I don't know about you ... but as soon as my career picked up and my kids were born, I've had trouble finding the time to workout like I used to.
I'm sure you can relate in one way or another.
Your job, family events, kids ... and everything else life tends to throw at you can definitely make it difficult to stay in shape. I even started using the most common excuse you hear when it comes to fitness ... "I just don't have time".
I'm also someone who thought you needed at least 1 hour to get in a good workout. If I didn't spend at least 1 hour in the gym ... I almost felt as if I didn't workout at all.
Over the last couple years, I've found that you don't need a ton of time to get in a great workout... ...and it may surprise you to hear that it can be done in as little as 15 minutes or less.In this article, I'll show you how you can make your workouts very effective (both weight lifting and cardio!) ... without having to sacrifice hours of your day.
Quick and Effective Weight Training It's no secret that lifting weights is one of the best ways to help burn fat, build muscle, and improve your overall health.
Like I said above, I started my own fitness journey thinking if you don't spend hours in the gym lifting weights ... you aren't doing it right.
That's actually very far from the truth. You can very easily take a longer workout and cut it in half with a few simple tips:
1) Shorten Your Rest Periods - Instead of checking your phone and changing songs, sending texts, or scrolling social media ... try to limit your time in between sets and exercises. It's not uncommon for 5 minutes or more to pass before you start a new movement or a new set. Try only resting 30-45 seconds and staying focused on the task at hand. You'll come to find that this can cut down your overall workout time tremendously.
2) Use Supersets - This is a concept that not only can shorten your workouts ... but can also add another layer of difficulty to them as well. A superset is when you perform two different exercises back-to-back without resting. If you are doing a chest workout that calls for bench press followed by push-ups ... you would do your set of bench press and then go directly into your set of push-ups. This often saves quite a bit of time ... while still allowing you to get a great workout in.
3) Focus On Your Effort - This one took me a while to fully understand, but once I did ... I was able to spend less time working out and actually improve my results. Instead of adding more time and exercises to your workouts to see better progress ... try focusing on the effort you're giving. Giving 100% effort to 4 exercises is going to give you much better results than going through the motions with 8+ different movements. Results come from effort ... not how long your workouts are, or how many exercises you do.
Quick and Effective Cardio I can't tell you how many hours I've spent on a treadmill, elliptical or stair-master ... simply because I thought that's what I needed to do for a good cardio workout.
When my life started to get a little busier ... I just didn't have the time to do that anymore, but I still wanted to make sure I got some type of cardio in.
That was when I started to experiment with some of these different options, that didn't require hours of my time:
1) HIIT Cardio - HIIT stands for high intensity interval training. This type of cardio is actually meant to be quick and effective ... and can even be done in as little as 5 minutes. Sprints would be a good example of this. Sprinting 20 yards as hard as possible, resting 20 seconds ... and doing that for 3-5 rounds would be considered a form of HIIT cardio. This can be done on a bike, a treadmill, and in a variety of other ways as well. As long as you're giving it your all ... this can be a very quick way to get a great workout in.
2) Walking - Yep ... sounds simple right? Because it is! I'm not necessarily referring to setting a time to walk either. Doing things like parking a little further away from your destination, taking work calls on a walk, taking the stairs instead of the elevator ... and even using your lunch break to get some extra steps in. The best part about this ... is it really doesn't require any extra time in your day. You're already doing most of those things ... you're just adding a little more movement to them!
3) AMRAP Workouts - AMRAP stands for As Many Reps (or Rounds) As Possible. These workouts can also be very quick, effective, and challenging. They will usually be done with a specific time cap in mind, such as 10-20 minutes. Maybe you do 5 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, and 15 air squats for as many rounds as possible within a 10-minute time frame ... trying your best to rest as little as possible. These workouts can be done almost anywhere and they are a perfect option when you're low on time.
Now...
Hopefully you can see that you don't need as much time as you may think to get a good workout in.
Using some of the methods I've mentioned above ... you can certainly make time for some exercise, no matter how hectic your life gets.
Even with as little as 5-10 minutes, you can make it work.
If you're someone who struggles with finding the right fitness plan for yourself, we're always more than happy to help. You can swing by
your nearest S2 location and we'll make sure you're set up for success.
P.S. - There's still time to sign-up for our $10,000 8-Week Operation Transformation Challenge. It's 100% FREE to join and we'll provide you with workout programs that fit your schedule, help you with your diet ... and give you the support you need to see the best results possible.
Tap here for more details. *This article was written by Wes Osburn. He is a N.A.S.M. Certified Personal Trainer and N.A.S.M. Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
