Countdown clocks: helpful or not?

[kat999]

I love them to the point where I bring up my DVD player's display time when I do a DVD workout. When I have to do a VHS workout, I don't, because my VCR's display covers up too much of the screen, but I always make a mental note of the workout length before I start and check periodically on my Apple Watch in workout mode.

I LOVE working out and find the majority of it very pleasant. But, truthfully, I do want the time to go by quickly and find that it helps when struggling through a tough move/segment to note that it'll be over soon.

[Rivercat]

I like them a lot, especially interval timers where I know exactly how long I have left of the torture.

Team Body Project uses a lot of interval timers but they aren't always very accurate, which doesn't bug me but apparently makes some people insane because Daniel has mentioned getting irate emails and nasty comments about it.

[BunnyHop]

Not a fan. I dislike being reminded how much more time I need to keep going.

Simply not knowing is okay with me.

[red1013]

Originally Posted by kat999

I love them to the point where I bring up my DVD player's display time when I do a DVD workout. When I have to do a VHS workout, I don't, because my VCR's display covers up too much of the screen, but I always make a mental note of the workout length before I start and check periodically on my Apple Watch in workout mode.

I LOVE working out and find the majority of it very pleasant. But, truthfully, I do want the time to go by quickly and find that it helps when struggling through a tough move/segment to note that it'll be over soon.

Me too! I always have the DVD display time on. It makes me really appreciate instructors (like Cathe) who chapter their workouts well so I know there are only 22 seconds left of squatting in that chapter!

[sillygirl]

Surprisingly, I don't mind not having a timer displayed during The Balanced Life Sisterhood workouts but those workouts have absolute no dread for me and I'm always pleasantly surprised how quickly they are over (even the ~30 minute ones) and I hear Robin say, "And you're done for the day!".

Also, the owner of the Club Pilates studios I frequented most made it a point NOT to have a clock on the wall. I loved those classes and the 50 minutes flew by. When I would travel to other studios and they had clocks on the wall I would end up looking at them and not be as present-in-the-moment as I liked.

Originally Posted by kat999

I love them to the point where I bring up my DVD player's display time when I do a DVD workout.

Me too! My portable DVD player will show Time Elapsed and Time Remaining for the entire workout or for just the chapters. It's great!

Originally Posted by Rivercat

I like them a lot, especially interval timers where I know exactly how long I have left of the torture.

This is also how I feel about interval timers.

[kat999]

Originally Posted by sillygirl

Also, the owner of the Club Pilates studios I frequented most made it a point NOT to have a clock on the wall. I loved those classes and the 50 minutes flew by. When I would travel to other studios and they had clocks on the wall I would end up looking at them and not be as present-in-the-moment as I liked.

Pre-COVID I took multiple classes at a local fitness studio, and I loved that all the yoga classes had no clocks in the room (helped me be more present), but the barre class room had a clock in it (which I liked because I could see how much "torture" was left). I think it all depends on what the session's goal is.

[prettyinpink]

I like interval clocks so I know how many seconds are left for each.

But not a counter for the full workout.
I don’t mind Pahla B’s, though. Probably because I usually have YouTube workouts only on the iPad, and the timer part is so small I’d have to look harder to see it.

[FirmDancer]

LOL - I feel strongly about the countdown clocks: I DESPISE them. Probably nothing else in a workout can annoy me as much as a countdown clock. I actually put a small post-it note on the screen to cover it up. It has something to do with the feeling it creates: "You only have X minutes and Y seconds to go!!!" Whereas that's not the way I look at workouts. I like to zone out, or zen-in, with my workouts & not have some artificial media thing ticking away each & every second. LOL - it's weird ... 'cus I don't mind counting down reps in an exercise ... or an instructor saying "only one more set". It's only that stupid clock/timer/circle thing.

[ChelePA]

I’ve been doing Growing Annanas March Challenge on YouTube . She usually does 50 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. I really need the clock to help me push through the last 10 seconds. But those rests go by so quickly The clock is definitely motivating for me. Same with Caroline Girvan and Heather Robertson.

[zraipel]

I like countdown timers for the individual exercises in a workout. It's easier to tell myself "I can handle this for 30 seconds!" or "only 1 minute left to go!". But countdown timers for the whole workout are a little more demotivating. A lot of times I think I've gone pretty far into the workout but then look at the timer and there's still 2/3 left to go!

It's one reason I like TapoutXT. There is also a total workout countdown timer, I think, but when I can countdown through each exercise piece by piece, it makes it a lot easier to get through the whole thing. It's more like checking off a to-do list one item at a time.