Speed Workouts: If Time Is Of The Essence

Someone recently asked me if there were ways to get in shape without spending hours in the gym and if one has quite a busy schedule. The answer is yes - in fact, the fact that time is short may turn out to be a blessing rather than a curse. It is true that hitting muscle groups harder and less frequently shows better results than spending ages tying to sculpt your body every day. In addition, shorter and more intense bursts of exercise are far more effective at burning fat and increasing fitness.

Speed Workouts can be hugely beneficial if you cut down your rest periods to less than 30 seconds - you’ll find that most of the time people spend in the gym is, in fact, resting in between short spurts of exercise. If you can cut this down to as little time as possible, you can actually fit an hour’s worth of exercise into as short a time as 15-20 minutes. 5 tips for cutting down time to boost your gains are:

• Use supersets when strength training: Pairs of quick exercises done in quick succession are more effective at blasting plateaus and sparking motivation.

• Intensive interval cardio workouts burn fat faster than regular jogging: A good example would be a 20 minute cycle of sprinting for one minute, then walking for one minute.

• Focus on your bigger muscles. For example, working the legs, back and chest burns more calories than doing crunches.

• Plan your workouts. A detailed workout plan is sure to save time and make the workout more efficient.

• Cut rest periods. As mentioned before, this will save time and give a great aerobic workout too.

Another useful trick involves halting at specific power points and exploding for huge gains. For example, interrupting the momentum in a stop-and-go press up will recruit more muscle fibres and make each rep harder, as well as strengthening weak spots. It should be stressed that eating correctly will get you half way there, and that working out well can only get you halfway there. I have a friend who uses the same techniques as me but who hasn’t eaten anything green since he was a child, and is forever dissatisfied with how his six-pack is perpetually covered by a layer of flab. Usually I would add here that a bit of cardiovascular exercise is also important, however as stated previously, the intensity of Speed Workouts encompasses a healthy amount of aerobics to combat the accumulation of fat.

Just for fun, I invented my own speed workout and tested it the other day. I set the goal of 100 press-ups targeting the chest, 100 targeting the triceps, 100 dumbbell curls, 6 minutes of plank and 200 squats. It was pretty hard, and by the end my body was screaming at me, but I can definitely see the benefits of this type of exercise. The key was in shortening down the pauses, and in mixing up the order in which I did things to make a circuit. So, if you find yourself wanting to do a bit of exercise but are struggling to fit it in, try making your very own 15 Minute Workout and see how far it takes you!

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