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I tried the 7-minute workout for a month — here's what happened
The 7-minute workout is a science-backed circuit routine that uses only body weight. The high-intensity interval-training program was designed by two exercise scientists, Chris Jordan and Bret Klika, to be the most efficient workout. Our video producer, Kevin Reilly, spent 30 days using the 7-minute workout as his exercise. Following is a transcript of the video.
I did this five or six days a week, every morning. I would wake up, pretty much just grab my workout clothes, throw the video on my television, and go right to it.
It’s 12 exercises, where you are doing one exercise for 30 seconds on and then you take 10 seconds rest. And then you do two or three sets of that or two or three rounds. It’s called a high-intensity interval-training workout.
One of the biggest benefits I found from this was how I felt throughout the day. It was like a mental boost as well as a physical boost. The days that I worked out and when I started getting into this, I just felt better.
When I normally work out, I like to work out at night or after work, and that’s mainly because I’m lazy in the morning. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to put on my clothes and go all the way to the gym and then come all the way back. However, for this, you know, when I would get up and walk to my living room, turn on the TV, and just press play, it’s right there.
Physically there wasn’t a whole lot of changes that I really felt. Over the course of 30 days I only dropped a couple of pounds. So it wasn’t like I found some incredible workout that was going to make me look like a cover model by any chance.
First week or so, I only did one circuit. That was too way easy. So I upped that to two sets during the second week. And I left it at about that. A few days here in there if I was feeling really good I would go for three rounds. The work out did make me sweat. When I was just doing one round, it wasn’t that bad. But you get into two and three rounds, I was breathing heavy and sweating. And it was not always a pleasant sight.
I don’t think I would continue doing the 7-minute workout just as my sole workout. Maybe I would mix it in. The great things about it: Days I didn’t want to go to the gym, it was fantastic. I could just throw that on and go for it and then 20 minutes later I’m done, finished, and I can jump in the shower. The other thing is if you are traveling on the road, this is great. This just allows to go right into it and workout wherever you are.
Just because it was body weight with no additional things except for a chair, there was no real pulling exercises. So I don’t feel like I did anything with my biceps or my back. There was no moment where I could sit there and say I just need a few extra seconds here. I need some more breaths or what not. It was go right into it. And I took the exercises as they were set by the program itself. So for me, I don’t have great knees and the lunges were kind of hard to do sometimes and I really hated that part of it.
And I didn’t change my diet, either. And I definitely took some liberties with it. Which I would normally do. I was still going out and eating good food and having a couple drinks here and there.
But one thing I can tell you is that I got to pull out a tux at the end of it that I hadn’t worn in a couple of years and I think I look damn good in it. Whether it was the 30-day challenge and the 7-minute workout, I don’t know. But I’ll take it.
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