If you have time to conquer rogue planets from your swimming pool, you definitely have time to fit in a quick workout!“I don’t have time to exercise.” Probably the most oft used excuse of all time when people are explaining their lack of working out. And I believe them! Sort of. While it is true that we all have the same 24 hours to dole out and some of us will dedicate a few of those to working out no matter what, I do understand that everyone is busy and that we tend to do what we enjoy first. It just so happens that I lovelovelove working out. But some people lovelovelove knitting or bird watching or, inexplicably, WWF wrestling.
But unlike WWF, exercising is good for your health and so you ought to find some time to do it, even if it isn’t your fave activity. For some people this means combining fitness with something they already love like dancing or rock climbing or – hey! – even video games! But others are more of the just-swallow-the-bitter-pill-and-get-it-over-with mindset. My husband is one of these people. He doesn’t hate exercising but his first love Ultimate Frisbee isn’t easily done on a daily basis (or even a weekly basis here after the first snow). So the other day he asked me to design a 30-minutes or less workout he could squeeze in during his lunch hour and still have time to shower, get back to the office and, you know, eat something. Oh and he wanted it to involve both weights and cardio using only basic equipment and with a minimum of studying.
The latter qualification ruled out renowned shortie workouts like CrossFit and the Monkey Bar Gym as both have a pretty sharp learning curve at the beginning. And so I made him a circuit. It hits all the major body parts and gets in some short bursts of high intensity cardio and thanks to supersets, your heart rate should stay up the entire time – not a bad bang for your workout buck! The Gym Buddies and I tested it out last week and all of us were quite sore afterward (although, weirdly, in different places: for me it was my inner things, Gym Buddy Krista was all about her butt, Allison felt it in her quads and Megan was just “tight.”)
So if you need a quickie workout – especially handy this time of year! – I present to you:
The Gym Buddy Lunch Workout a.k.a. The Leg Killer
(Or brunch, if you’re like us and can’t get out of the house before 10 a.m.)
2 minute warm-up jogging/ellipticizing/biking/random flailing
Chest press w/ dumbbells alternating with flys (dumbbells) – 2 sets of each, 8-12 reps
Box jumps or step ups on weight bench for 1 minute (box jumps mean jumping on and off the bench with both feet at the same time, step ups are just stepping on and off the bench. The former is the tougher option.)
Upright rows alternating with deadlifts (barbell) – 2 sets of each, 8-12 reps
Sprint on treadmill for 1 minute (try setting it at level 8 or 9)
Arnold shoulder presses alternating with lateral raises (dumbbells) – 2 sets of each, 8-12 reps
Hindu squats for 1 minute (a Hindu squat means squatting low enough that your fingers brush the ground and your butt almost hits your heels. Do them as fast as you can.)
Bicep curls alternating with hammer curls (dumbbells) – 2 sets of each, 8-12 reps
Jumping rope for 1 minute
Tricep overheads alternating with pushdowns (dumbbell & cable machine) – 2 sets of each, 8-12 reps
Steep incline walk on the treadmill 1 minute
Cool down on treadmill: Easy run for the remaining time (we finished with about 8 minutes to spare.)
Which kind of workout do you prefer: short and intense or longer and slower? What’s your go-to workout when you have 30 minutes or less? Anyone offended by people stepping on the weight benches??
I'm a fan of the short and sweet workout because I have no excuses not to do it! I'm taken to skipping and jumping jacks recently to get my heartrate up and my brain working again after sitting at the computer for hours on end.
Umm, how much do I love that you can create your own workout?!? I usually skim Shape, Women's Health and the like and adapt to make it more difficult, or possibly easier (usually if it was from Oxygen). I'm not creative enough.
And my workout time is my brain's downtime, so I usually try to revel in it. I don't usually work out for less than an hour, just because otherwise I don't feel like it's worth it, and also because I go to the gym every other day. Maybe I've just never worked hard enough to make 30m feel worthwhile…
Sounds super cool… if only I knew what a few more of those lifts were!
Im shortshort. my weights "routine" takes 20 minutes max and I like it that way.
I know that I could look better (read: bigger. Id love to have bigger muscles :)) if I invested more time—-but right now (ever? tomato. tomaaahhhhto) it is not enough of a priority.
and, as you know farfar better than I, LIFE is workout enough I dont wanna exhaust myself in the gym.
i have built up the intensity of my workouts over the years and find it is hard to go back to the easier/shorter workouts now. I crave the long/intense workouts and feel cheated when i don't push myself! although when travelling this would be perfect! i am going to give it a whirl on our next trip. (Hindu squats made my knees ache just by reading the description!)
oh…and also love that your hubby asked for your help! if i want mine to NOT exercise I just try and give him some pointers….:)
Tony Horton's Power 90 DVDs are all 30 minutes or less, and he even has 10-Minute Trainer DVDs which are pretty intense! I can't make my own workouts because I'm not creative enough, but love shorter DVDs 🙂
I do longer & intense! I am crazy!!! 🙂 If short of time, I do HIIIT & weights & never stop going.. no rest between sets. Heck, I do that in my longer sessions.. see CRAZY!
GREAT workout you put together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
awesome workout! i'm a fan of the slower and longer workouts but that's because i dilly-dally soooo much haha. i've been trying to do some short and intense ones but i just seem to draaaaaaaag those out too haha
I like to mix up the short/miserable workouts and the longer/slightly-less-miserable workouts.
Sometimes what I'll do is a short 20 min cardio on the elliptical, followed immediately thereafter by some of the more exhausting weight moves with minimal rest in between sets. That way the first part of weights kind of keeps the cardio going for another 10 minutes, until I find trying to go fast just too irritating.
Great circuit workout you designed, sounds tough!
I like shorter and more intense most days…just cause then I know I'll do it. 🙂 I don't need uber perfection, just a good overall tone workout. It's why I love my trusted exerball DVD workout. 20 minutes tones all of me. You can't beat that…
Whn I walk or run I like longer, but sometimes that just goes on…and on…and on…in the summer when it's outside there's lots to look at it's bearable. Days like this mornign where you're on the elliptical staring at the cat starign at you for 40 minutes? Wel, it seems twice as long…but I do it. Usually no matter how I feel at the start, by the end I feel great.
I love these kind of work-outs that combine strength and cardio. Makes the work-out go so fast!
I don't mind people stepping on the bench as long as they wipe it off when they're done ;o)
I do 30 min cardio… (2x week its slow and 2 to 3xw its hardcore) plus 30 min weights alternating bodyparts… Anything less than 1 hr i hate idk why
Thanks for sharing this, Charlotte! I'm a big fan of the short workout, because that's usually all I can fit into my day!
I definitely prefer the short and intense burst of exercise. It keeps my testosterone levels high and gives me an energy boost when i need it.
It also lowers blood pressure which i have done a blog about.
Which you can find here :
http://thesuccessfulmale.blogspot.com/2009/11/stop-blood-pressure-highs-and-lows.html
I've done my share of lunchtime workouts! Never so complete though, usually a run around campus or the like.
What I'd rather do depends on how tired I am, and how much time I have. I need more energy to do shorter, harder workouts, so if I'm tired, I'm more likely to walk on the treadmill for an hour. If I have less time and more energy, I like Jillian's Shred. (There. I said it.)
I must confess that I'm not a fan of the weights, though. I like my treadmill a LOT. Mostly because I can watch TV on it, and it's harder to do that when I'm lifting weights. (Well. In the gym, anyway. I could watch TV at home, I guess.)
Wait. Um.
What was the question? 😉
I am going to go out on a limb here and be one of the only ones who says I have the OPPOSITE problem – I prefer workouts to be a long as possible and actually feel a letdown when I have to stop…
I think this weird propensity for self-torture stems from the fact that it took me over an hour just to get 3 kids ready, dressed and to the gym, settled in their various programs and once I finally make my way to "my time" I figure it had better be worth it.
Do I overdo it? YES. Could I shorten the workout to a half hour? Perhaps. But then I would feel cheated.
I think the workout itself should be equal to the amount of time it took me to get to the gym 🙂
Oh, and yeah, not too keen on people jumping on the benches. Also, I have tried the box jump, catching my toe on the edge of the bench and falling like a crazylady in front of all the muscleheads and displayed from every possible angle by mirrors everywhere pretty much dispelled any benefits I had previously derived from said workout – my advice, try these at home first….
Does just reading about this workout count? 'Cause I'm already tired, lol!
If it's a workout on my own (ie not a fun class) then I do prefer short-ish and sweet-ish. Like you I love to work out usually. Some days I'd rather poke my eyes out with daggers than train, but other days you can't keep me down.
Sadly my doc just kiboshed long workouts for me- she wants me to limit cardio to 20 min (huh!!?) I told her that I could do 20 minutes and be so not-sweaty that I could don an evening gown and attend the Oscars without a shower. Ok I didn't tell her that but I thought it. Sigh. However, as long as I don't gain weight and I'm still sore from my weight workouts I'll be a happy camper.
PS Love your home-made workout- sounds killer.