Working out just got easier. 5 X’s easier. This is an “easy” workout that gets results. Even if you’re busy you have enough time for this workout; even if you’ve never worked out before you can still do this workout; even if you’re experienced this workout can improve your fitness. Given all that, don’t you want to know what this workout entails?
Fitting that May is approaching. And being that May is the 5th Month of the year it seems the appropriate time to roll out one of my greatest fitness creations (Yes from time to time I can be great). This is a workout I created by accident. I misread a chapter in a book by a guy named Pavel. He’s a Russian kettlebell master who can do splits. He seems like a good guy and that just goes to prove my long held theory that not all Russians are evil.
Russians who ARE in fact evil: Ivan Drago, Joseph Stalin, Rasputin, Yakov Smirnov, Putin.
I thought Pavel wrote ‘Do 5 sets with 5 reps of 5 exercises 5 days a week for 5 weeks.’
Never mind what he actually wrote. I went back, found the page, and apparently my reading comprehension sucks.
The Easy workout that gets results
So somehow I read 5x5x5x5x5. 5 exercise, 5 sets, 5 reps, 5 days a week, 5 weeks. In summary That’s the workout. So that’s what I did. Here are some additional rules:
- You can do this as your main course workout, or on your days in between your tougher workouts. i.e. if you’re working with your trainer Monday and Thursday you can throw this one in on Tues, Weds, Fri. You got your 5 days.
- It is a good maintenance workout; or a good beginners workout. If you’re reasonably fit you’ll get strong/stay strong, but it’s important to realize you’re not gonna drop 30 lbs or bulk up. It’s about getting something done, and getting it done quickly. With this in mind you can temper expectations
- It’s supposed to be, in a word, easy. The ask of the 5 is so low that even when it’s 10 pm Friday night, and your wife/husband is screaming at you, and your kids are going nuts, you can still get it done. Basically, it’s so quick you can’t skip it.
- You’re performing 25 reps, and again, the point of this workout is convenience. If you want to do all 25 in one set then be my guest. You’ll save time and add in a cardio aspect.
- When programming your 5 you want to consider equipment you have access to during the week. If one of the 5 is a chin up you’re committing to installing a chin up bar in home or in the office.
- It doesn’t have to be 5 consecutive days.
- When programming your 5 you want to include all of the functional movements, of which there are 7.
I thought this was simple
What’s that? Smoke coming from your ears? Don’t worry. We can combine some of the 7 movements, The 7 moves are:
- -Push
- -Pull
- -Squat
- -Hinge
- -Lunge
- -Rotate
- -Gait
- -Dasher
- -Dancer
- -Prancer
Hey! That was 10! And three of them are flying reindeer. You’re not wrong. I’m making sure you’re not falling asleep and in like fashion creating your own amazing workout by accident. That happens I’m out of a job.
Where were we? Combining foundational movements. Yes. To clarify- Gait is walking. Chances are you’ll do that somewhere else in your day. So we’ll just chop that one for time, unless you want to do some farmer carries as one of your 5. Farmer Carries are suitably evil. And, for the most part, rotation can be added to almost any of the other 5. Do a pushup with rotation, or a rotating step back lunge.
To demonstrate I’ll do a sample 5 piece for you right now. You can do this at home in your living room with minimal equipment. Ready?
- Push- Push Up
- Pull- Band Row
- Hinge- Single leg dead lift
- Squat- I’m gonna go with Air squats here.
- Lunge- Step back lunge (with rotation)
Walk to the gym or get your 10k steps and BOOM. We’re home. You wanna break a sweat? Do it without stopping. Just crank it straight through. You won’t die.
Quick aside… My teammates and I used to say things like ‘I was doing great and then Died in the 4th mile.’ Then I was at a road race and a guy actually did die in the 4th mile. So for that reason I stopped saying that phrase until I wrote the above. Moreover, I’m keeping it in so I can share the anecdote. Besides, the dead guy made it. The woman running next to him was a nurse. Lucky SOB.
Back to the lecture at hand. Although it seems to simple to work, it is very effective. In fact, once upon a time yours truly did the 5 exclusively for 5 weeks. I lost 2 lbs (from a lean frame) and gained a bit of muscle. I told you this was an easy workout that gets results. Read all about my experience HERE. Complete with semi-nude pictures.
Research shows that exercise snacks, quick bursts of physical activity, benefit the body, the mind, and the spirit. This workout is a little bit more than a snack (think 1 set of 50 jumping jacks), but also packs more benefit.
To conclude, it seems to good to be true. There are so many people out there hawking an easy workout that get results. This seems too simple. At any rate Simple works with fitness. Repetition works. Showing up 5 days a week works. This will work. But…
Will you do the work?