Hacker News Reader

Comment by itake | Hacker News Reader

Certainly this is better than nothing, but do 7-minute workouts actually have an large impact?

I don't know about 7 mins, but personally I have been doing the 5BX [0] (11 mins) plan since the gyms closed here in Germany. Done it nearly every day for about 80 days. Definitely works, I am currently holding above A+ on chart 4. I tried moving up to chart 5, but for me doing >30 clapping pushups in 1 minute seems fairly difficult (got 18 last I tried) even though I can do about 50 wide pushups for chart 4.

I can feel my cardiovascular fitness is far better than before I started, I lost a fair amount of body fat too. I was fairly fit before though. This scheme, as well as supplementary pullups on a doorway bar seem to give me at least some amount of decent exercise. Can't wait for the pools to open up again though, I love swimming.

[0] - https://campbellmgold.co.uk/archive_health/5bx_cmg.pdf

Do I start at Chart 1 Level D- even if I am not a complete slob? Even worse do I stay at each level for 4 days (35yo)?

I mean the first exercise is bending forward 2(!!!) times in 2 minutes.

When I was starting out I just did as many reps as comfortable in the prescribed time period and then matched the level by the fewest reps completed in any exercise. e.g. I started at A+ for chart 1 for 2 consecutive days, then A+ chart 2 for 3 days, then progressed upwards from chart3 D- as I only did 20 reps of ex. 1.

I failed chart 5, 2 days in a row 30 days ago and have only been doing chart 4 since then, but I exceed the A+ requirements (this morning: 32,24,50,45,450). Tomorrow will try chart 5 again.

thanks for that. good luck on chart 5

Definitely going to check this out. Thanks for sharing!

We were skeptical too. We've run 3 sets of beta tests so far, and the results we are seeing are bonkers. Our users who show up and do the workouts every day or every other day are reporting gains of 20% in their strength after Month #1 (the workouts include assessment tests). Month #2 they report gains again. By month #6, one user reported he has reached his ideal bodyweight and is in the best shape of his life. I've been a personal trainer for over a decade and prescribing 7-minute workouts goes against everything you're taught re: the "science." I think it's the combination of behavioral science with the actual workouts themselves. Text-based health interventions have legit science backing them as effective. The rest is discussed in the book Atomic Habits. I think there is a compounding effect on our bodies re the daily 7-min workouts that has not yet been studied. I'm trying to partner with a research lab to learn more!

I think of it like, 7 minutes per day is 49 minutes of sports a week. And a steady, long-term effort has greater effect on the body than bursty, short-term efforts.

Although personally I aim for 15-30 minutes a day if I can only do minor workouts or 1-2h every other day if possible.

It depends on where you start. Exercise and training follow a very basic dose/response relationship where the higher you start, the more you need to progress. If you are a couch potato, 7 minutes a day will give you a lot of progress... until it doesn't. For example my starting point would be training four times a week and squatting 500lbs, so it probably wouldn't do much for me.

I wouldn't replace my current exercise routine with it because it wouldn't be enough to even match the 2018 physical activity guidelines for Americans [1]:

* 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, OR;

* 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, AND;

* Resistance training of moderate or greater intensity involving all major muscle groups on 2 or more days per week.

[1]: https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Acti...

I challenge you to try our ab workouts for 30 days ;) You would be surprised. We start with a basic fitness assessment to measure your upper body and core strength. Unless you are already starting out in the 90th percentile, you will most likely experience a 20% gain in ab strength after 30 days if you do the workouts every day. This is what the data is telling us after a year of tracking users and their results.

I'm sure it's very nice, but what I said is that I would do that in addition to my training instead of replacement! If my abs can stabilise my trunk for a 500lbs squat or a 600lbs deadlift, they're strong enough for me :)

Depends on the intensity. 7 minutes of push ups is a lot of push ups, for instance.

Plus the convenience probably helps to get people over the initial hump and used to a daily workout, and they can expand from there

We have a workout called the "Roxanne" where we do a burpee every time Sting sings "Roxanne..." Turns out 4 minutes of burpees is a lot of burpees too!

And yes what we are hearing from folks is "I can't say I am too busy for a 7-min workout.." so that kinda gets them activated. From there we are hearing that people "tend" to make healthier decisions for the rest of their day. "After doing our workout my wife and I decided to go play tennis..." or, "since I already had my running shoes on, I decided to go for a jog." stuff like that. Users describe it as a "springboard" to healthier decisions.

Yes, they do. This article about the science behind 7 minute workouts (it's about intensity, not duration) generated a lot of interest: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-m...

This is good to know! The researchers we're in touch with say there needs to be more evidence and longitudinal studies until the science behind 7-min workouts is certain. The habit-formation strategies -- and the effect of things like text-based health interventions -- have been fairly well researched though! Some of the best research labs in the world, like UCSF, are actively studying text-based cues and coaching today.

Yes, I've been doing it for the past few months (not even daily) and feel the benefits. I have 2 young kids, so don't always have time for bigger workouts. You reach a plateau eventually, but it's a nice place to be.

we'll send you some dumbbells and get you out of your plateau! emailing you today. - jenn

Reply on news.ycombinator.com