Trigger workouts: The intermittent Workout Method

Trigger workouts: The intermittent workout method that could transform the way you exercise. 

Whether you’re short on time or want to try something new, “trigger workouts” might be just what you’re looking for.   

We have a workout experiment for you. 

It’s simple. It’s effective. And it’s tailor-made for anyone that has a tough time getting in all of the workouts and/or exercises they wanna do throughout the week. Or for people who work from home, as well as those with the ability to take several breaks throughout the day.   

If that’s your situation right now, there may be no better time to try these workouts. 

We call them ‘trigger workouts.’ But they’re also known as ‘intermittent workouts’, micro-workouts, and mini-workouts. 

Be sure to Give these workouts a shot, and they might help you: 

•Move more frequently throughout your day for better overall health 

•Make working out seem “easier” while improving your fitness 

•Do lots of exercise—without needing an hour of uninterrupted time 

•Take short work breaks that invigorate your mind 

•Have fun trying out a new approach to exercise 

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Most well-rounded workouts last about an hour and total around 100 to 200 reps at most. 

Okay, that might not be what most people do on their own. But as the exercise program director and Co Owner here at HIT Fitness Warehouse, it’s how I design workouts for our clients. 

In one of these workouts, you’ll do about 25-50 total reps of primary exercises—movement like squats, deadlifts, pullups, and presses. 

Whether it be 3 sets of 10 reps, 4x8, or the ole reliable “5×5” template (or any variation in that range). 

After this, you might do some accessory work: core exercises, lunges, or some isolation work for your arms or hamstrings. 

These are typically lighter movements done to provide more total work. 

Overall, you’re looking at a total training volume of about a Hundred Reps or so for any single workout That’s usually wrapped up in about an hour. 

But what happens after this hour of hard work?  

Chances are, you go sit in your chairs at your desks for the rest of your day. 

Chairs? As in plural? 

Well, yes. 

There’s probably the chair where you do your work and the chair where you eat your meals. Your chill chair in front of your TV. 

And those of you commuting to work in have another chair you sit in. 

Modern workers can spend as much as 15 hours per day in a chair and This takes a toll on our bodies and our minds. 

Some research has shown that even an hour of intense exercise isn’t enough to counteract all the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. 

So What would happen if we at HIT FIT reversed this? 

What if we spent most of the day physically moving, with only an hour or two of stillness in the middle? 

What if we moved continuously and did thousands of reps of movement over the entire day? 

This may sound ludicrous, but think of people who do manual labor for a living. 

Construction workers, furniture movers, military personnel and agricultural workers regularly see long days of almost continuous movement. Professional and Olympic athletes may spend much of their day training. 

Our bodies can handle an incredible volume of work. 

We, Team HFW know first hand. 

Just the beginning of this year, We found ourselves filming every movement and pose in the HIT FIT ON-Demand workouts several times! 23 total workouts with each workout averaging 20 different exercises per workout. Each exercise averaging 30-50 reps.   

This worked out to around 600-1,000 repetitions per day with the majority on the high side most days. Coach CAROLINA, Craig, Zuzana, my brother Craig Kohan and myself. 

Check it out here!! ==>> HIT FIT ON-Demand Virtual Workouts 

Our bodies went through quite a transformation in a short amount of time. We all gained muscle (especially Zuzana) and got leaner, and all of our ‘work capacity’ was through the roof. 

The obvious conclusion: If you’re serious about getting in shape, you should quit your job and spend 10 hours per day working out. 

I’m kidding, of course. 

But…Let’s take a closer look at these. 

Why reversing the formula works 

Physical activity produces a lot of changes in the body, even after a relatively short time. 

Muscles contract, circulation increases, nutrients are shuttled into cells, and energy expenditure climbs. The body’s management of insulin improves, and we also see changes in hormonal function and energy metabolism. 

The benefits don’t stop at your muscles. 

Our brains also change in response to movement. Physical activity, ranging from traditional gym exercise to simple walking, can improve mood and cognitive function, and helps reduce the effects of aging on the brain. 

The vastly underrated benefit of intermittent workouts 

Have you ever heard the term ‘greasing the groove.’ 

Greasing the groove was used by Pavel Tsatsouline, and is as much about motor learning and skill acquisition as it is about stress responses and physiological adaptations. It’s a way to strengthen a motor pattern by practicing it more frequently. 

You practice a strength skill such as a kettlebell swing or a pushup in regular intervals spaced throughout the day. 

An important piece of this is that you’re not trying to beat yourself up. You’re deliberately staying relaxed and not training to failure. 

You simply mix in sets of technically crisp, high-quality reps throughout your day. 

It’s a fantastic way to improve your skill in strength movements. 

My brother used a similar technique in the special operations community. 

When he retired and came back we began applying this in our training. 

Anywhere from every 10 minutes to every hour, we’d knock out a few easy sets of pushups. We’d slowly build up how many we could do in a set while still making it feel relaxed and easy. 

Over time, our capacity for pushups became remarkably high. 

This became a regular feature throughout our day, but often in pull ups and push ups. 

It was simple… Every time I went to the bathroom I performed 10 push-ups and five strict pull-ups. And this can be done with absolutely any exercise.   

How to build your own intermittent workouts 

We call this idea of doing a set or three of an exercise every time you walk past a certain object or are reminded by a timer “trigger workouts.” (It’s way easier to say than “intermittent.”) 

Trigger workouts are also a sneaky way to get in a lot of exercise on days when you otherwise wouldn’t have time for a full workout. 

Here’s what you do. 

Step 1: Establish your trigger. 

This can be anything from a timer to an object in your house. 

Lately, I’ve been putting a kettlebell on my floor near the stairs. I run into it whenever I’m either going to the kitchen or the bathroom. 

Every time I walk by it I do a few sets of swings, snatches, or ab movements. 

In the past I’ve had gymnast rings or TRX in my garage and would do a few sets of pullups every hour when a timer went off. 

Whatever you choose, make it somewhat frequent. 

Ideally, you’ll be moving around about once per hour. 

If you’re working from home (like millions of others right now), this gives you enough time to do focused work, while still keeping your body from fusing with your chair. 

It also gives you a brief, regular break from the mental demands of work. 

Step 2: Pick an exercise. 

Generally, choose a movement that works a lot of big muscle groups (sorry bros, not a good place for curls) and that can be done safely without a warmup. Read: It’s not the best time to test your personal best deadlift. 

Consider exercises like: 

•Kettlebell swings or snatches (only if you’ve been well-trained in the technique) 

•Goblet squats 

•Bodyweight squats 

•Lunge variations 

•Pushups 

•Dumbbell rows 

•Ring rows 

•Pullups 

•Overhead presses (if your shoulders do well with them) 

•Band movements like pull-aparts or no-moneys 

•Ab movements like roll-outs or planks 

You can also mix in some favorite stretches or mobility drills. 

Come up with a handful of movements, and try to get about an equal mix of upper and lower body movements. 

For the sake of your shoulders, it’s often helpful to do about twice as many reps of pulling movements—such as rows and pull-aparts—as you do pushing movements like pushups and presses. 

Step 3: Decide how many reps and sets to do. 

The specific number here isn’t critical. 

You’re just trying to make physical work feel easy. Stay at a level where you don’t feel a significant “burn,” and you’re nowhere near failure. 

As a general rule, it’s better to do multiple sets of lower reps than one long set of a bunch of reps. For most exercises, try starting with 5 reps at a time. 

➡️ An example trigger workout day: 

8 am:   5 pushups, 5 dead bugs (per side), repeated for 4 total rounds 

9 am:   5 goblet squats, 10 kettlebell swings, 5 lunges (per side) 

10:30 am:   10 band pull-aparts, 5 pushups, repeated for 3 total rounds 

11:30 am:   5 goblet squats, 5 dumbbell rows (per side), repeated for 4 total rounds 

1:00 pm:   5 ab wheel roll-outs, 5 banded no-moneys, 5 pull-aparts, repeated for 3 total rounds 

2:30 pm:   10-second side plank (per side), 5 dumbbell lunges (per side), repeated for 2 total rounds 

3:30 pm:   5 dumbbell rows (per side), 5 single-leg dumbbell deadlifts (per side), repeated for 3 total rounds 

5:00 pm:   5 dumbbell overhead presses (per side), 10 band pull-aparts, repeated for 2 total rounds 

Total repetitions: 359 

Of course, you can also just pick one or two exercises, or a single circuit, and repeat that over the course of the day. 

You don’t have to give up other types of exercise altogether. 

In fact, don’t. 

Where possible, use trigger workouts with some conventional training, and go play outside. 

This training method works best when it’s done in combination with the type of maximal strength training and periodic high-intensity work that’s done in a gym (even if that’s your home gym). At least over the long term. 

It’s also best when balanced with dynamic, open-ended, and enjoyable activities outdoors. The kind that put you in situations that require more movement variability. 

So once in a while (or as often as you can), go for a real hike. 

We hear that’s pretty good for you, too. 

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