You’ve got 30 minutes to work out and you want to lift weights and maybe squeeze in some cardio. Are you ready to get pumped? Because shorter workouts mean higher intensity!*
As I said in my post about compound movements and 30-minute workouts, you can do a traditional weights routine and still see results over time. You can always increase the weight or reps or decrease your rest time. But if you’re ready for some variety and major time savings, check out these ideas for keeping your quickie workout challenging. Remember to warm up and cool down – it’s part of your workout.
Circuits are hugely popular and massively intense. With a typical circuit, you get your heart rate up by integrating cardio and weights into one short, intense routine. For example, one set in a circuit could include four to six different exercises that hit various muscle groups without resting. After a brief rest you would repeat for two more sets.
You can include stairs, jogging, or another type of cardio into each set, but a circuit can most definitely include only weights or bodyweight exercises. I recently swapped workouts with Kris O’Connor, a fellow fitness blogger and friend. She created an endurance-focused circuit routine for me and I created a full-body weights workout for her. Her circuit kicked my butt so give it a try!
For maximum calorie burning, plan your routine ahead of time. Make sure all necessary equipment and/or machines are easily accessible (you’ll be going from one exercise to the next very quickly). To get around the machines-in-use dilemma, just grab some dumbbells instead. You’ll need to use lighter weights than usual because of the high repetitions and intensity.
HIIT (High Intensity Training)
HIIT is any workout that’s performed in intervals; that is, a session with both high intensity periods and recovery periods. HIIT can be done as a circuit of weightlifting exercises, sprinting, or cardio machines. An example would be cycles of 30 seconds all-out effort with a 60 second rest at lower intensity. Form is of utmost importance and you need a solid foundation of fitness.
I love doing supersets and use them almost every time I train. Supersets fatigue your muscles quickly, burn more calories, and give powerful results. Even if you don’t need to save time in the gym, you should use this technique for getting cut.
A superset is two different exercises performed back to back with no rest (you rest briefly between sets). Supersets are designed to progressively overload the muscle, but they also save time.
You can perform super sets in a wide variety of ways, so don’t feel like there’s only one correct type. For example, you can:
- Train the same muscle group, opposite muscle groups, or more uncommonly, two totally unrelated groups
- Ramp it up to tri-sets or giant sets (three or four sets)
- Use pre-exhaust, compound, and isolation supersets
Now that you have some ideas for quickie workouts, you have no excuse to squeeze your weight training into 30 minutes. I’d love to hear about your favorite quickie weights techniques!
*Please note: You need a basic level of fitness to try these techniques. Be sure to talk to your doctor if you have doubts. If you need to start out more slowly, contact me and we can toss around ideas.