Lifting throughout the day

sethbrezovsky
sethbrezovsky Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been reading about "Greasing the Groove" and I was curious if that could be beneficial to do with all weight lifting.
So, for example, every time I go in my basement, I do a set (or more) of bench press or whenever I go upstairs, I do a set of Lunges. Would that provide the same benefit as doing 30min or so of a non-stop workout? Any input is appreciation.

Replies

  • wmweeza
    wmweeza Posts: 319 Member
    I'd be curious about that too
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 631 Member
    I’m sure you’ll get a variety of responses. I think that you need to do whatever exercise routine that fits into your lifestyle and that you’ll enjoy and make a permanent part of your life. You will only regret the exercise you didn’t do.

    What do you mean by ‘same benefit’?
    The benefit you get from exercise varies and depending on your goals different types of exercise will be more or less beneficial. For example:
    - if your goal is for general health and wellness, then I’m pretty certain whether you do 10x6 or 60x1 of exercise, you’ll achieve similar benefits.
    - if your goal is for endurance ( like you want to run a marathon), then I’m pretty certain doing 10x6 will be less beneficial than 60x1

    If you are just talking about added extra movement into your day, then that is called NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that does not include sleeping, eating, or exercise; and ranges from simple things like standing and fidgeting to moving about.) There is a thread about ideas and strategies people use to add NEAT into their day. I do things like:
    - go downstairs before going upstairs ( essentially walk two sets of stairs when you only needed to do one to get what you needed)
    - Doing squats, lunges, jumping jacks, etc while waiting for the microwave or kettle
    - Standing on one foot while brushing my teeth

    I haven’t answered your question, but I hope you find my comments helpful. Take care
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Unlikely. The benefit of lifting doesn't just come from volume, volume at the correct intensity matters.
    Would you be lifting at an intensity that forces adaptation if you just walked up and did one set at random times totally cold with no building up to your working set weights?

    The comparison of course would have to be what you do in your 30 minute session. e.g. If you do bodyweight lunges spliting them throughout the day or doing them in a block won't hugely matter but if when you are bench pressing you start low and build up then it would be a very different stimulus doing one off sets at a comfortable weight.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,657 Member
    I’m going to say short bursts wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective as longer periods of exercise and might make you more prone to injury if you just suddenly start doing, say, lunges randomly during the day.

    I do yoga, Pilates and weight training. In all of them, there is a warm up period, be it stretching the area you specifically plan to work on, warming up your core, or doing lighter weights to “build up” to heavier ones.

    There’s no way I would attempt a split, an arm balance, a large weighted squat, a medium or max (for me) bench press, or a boomerang without being properly primed to do so.

    Injuries are to easy to come by and can bog you down for months. Why risk it?
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    I do exactly this at work (I am a high school teacher) when I know I am not going to have time to squeeze in my regular weight training session. I try to duck into the weight room and do one or two quick sets of the exercise shown below. Usually can manage about 8 sets and feel it hits the muscles intensely enough. Clearly this isn't all I ever do, as I love spending time in the gym, but it allows me to keep those muscles pumped and not lose progress when life gets hectic.

    I have 3 different workouts that I can do on these days, essentially
    1. chest pushups (I can do those anywhere, even in my office) intermixed with dumbbell bench press
    2. back - lots of chinups, pullups and occasionally dumbbell rows
    3. shoulder - dumbbell overhead press, upright row, lat raises

    I try to throw in squats into one of these workouts as well. Just body weight usually.

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