The 7 Minute Workout app actually made me an exercise guy

Working out is an absolute drag — that’s not an opinion, that’s just an inescapable fact of exercise, or really anything laborious in life.

There’s not much we can do to make the act of working out easy (work is in the name after all). But there are ways of convincing yourself that the momentary hardship of exerting your body is actually doable, and one of them happens to be something most everyone has access to: an app.

7 Minute Workout: Fitness App, available on iOS and Android, is an aptly dubbed piece of software that crams targeted workout regimens into digestible lengths of — you guessed it — seven minutes. While the workouts themselves are strenuous, using 7 Minute Work is blissfully brainless.

Want to chief out some pull-ups with a quick upper body workout? Just pull open the app, navigate to “Chest,” take a quick scan of the exercises you’re about to embark on and tap “Start.”

From there, the app will guide you through your regimen, exercise by exercise, counting down each start time, notifying you when you’re halfway done, when you’re finished, and when your rest period is about to expire.

Every exercise in the app, whether kinetic or isometric, relies on your own body weight, so there’s nothing you won’t be able to do at home.

And if one seven-minute workout isn’t enough, you can theoretically follow along with as many regimens as you want, allowing you to mix and match targeted routines for upper body and lower body or core and aerobics.

There’s even a custom “build-your-own” workout feature that lets you create a personal regimen consisting of only the exercises you want.

For those times when you’re feeling particularly masochistic, the app also allows you to up the difficulty by opting for an intermediate or advanced workout instead of a beginner. All of your progress is tracked within the app’s built-in calendar in case you want to track how diligent (or lax) you’ve been.

It’s the only [fitness app] I’ve ever felt like I needed.

While a few minutes might not sound, on the surface, like a sufficient amount of exercise, there’s some legitimate science to suggest seven-minute routines — which hinge on high-intensity intervals — are not only convenient but effective in improving your overall health.

For me, however, the science is simple. Some exercise is always better than no exercise, and anything that makes the mental hurdle toward a healthier life smaller is, for me at least, like white magic.

The fact of the matter is, even if 7 Minute Workout isn’t the only high-interval fitness app out there, it’s the only one I’ve ever felt like I needed.

Even I, a preeminent procrastinator, can justify spending seven minutes to save my body from early retirement, and while I may never be a Gym Guy, with an app’s help, I could just be the healthiest shut-in you’ve ever met.

Input may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article. We only include products that have been independently selected by Input's editorial team.