Over 35 years of martial arts, sports, and fitness activities, I’ve done a lot of workouts. And while there are plenty of more elite athletes and coaches out there, I think I know a good workout when I see it. I also know that most of us aren’t trying to become elite athletes, nor is that even realistic for our lives. We just want to get in good shape with the time we have. Usually that means finding a sport or activity or gym class that we like, and doing it as much as we can. But sometimes we just can’t get there. Or there’s a gap in our training we’re looking to fill. But we don’t have an extra hour in our day - plus commuting, changing, cleaning up, etc - to give. Enter the Shortest Bestest Workout I’ve Ever Done. Are you ready for it? It’s pretty wild, here it goes: 100 Squats. That’s it, that’s the workout. You do 100 bodyweight squats as fast as you can. There is something magical about this workout. I first did it in JFK Airport, on a long layover when coming back from a trip to Japan. I had gotten off a 12 hour flight, and I was tired, but more that that, I felt stiff, achy, and just all around bad. I’m not a work-out-aholic, but I needed to move my body. I thought, “100 squats sounds good!” and proceed to crank (or maybe creak?) them out at gate 35. The next day, I don’t know if my legs had ever been that sore. But something clicked for me, and I thought, “I’m going to keep this going.” So I did 100 squats a day, every day. And for the period I kept that up, I’ve rarely felt in better shape. I was doing standard workouts and classes as well, but I noticed that my gas tank, and my recovery, was way better than normal. And I think it’s because my legs just had so much more endurance. The workout also gets your heart and lungs going. A more knowledgeable coach could tell you why exactly, but I can certainly tell you that it works. Why is this workout so good? Let me count the ways: 2) It’s simple. You do 100 bodyweight squats as fast as you can. 3) You can do it every day. In fact it’s most effective when you do it every day, although you’ll be pretty sore to start off! 4) You don’t need equipment or space. You can do it in your living room, your bedroom, or a cubicle. You could do it in a bathroom stall at work if you have to! You also don’t need to put on all your gym clothes. If you can squat, you can do this workout. 5) It only takes 5 minutes. Granted, that’s once you get pretty good at the workout. But even at 10 minutes, it’s efficient and effective. The first 20 squats can even be the warm up, so just get to it! 6) You can do it on its own, or as a finisher. Got 10 minutes before you need to get ready for work? 100 squats. Just finished an upper body workout? 100 squats. Feeling lethargic because you haven’t done anything all day? 100 squats. How to do this workout: Another awesome thing about 100 Squats is that it’s infinitely variable. Usually I did them in one fell swoop, but sometimes I broke them up into sets with weights, or if I did a squat workout with a total of 50 reps of barbell squats, I’d finish with 50 bodyweight squats all in a row. For most people, bodyweight is all you need, especially if you’re pushing to get through them as fast as possible. Some of you will just find it too easy - I have a coach that can probably fall asleep doing bodyweight squats - in which case you can add a dumbbell to make it goblet squats. And if you just aren’t there yet, then set a timer for 5 minutes, and do as many squats as you can in that time. Your numbers will go up fast. Well, you’ve spent longer reading about 100 Squats than it would take you to do them! Why don’t you stand up now and try it?
1) Anyone can do it. Ok, ALMOST anyone. If you can squat, you can do this workout. Some people can’t squat due to injuries, mobility issues, or maybe even missing limbs. But you can take the concept of this workout and apply it to an exercise that does work for you.
