Zombies and Tabata

Zombies and Tabata

Here’s a great new workout that I have discovered.  In my current fitness routine I ride the bike twice a week. Here in New England you can’t ride outside for most of the year because it is cold, yucky and dangerous.  I’m relegated to the stationary bike in the gym or to the trainer on my porch.

Yes, I have a fluid trainer on my porch and have mounted an old Raleigh Grand Prix from the mid-seventies on it.  I got the bike for free and it works just fine on the trainer.  It’s got those old style rugged tires from 40 years ago that aren’t going to wear down on the roller and if they do, who cares? It was free!  The fit is a little off but I can adjust it to be close enough to get a workout in and I don’t have to keep swapping my Fuji in and out.

Anyone who has ridden a trainer knows that it is awful.  It’s boring.  It’s uncomfortable. It is a form of exercise close to fiendish torture.  But it is good exercise.

I have a workout that I do that is a form of Tabata.  This means generally that you have brief intense efforts in the workout.

First I warm up for 10 minutes.  Then I set my timer for 20 second intervals with 45 second rest.  When the beep goes off I go as hard as I can for 20 seconds, recover for 45 seconds, etc. I do this 10 times then warm down.

The whole workout takes around 45 minutes.

As luck would have it an episode of The Walking Dead on Netflix is about 45 minutes long.

I set up my laptop on a tall barstool in front of the bike.  I plug in a set of noise-canceling headphones.  I kick off my workout and hit play.

The Walking Dead is an intense show.  I have a lot of trouble sitting down and watching it.  It makes me jumpy.  By watching the episodes while doing this workout I can put that jumpiness into the workout and kill two undead birds with one pointy gore-covered stone.

It’s a win-win and it’s a great workout.

I would venture to say that you could do this workout or a similar workout with whatever your favorite Netflix show is. Why not?  If you’ve got to watch TV why not get some exercise out of it?