Bodybuilding; So You Got Yourself An Interval Timer...
Bodybuilding; So You Got Yourself An Interval Timer...

Sunday • April 28th 2024 • 12:52:14 am

Bodybuilding; So You Got Yourself An Interval Timer...

Sunday • April 28th 2024 • 12:52:14 am

The idea of Sets & Reps is a myth, one that leads to a near instant plateau.

It may just be, that it is the slowest, or least effective way, to build muscle.


The fastest way to do it, is to eat protein and use your power of endurance.

Endurance is tough beans, it requires that you are always gently pushing.


Pushing yourself is discomfort, and discomfort is distraction.

If you are distracted during your workout, you will ruin it, you won’t lift hard enough.


Even checking your watch, if you can lift some more or should start resting, is bad.

A focused workout, feels like a 20 minute rinky dink, and you mozy on home.

A distracted workout, feels like 28 days of hard labour.

And the son of a gun here, is that…

If you never had a fun distraction free workout, you won’t even know such a thing exists.


Above all, a workout must be simple, jogging is a beautiful example.

You just use your feet, no mess here.

As a body builder, just lift dumbbells, keep it simple, don’t distract yourself.

You have to work out for two to four hours, five to seven days a week.

Your workout, better flow, or it will feel awful.


Dumbbells in your hands means, you are free to move your entire body.

A magnificent bonus, that you must take advantage off.

You may jog, twist, turn, jump, or just dance, this way and that way.


With a nice simple full body workout, you start stacking your tools, to make things easier.

Above all music, and slow enough, so that you can hit every beat.

Synchronizing with the beat of a song, will put you in a dance trance.

Which means your long workout, will feel like it is 15 minutes long.

But you must pick songs, that are compatible with your motion.

If you are just starting out, I recommend giving Kenji Kawai’s Ghost In The Shell a try.

As it has very slow drums, and is very beautiful.


Eventually, you have to speed up your music, search the internet for for Tap Bpm.

To tap out how many bpms your songs have, for example Mr. Kawai’s song has 25 BPM or so.

And then arrange your playlist, to become faster and faster approaching 170 BPM.

Which translates to 85 lifts per-minute, as it is usually one beat up, and one beat down.


And finally, we get to the interval timer.

Because, your focus on the beats of the drum, may not be interrupted, until you can rest.

You may not look at your watch, or the wall clock.

That is why the interval timer, has a vibrate function.

That tells you when to start lifting, and when to stop.


For those of you thinking smartphone, it won’t work.

The vibration will be too faint, and your phone will corrode from sweat.

You will need to replace your timer as well, but $20 is a lot less than $500.

And besides, a smartphone is a distraction, you must eliminate them all.


A good interval timer, has a much more pronounced vibration.

Which is the reason, for the AA battery.

After all you are, jumping and dancing around.


For those of you, who are still unsure what an interval timer is.

It is just two countdown timers, that repeat a preset number of times, called rounds.

The first timer is used for your lifting or dancing duration, and the second timer counts down your rest period.


And each week you must slightly extend your workout, slightly shorten your rest duration.

And every once in a while add more rounds, so that your workout fulls up the two, three, or four hours.


The interval timer, forces your body to adapt, with barely perceivable mathematical precision.

All you need to do is adjust the timer, at the speed that your body is adapting.

And your workouts, will feel short and easy.


Lastly, if your mind does wander, learn programming or something similar.

I usually, think about my programming TODO, just to discover that I fell back into the dance trance.

And once you close all the rest gaps, you can just put the timer away, and focus on your music.


As your endurance develops, so will your body.

Artwork Credit