Life is busy, and that means we don’t want to be in the gym longer than necessary (and might skip a workout here and there). Performing workouts that are quick and effective will help you get a workout in when time is tight.
Here are four ways that you can shorten your workout session while improving your progress.
1. Superset Upper And Lower Body Moves
One great way to shorten your session while also boosting your fat burning potential is to stack an upper body with a lower body movement. This allows one part of the body to rest while the other’s working, reducing the total rest time you require in the session.
Try a set of push-ups and then move directly into your squats or do a set of lunges followed by a set of shoulder presses. Once both of these are completed, take 30-60 seconds to rest before doing a second round.
If you structure your session this way, you can almost cut the total workout time in half.
2. Add Cardio Intervals Between Sets
Cardio versus strength training—do you feel like it’s an either-or situation when you finally do hit the gym? Don’t settle for one the other.
Combine them! Perform your standard weight lifting set and instead of resting, break into a cardio movement. Burpees, mountain climbers, running knee highs, or jumping jacks all work perfectly here. Perform a 30-45 second interval, rest for the remainder of the minute to catch your breath and then proceed into your next strength set.
3. Use The Drop Set Technique
Drop setting can push your body farther than you normal go while also increasing the intensity of the workout session. This technique is very intense! Try it on just one or two exercises to save time and get past any strength plateau.
Perform your first set. Drop the weight by 5-10 pounds and immediately perform a second set. Once that’s finished, drop the weight one more time. Perform as many reps as you can in that third set using good form. Once that set is over—you’re done for that exercise.
Rather than taking the usual 7-8 minutes to complete three sets, you’ve just completed it in around 2 minutes.
4. Do Compound Movements
Sticking to movements that target more than one muscle group will save you time and help you gain strength. Push ups, lunges, squats and pull ups are all great examples of compound movements. Bonus: They are all body-weight exercises, making them easy to do just about anywhere.
