Why Microworkouts are awesome and why you need to give them a try…
In the last couple of articles, we have been exploring the notion of getting started and the importance of getting stronger. There are a lot of excellent training programs and training strategies out there, but we want to focus on the one that we use (for different purposes—more on that later) and one that we think gets neglected in mainstream media.
What we’re talking about is taking our training and dividing it into smaller segments that you perform during the day. Pavel Tsatsouline (who introduced the kettlebell to the West) coined this strategy “Greasing the Groove.” The idea is that you choose an exercise and do it as often as possible during the day. The repetitions should be light, and you should avoid reaching failure. Choose e.g., a weight that you can complete 10 reps with and only do 5 but do 20 sets during the day. This way of training has shown to be highly effective and works well if you don’t have the time to go to the gym.
Both of us use a version of this strategy in our own training, and it can be implemented in many different forms, depending on your goals, equipment and daily routine. Here are some practical examples of how we implement this strategy in our own daily training.
Scott has really perfected the art of greasing the groove and has evolved this training strategy to a two-layered training foundation. The first layer of Scott’s training is his microworkouts, which he performs four times a day. A microworkout is typically a kettlebell swing paired with another movement (dips, push-ups etc.) and is done before a meal. One microworkout takes about two minutes and will therefore save you a lot of time since your weekly training has been cut down to 70 minutes in total. Scott (and his clients) have experienced great results following this protocol and we think that the sheer volume is the driving factor for the results. If we use Scott’s example, he swings his kettlebell 100 times daily—that’s 100 x 32kg which equates to swinging 3.200kg (7.055lb) every day. Those two-minute efforts really add up in the long run with a monthly total just shy of 100.000kg (220.462lb).
Scott pairs this training with a slow zone 2 run every other day and a focus exercise, which he wants to practice on the non-running days. These focus exercises follow the classic “Grease the Groove” structure.
Lennart follows a more “traditional” training split, but still utilises this method on a daily basis. He performs his normal routine but implements this strategy for movements that he wants to get better at. We’re currently working on our handstand, and this method works beautifully for that kind of skill development. Anyone who has ever learned to play an instrument knows that high frequency is the best way to learn—you’re better at practising 10 minutes a day than 2 hours every 7th day, and the same goes with every other skill. So, some days Lennart will perform a handstand every hour, and on other days he will perform a pull-up every time he walks by the pull-up bar.
The key takeaway is that you don’t need to spend two hours at the gym to get fitter and stronger—there’re so many other options, and this is one of our favourites approaches, which we believe is really neglected and really needs to get reintroduced into the mainstream.
We hope this serves as inspiration in these lockdown times.
Until next time
Scott and Lennart