World's Most Efficient Workout - Workout 1

So, I said I was going to get my proverbial in order and try this workout on for size.

I went ahead and measured myself on Saturday in anticipation of a Monday start, and my starting weight and measurements are available in my Measurement Chart, which is quicklinked to the right. It is my plan to measure myself weekly to see if this workout stacks up to its claims:

In only 4 weeks, you'll create a lean physique that looks like the product of hours at the gym.

This measurement chart does some approximations based on the data provided to determine weight from fat and from lean tissue. It also calculates BMI. I'm not a fan of BMI, but it's a standard measure and one way to see if there are any changes to my body composition. I've also added two other body parts, biceps and thighs, that are not considered in the calculations.

Unfortunately I didn't do this workout on Monday, I slept in and focused on Aqua choreography instead.

Leading up to this Wednesday's workout I did a fair amount of other exercise:
- Sunday: 30km bike ride, aqua training
- Monday: taught Aqua Gold, taught Balance
- Tuesday: did a little in Circuit, taught Aqua Intense, did a Body Odyssey with Kirsty (Pump warmup, squats and chest and Balance warmup, sun salutations and standing strength, plus cool down)

Today I intended to run to the gym and do the workout and then run home (I really need to run!), but I got called into work for a short time, so drove over, did what had to be done, then did my workout and came home.

Here is what the workout is meant to be:

Workout One:
5 repetitions of each of the following four exercises in sequence with no rests for 10 minutes.
- Push ups
- Reverse Lunge and 1-Arm Press (5 per side)
- Inverted Row
- Prisioner Squat

The conclusion: TOO EASY

I did about 10 reps of this circuit in 10 minutes, working hard on good form, and got up a bit of a sweat and felt my quads quite a bit. But I could already feel my quads from the night before. Without the big exercise day from the day before I don't think I would have felt my legs half as much. My upper body only got an ok workout. Not exactly what I was expecting. The article does state that:

Instead of counting reps and sets, you'll focus on the total amount of work you can accomplish in a fixed amount of time. As you progress, you'll naturally increase your sets and reps, be able to use more weight, and perform exercises that are more challenging.

So in all likelihood, I probably wasn't trying hard enough or going fast enough.

I really wanted to do more than 5 reps of each exercise, and I dropped the bar lower on the inverted row about the second set to get more challenge out of that exercise. I would have gotten a better workout if I had done the pushups on my toes, but just wasn't able to do that yet. I did two toe pushups and my shoulder complained. My shoulder is nearly mended and I can do a wide grip knee pushup quite comfortably, but once on my toes I can really feel the shoulder twinge. Won't be long though, and it'll be fine!

Friday is the same workout but for 15 minutes. Then the next few sessions increase the intensity using 'explosive' moves and isometric moves. That will probably create a much more distinctive burn!

I will weigh and measure myself on Mondays to see if there are any changes.