Starting at 720 am my 7-minute workout app started nagging me about working out. My muscles were slightly sore from yesterday so I paid more attention to pacing myself in this workout. Over exuberance can lead to “bad” muscle soreness that requires taking a couple days off to recover. I did not want that. Everything was good so I followed it up with a 1.2 mile run. Yesterday I had an “easy” day and today I had a “hard” day.  Tomorrow I plan to follow up with a moderate or easy day. I will have to see how I feel when I wake up.

I was reading the Lifehacker article, Get the Scientific 7-Minute Workout on Any Device with This Web App, when I realized that I was already doing part of the 7-minute workout everyday. A couple of years ago I started back running to lose some weight. Running has always been the fastest way for me to lose fat. The trick was how to ramp up the mileage and avoid injuries. Although I am ambivalent about the benefits of stretching, I am mildly enthusiastic about calisthenics. One of the benefits of calisthenics is that it allowed me to warm up my muscles and work on my ankle and hip flexibility. It is amazing how my range of motion had contracted over the years. I started off with toe touches and jumping jacks before adding the pushups and stomach crunches. Gradually it became the mainstay of my exercise program since it only took three minutes. It was hard for me to convince myself that I did not have three minutes available. Now I do not feel guilty when I take off days from running. Although the Lifehacker article was talking about a new phone app and website, I found that there were several 7-minute Workout apps with good reviews over at Google Play. I ended up choosing the 7 Minute Workout. This morning I tried the app out and was breathing hard half way through the program. One of the benefits of the program is that some of the new exercises work muscles that I do not use regularly. I will give it another shot tomorrow to see if the 7-minute workout is a keeper but I doubt I will have trouble talking myself into a 7-minute workout.