Lauren Justice
Brett Hulsey (left) shows Bill Lueders how to apply the “energy-efficiency ethic to exercise,” while David Davis III (standing) observes.
First, some breathing exercises — five outlandishly deep respirations, in and out. Brett Hulsey tells me just what to do.
“Fill up all four corners of your lungs,” he instructs. My lungs have corners? Who knew? “Feeling a little lightheaded right now?” he asks. Why, yes. “Your body is not used to oxygen.” It’s not used to any of this.
I’m at a gym called I Give 100 Fitness, on Madison’s southeast side, getting tutored in Hulsey’s “16-Minute Workout.” It’s a business he started last year, after his quixotic but never boring bid for governor in 2014. He also runs an energy consulting business, Better Environmental Solutions, and is refurbishing a 169-year-old farmhouse on Milwaukee Street for use as affordable housing.
Next, the treadmill. The goal is to get the heart pounding. I plod along as Hulsey’s associate, personal trainer David Davis III, adjusts the slope and speed. The hand grips track my escalating heart rate. The goal, Hulsey says, is 120 to 130 beats per minute. After a minute of warmup I’m at 107. It quickly climbs to 134, then 141, then 147.
“The better shape you’re in, the harder it is to get your heart rate up,” explains Hulsey. Got it.
I’ve already filled out a health history and signed a waiver. An overview for Hulsey’s program advises, “Check with Your Doctor First, So You Don’t Have to Call Your Lawyer Later.”
Hulsey is 57, but says “my body feels younger.” I’m 56, and wouldn’t make that claim. He’s run four Ironman races and is a good enough skier to give lessons to Davis, who looks like an Olympian. Now Hulsey is tapping into the high-intensity interval training trend with his own system of exercises meant to turn short-term pain into long-term gain.
“I’m sort of applying the energy-efficiency ethic to exercise,” he explains. The number-one excuse people give for not exercising is that they don’t have time, so he’s come up with a regimen no longer than the wait at Culver’s when the drive-through line is long. He cites scientific studies showing that intense exertion yields the same health benefits as longer periods of more moderate exercise.
My heart still pounding, we move to strength exercises involving dumbbells, including shoulder rolls and squat presses, which Hulsey pronounces “a great whole-body exercise.” Then he has me hang from a pull-up bar for a spell, an exercise meant to build out the shoulders.
In Hulsey’s mind, exercise is the key to solving most of the nation’s health woes. Diabetes. Heart disease. Obesity. Even cancer. Sixteen minutes a day and they’re held at bay. (His company’s actual slogan: “Feel better, get fitter, lose weight in just minutes a day.”)
It all kind of makes sense, coming from Hulsey, a former Dane County supervisor and state Assembly representative known for his intensity, sometimes to his detriment. He once commandeered a press conference by seizing the mic after Gov. Scott Walker walked away from it. He also drew a disorderly conduct citation for an altercation with a 9-year-old at a beach.
But here, in the gym, the gap-toothed Hulsey is in his element: patient, encouraging, looking for ways to personalize his approach. He earned his personal trainer certificate last year, along with a certificate to coach cross-country skiing. He’s put on free workout tutorials at senior centers: “This is a business, but sometimes I give it away.” Usually, he charges $116 for an assessment, inaugural session and a month of coaching advice.
In his first year, he’s made less than $1,000 but looks on the bright side, saying his business has “good growth potential.” He’s looking to teach classes and perhaps write a book.
We move on to core exercises, which tune up the old torso. This includes what Hulsey calls let downs — pushups with an emphasis on prolonging the return trip. Hulsey’s overview advises, with regard to this exercise, “Repeat to fatigue.” I’m getting there.
But then we’re on to yoga-ish exercises and something Hulsey calls child poses, which provide gentle stretching. These are followed with my favorite exercise, the final rest pose: lying flat on the mat while Hulsey urges feeling like “a pat of butter melting on top of a pancake.”
This one, I could do for hours.
HULSEY SCIENTIFIC STUDY CLAIM #1: “Three intense, 20-second biking bursts can get you in as good a shape as 45 minutes of steady biking.”
HULSEY SCIENTIFIC STUDY CLAIM #2:
“A recent American Heart Association study showed short-burst exercise reduced blood sugar levels three times more than 30 minutes of steady exercise.”
DOES A 16-MINUTE WORKOUT HAVE TO TAKE 16 MINUTES?
“It does not. One minute can be good. Any exercise is better than no exercise.”
HOW TO GET AN ASSESSMENT AND INITIAL TRAINING:
Call Brett Hulsey at 608-334-4994 or email him at bretthulsey1@gmail.com
