Martin Rooney 3 minute test

[jrmeatplow]

Has anyone here used the Martin Rooney 3 minute test as an actual workout? I was watching the RDP guy and he said that doing the Rooney 3 minute test made for really great micro-workouts. I'd never seen them before, but I think they may really fit into my schedule really good. 

Here he is doing dips

[pierinifitness]

Never heard of Martin Rooney or his 3-minute test but after viewing the video and doing a search, I get it.  I've never done a 3-minute test but have done various timed tests such as burpees in one minute and trying to complete 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes.  What I've learned is that for best total rep results, it's important to avoid hypertrophy as best as possible. If I were going to do the 3-minute test with bar dips, for example, I'd wouldn't max out on the first round before taking a pause, I'd probably go 50 percent of max, drop for a very short while and then get back at it.  I learned this trying to do 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes and eventually settled in on 3 rep rounds that got the job done for me.  When I was doing 5 rep rounds, hypertrophy kicked in during the later rounds and I was slowed down by it.

The guy has nice bar dip depth in his first set.  Thanks for sharing.

[jrmeatplow]

Jul 15, 2020 14:59:16 GMT pierinifitness said:

Never heard of Martin Rooney or his 3-minute test but after viewing the video and doing a search, I get it.  I've never done a 3-minute test but have done various timed tests such as burpees in one minute and trying to complete 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes.  What I've learned is that for best total rep results, it's important to avoid hypertrophy as best as possible. If I were going to do the 3-minute test with bar dips, for example, I'd wouldn't max out on the first round before taking a pause, I'd probably go 50 percent of max, drop for a very short while and then get back at it.  I learned this trying to do 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes and eventually settled in on 3 rep rounds that got the job done for me.  When I was doing 5 rep rounds, hypertrophy kicked in during the later rounds and I was slowed down by it.

The guy has nice bar dip depth in his first set.  Thanks for sharing.

PF,

I was sort of thinking of it as a slightly longer rest pause set with the intent of building muscle rather than a test per say. One can be progressive with the weight once a certain rep count is attained.

[pierinifitness]

Jul 16, 2020 13:00:09 GMT jrmeatplow said:

Jul 15, 2020 14:59:16 GMT pierinifitness said:

Never heard of Martin Rooney or his 3-minute test but after viewing the video and doing a search, I get it.  I've never done a 3-minute test but have done various timed tests such as burpees in one minute and trying to complete 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes.  What I've learned is that for best total rep results, it's important to avoid hypertrophy as best as possible. If I were going to do the 3-minute test with bar dips, for example, I'd wouldn't max out on the first round before taking a pause, I'd probably go 50 percent of max, drop for a very short while and then get back at it.  I learned this trying to do 100 pull-ups in 20 minutes and eventually settled in on 3 rep rounds that got the job done for me.  When I was doing 5 rep rounds, hypertrophy kicked in during the later rounds and I was slowed down by it.

The guy has nice bar dip depth in his first set.  Thanks for sharing.

PF,

I was sort of thinking of it as a slightly longer rest pause set with the intent of building muscle rather than a test per say. One can be progressive with the weight once a certain rep count is attained.

Got it, that would work.  I generally favor longer times when doing something like this.  One workout that I've taken a liking to is double OHP with a pair of heavier KB, doing doubles for a fixed time interval and using a 30 minute time limit, picking a weight where I have to work my ass off to complete, say 50 reps.  Bryce Lane had a workout suggesting a 20 minute time limit picking a weight where you had to work to complete 50 reps in that time period.  Tough stuff strength endurance training.  It's all good; we just got to show up and do it!

I may take the 3-minute test with bar dips and see how I do compared to the guy in the video who banged out 69 reps.

[pierinifitness]

I just did a 3-minute test doing bar dips and got 62 reps.  I did 30 in the first minute and then things slowed down a bit.  Viewing the video I recorded, I learned by bar dip depth was less than what's normal for me, breaking at least parallel, so this test doesn't count in my book.  I'll take it again in a couple weeks, if I can remember and see if I improve bar dip depth and rep count.  It was a good and intense 3-minute drill.  I'm glad I did it to see where I'm at.  The guy in the video above did 69 reps and had good bar dip depth but he's young enough to be my youngest son.  I'm satisfied with my age 65 effort.

Postscript edit - it's 10 minutes later from my original post and I've come to the conclusion that if you did a 3-minute drill rotating with a push (pushups or bar dips or OHP), a pull (pull-ups, chin-ups or some other type of rowing), a squat (take your pick) and a hip hinge (KB swings or deadlift or whatever) and maybe wrap it up with a 3-minute cardio (burpees, running or whatever) and ate sensibly, you could sport a pretty darn good looking body and be physically fit enough for most of the challenges of life.  My arms and pecs feel well-worked with this 3-minute workout.

[Michael]

Jul 16, 2020 13:00:09 GMT jrmeatplow said:

Jul 15, 2020 14:59:16 GMT pierinifitness said:

PF,

I was sort of thinking of it as a slightly longer rest pause set with the intent of building muscle rather than a test per say. One can be progressive with the weight once a certain rep count is attained.

Nick Nilsson has an ebook on Time Volume Training. Fred Hutch turned me onto some of his stuff. Here is an example of this kind on training: www.madscientistmuscle.com/course/1-time-volume-training.htm   I know most here hate books and don't like Nick but I enjoy some of his stuff. Also, if You type,"nick nilsson time volume training" into Youtube You may or may not like some of his ideas. 

[Michael]

Pierini,

You are just saying hypertrophy training stops You from getting more reps right? I definitely would agree with this. It's like when You go for a max rep set on an exercise where You can't do anymore. Do You believe from Your experience that if You trained for hypertrophy it would affect Your everyday quality of life? For myself no matter if I trained for strength, hypertrophy, or endurance it never negatively affected me. The only thing that every negatively affected me was chasing reps. I didn't at first but now I agree with what Whiffet said about gaining size without getting fat after so many years of training. If I ever train for hypertrophy I know I'm not going to get any bigger. I just consider it training for muscle endurance which I definitely use in my life. I know we talked a little about this before just curious about Your thoughts on this.

[pierinifitness]

Jul 17, 2020 0:42:27 GMT Michael said:

Pierini,

You are just saying hypertrophy training stops You from getting more reps right? I definitely would agree with this. It's like when You go for a max rep set on an exercise where You can't do anymore. Do You believe from Your experience that if You trained for hypertrophy it would affect Your everyday quality of life? For myself no matter if I trained for strength, hypertrophy, or endurance it never negatively affected me. The only thing that every negatively affected me was chasing reps. I didn't at first but now I agree with what Whiffet said about gaining size without getting fat after so many years of training. If I ever train for hypertrophy I know I'm not going to get any bigger. I just consider it training for muscle endurance which I definitely use in my life. I know we talked a little about this before just curious about Your thoughts on this.

Michael, what I really mean is that when doing a test, such as what I did with the 3-minute bar dip test or the timed 100 pull-ups test I've done in the past, I want to be cautious about the number of reps I perform each round so as to avoid a pump or hypertrophy outcome because once it's there, it'll get in the way of rep performance.  At least this has been my experience.  I don't think hypertrophy training would affect my everyday quality of life.

I'll share this from the past few days of training.  The heavy weighted pull-ups and bar dips I did had a more lasting effect of my muscles feeling hardened than a higher-volume hypertrophy-like workout.  The heavy stuff leaves my muscles feeling like how they do if I were, for example, to do a hardcore isometric workout.  Don't know if this makes sense to you but this is my perception.

The training has got to match the personality.  I'm just not a fan of hypertrophy-like bodybuilding training.  I'm all about cardiovascular-conditioning and strength endurance.  I could care less about how I appear.  I want the athleticism.  This is me and everyone's else mileage may vary.

[Michael]

Jul 17, 2020 21:07:14 GMT pierinifitness said:

Jul 17, 2020 0:42:27 GMT Michael said:

Pierini,

You are just saying hypertrophy training stops You from getting more reps right? I definitely would agree with this. It's like when You go for a max rep set on an exercise where You can't do anymore. Do You believe from Your experience that if You trained for hypertrophy it would affect Your everyday quality of life? For myself no matter if I trained for strength, hypertrophy, or endurance it never negatively affected me. The only thing that every negatively affected me was chasing reps. I didn't at first but now I agree with what Whiffet said about gaining size without getting fat after so many years of training. If I ever train for hypertrophy I know I'm not going to get any bigger. I just consider it training for muscle endurance which I definitely use in my life. I know we talked a little about this before just curious about Your thoughts on this.

Michael, what I really mean is that when doing a test, such as what I did with the 3-minute bar dip test or the timed 100 pull-ups test I've done in the past, I want to be cautious about the number of reps I perform each round so as to avoid a pump or hypertrophy outcome because once it's there, it'll get in the way of rep performance.  At least this has been my experience.  I don't think hypertrophy training would affect my everyday quality of life.

I'll share this from the past few days of training.  The heavy weighted pull-ups and bar dips I did had a more lasting effect of my muscles feeling hardened than a higher-volume hypertrophy-like workout.  The heavy stuff leaves my muscles feeling like how they do if I were, for example, to do a hardcore isometric workout.  Don't know if this makes sense to you but this is my perception.

The training has got to match the personality.  I'm just not a fan of hypertrophy-like bodybuilding training.  I'm all about cardiovascular-conditioning and strength endurance.  I could care less about how I appear.  I want the athleticism.  This is me and everyone's else mileage may vary.

Thanks! I do understand this and agree,"  I want to be cautious about the number of reps I perform each round so as to avoid a pump or hypertrophy outcome because once it's there, it'll get in the way of rep performance."  I get this and agree,"The training has got to match the personality." So this is not to tell You or anyone else how to try, I'm just curious about A couple of things. How ever someone trains I'm happy for them. Why does everyone thing hypertrophy training is all about bodybuilding training and how one appears? After a certain age and training years You're not going to get any bigger. Like I said Whiffet has been right about this all along. If anything, for me it builds muscle endurance. So if I do 8 to 12 reps how does that take away from athleticism? Again I'm happy for guys like You that accomplish what You want in Your training. But the athleticism part I do disagree, many athletics do hypertrophy training.

[moxohol]

Jul 17, 2020 21:07:14 GMT pierinifitness said:

Jul 17, 2020 0:42:27 GMT Michael said:

Pierini,

You are just saying hypertrophy training stops You from getting more reps right? I definitely would agree with this. It's like when You go for a max rep set on an exercise where You can't do anymore. Do You believe from Your experience that if You trained for hypertrophy it would affect Your everyday quality of life? For myself no matter if I trained for strength, hypertrophy, or endurance it never negatively affected me. The only thing that every negatively affected me was chasing reps. I didn't at first but now I agree with what Whiffet said about gaining size without getting fat after so many years of training. If I ever train for hypertrophy I know I'm not going to get any bigger. I just consider it training for muscle endurance which I definitely use in my life. I know we talked a little about this before just curious about Your thoughts on this.

Michael, what I really mean is that when doing a test, such as what I did with the 3-minute bar dip test or the timed 100 pull-ups test I've done in the past, I want to be cautious about the number of reps I perform each round so as to avoid a pump or hypertrophy outcome because once it's there, it'll get in the way of rep performance.  At least this has been my experience.  I don't think hypertrophy training would affect my everyday quality of life.

I'll share this from the past few days of training.  The heavy weighted pull-ups and bar dips I did had a more lasting effect of my muscles feeling hardened than a higher-volume hypertrophy-like workout.  The heavy stuff leaves my muscles feeling like how they do if I were, for example, to do a hardcore isometric workout.  Don't know if this makes sense to you but this is my perception.

The training has got to match the personality.  I'm just not a fan of hypertrophy-like bodybuilding training.  I'm all about cardiovascular-conditioning and strength endurance.  I could care less about how I appear.  I want the athleticism.  This is me and everyone's else mileage may vary.

I couldn't agree more on this. Athleticism is all about performance. I could care LESS how I look (but won't knock it) or how I look doing it. I do 1 set of stretched OC isometrics & then a micro-workout longstrength exercise afterwards throughout the day. 4 rounds of 3 minutes per session for a total of 5 sessions daily. If I do more then 1 session of OC isometrics then it has to be 6 hours apart.