Maximizing Workout Time and Effeciency
One of the most common things we hear that hold people back from regular workouts is a lack of time.
The general consensus is that if you can’t dedicate at least an hour, 3 or 4 days a week to working out, then what’s the point. This couldn’t be further from the truth as any activity, no matter how little, has a positive impact on your overall health. Little bits of activity here and there add up over time, and create more positive benefits, especially when compared to skipping out entirely.
Today I want to share with you a concept that can speed up your workouts for those days when time is short, or for days when you might be looking for an extra challenge.
Always be doing something with your workout time.
This means that instead of resting between sets and exercises, you are going to be doing another activity. You can make this as intense or light as you would like, depending on what you are doing as your mode of exercise, so don’t be afraid of the always be doing something concept. You could be stretching or doing balance exercises between strength or cardio movements as active rest to recover.
The main components of an exercise routine are strength, which can further be categorized into upper body, lower body, core or full body, then cardio and flexibility. You could go even further and add balance, coordination, agility and power as well but for this example we will keep it simple and stick with strength, cardio and flexibility. Here is an example of doing something with all of your workout time.
Warm Up 5 minutes on bike.
Leg Press x10 (Lower Body Strength)
Jumping jacks x30 seconds (Cardio)
Seated Hamstring Stretch x30 seconds (Flexibility)
Repeat 3x
Chest Press x10 (Upper Body Strength)
High knees x30 seconds (Cardio)
Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch x30 seconds each leg (Flexibility)
Repeat 3x
Seated Row x10 (Upper Body Strength)
Mountain Climbers x30 seconds (Cardio)
Chest Stretch x 30 seconds each arm (Flexibility)
Repeat 3x
Plank x30 seconds (Core Strength)
Burpees x30 seconds (Cardio)
Child’s Pose Stretch x30 seconds (Flexibility)
Repeat 3x
That workout would take you approximately 25 minutes including the 5 minute warm up and would still allow you to do strength exercises, core, cardio and stretching. You could substitute some of the exercises to ones you could do at home or work with no equipment too.
The basic formula is strength, cardio, stretch. This is by no means the only way to do it either, this is just one example of always doing something with your workout time.
This approach allows you to have a complete workout, utilizing the main components of fitness, while achieving it in a time efficient manner.
Give it a try next time you are crunched for time! I guarantee you will feel much better getting a quick workout in over skipping it all together because you don’t have a full hour to commit that day.
