I love a timed workout

Training against the clock

When I first started training with weights as a young teen, I followed a strict workout structure defined in one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s books (this was 1983-4). The odd thing was, I would always train against the clock. I don’t know where that idea came from, but I liked it a lot – it felt urgent. I do remember reading somewhere that there was an honesty in keeping time as a static variable: if you keep increasing your rest periods significantly, you’ll do more reps and lift more weight, but are you getting stronger, or just resting longer?

Losing the habit

In university and commercial gyms, I soon lost this habit; no-one else was doing it, and it was hard to manage when you were sharing a bit of kit. As time went on, I got really into strength-focussed lifting: heavy deadlifts and squats, weighted dips and chins, brutal barbell overhead presses – the idea of restricting rest periods was completely anathema to all of this. We could spend over an hour doing nine or ten sets! This approach works for strength: I can back up the research on that with personal testimony! But in the back of my mind, I knew that I didn’t like these long rest periods, and in my early 40s I started to pick up the pace again, just a little.

Why I went back to the timer

When, at age 43, I started bodyweight workouts at home and in the park, in my studies I picked up the idea of timed sets, timed rest periods and rolling timers, and I have never looked back. I know how long my workout will take, to the minute. I know it will challenge my cardiovascular system as well as developing strength, because I will be starting the next movement before I have fully recovered from the last. I know that when I make an improvement, it is an improvement in strength/ fitness, because the time is a fixed variable.

Finding the timer that suits you

I know some trainees really gel with this same approach: they want the strict timer and will go again on the beep. Others prefer a looser approach: looking at the clock to know when it’s time to go again, but not using a round timer with its bells and beeps. Others like the approach of, I have x amount of time; how many sets can I work through before I have to get back?

I will always use time as a controlled variable in my workouts, and it will always be a part of the workouts I offer. It definitely won’t make you the biggest or the strongest, but you will get stronger and fitter AND you will be in control of your precious, precious time.