includes a mix of sprints of various sorts so I don’t bother weight lifting for lower body. Getting too bulky is also not good for speed in cycling so I’m not trying to get super buff so everything is just dumbbells and weight vest.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
  I have a barbell at home and ensure I get at least one workout including each of the "big 3" at least once a week. If I time it right and don't dally in between sets I'm done in less than 15 minutes. The "big 3" are the core strength workouts of bench press, squat and deadlift. These are the workouts recommended by Rippetoe in Starting Strength: https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs For me this usually translates to one day per week of "upper body" (bench, abs, whatever ancillary stuff like curls or skull crushers) and one day per week of "lower body" (squat, deadlift, ancillary stuff such as calves). Abs are worked in between on both days, usually with body weight exercises. This is enough to keep me in good shape. If I do the above 4 days per week instead of 2, it's enough to get me into great shape. All of the above can be done with a set of dumbbells going up to 20kg/50lb. You might substitute squats with lunges if you don't have access to a barbell.

xyzzy_plugh 5y ago

2-3 minutes sounds sublime. What sort of lifts are you doing? I only have free weights at home and have struggled to find a good routine that doesn't take too much time.

brightball 5y ago
FWIW, push-ups + rowing will give you a virtually full body workout plus cardio.
- stevesearer 5y ago
  The place I go is a structured workout with row, bike, versaclimber, and strength stuff (free weights, push-ups, core). Agree that row and push-ups would be a great combo.
- popotamonga 5y ago
  Proper form is also a problem. I went up to 1k pushups a day but started with shoulder pain. No matter you many youtube videos i watch i guess i would need a personal trainer to teach me.
  - koonsolo 5y ago
    Why would you want to end up with 1k pushups a day? That doesn't add strength but endurance. Try to work towards the 1 hand 1 leg pushup, or planche pushups. Way better and more efficient.
  - slazaro 5y ago
    That's an insane amount that will most likely destroy your shoulders if you don't do any pulling to compensate. It might not be the form, but the imbalance between push/pull.
emerged 5y ago
I do a power set of shrugs, curls, and one other I forget the name of. Then I put on a weighted vest and do a power set of ab roller, dips and decline push-ups. My cardio (cycling) includes a mix of sprints of various sorts so I don’t bother weight lifting for lower body. Getting too bulky is also not good for speed in cycling so I’m not trying to get super buff so everything is just dumbbells and weight vest.
SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
I have a barbell at home and ensure I get at least one workout including each of the "big 3" at least once a week. If I time it right and don't dally in between sets I'm done in less than 15 minutes. The "big 3" are the core strength workouts of bench press, squat and deadlift. These are the workouts recommended by Rippetoe in Starting Strength: https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs https://startingstrength.com/get-started/programs For me this usually translates to one day per week of "upper body" (bench, abs, whatever ancillary stuff like curls or skull crushers) and one day per week of "lower body" (squat, deadlift, ancillary stuff such as calves). Abs are worked in between on both days, usually with body weight exercises. This is enough to keep me in good shape. If I do the above 4 days per week instead of 2, it's enough to get me into great shape. All of the above can be done with a set of dumbbells going up to 20kg/50lb. You might substitute squats with lunges if you don't have access to a barbell.