HOW TO CUT YOUR WORKOUT TIME IN HALF, BUT DOUBLE YOUR RESULTS

How do you fit in the ideal amounts of cardio, strength training, stretching, balance exercises and core training without having to spend hours each week exercising?
 
Well, you could do multiple workouts a day: cardio in the morning, pilates at night. Strength training the next day and mobility before bed. Or you could do one long workout per day, such as 30 minutes on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes of strength training.

While both of these options may work, they also take a whole lot of time, and when "lack of time" is one of the TOP reasons people cite for not exercising, for many of us, this isn't realistic nor sustainable long term.  

So, what if we all started applying this concept ➡️ working out smarter instead of harder?

When you combine the right amount of cardio, strength-training and mobility into a single workout, you can cut the amount of time you spend exercising and still getting the results you want, if not better! 

How to spend less time in your workouts 

Here are 4 of my recommendations for getting better results with shorter workouts.

1. Focus on strength training

For many of you I probably sound like a broken record, but here's why a muscle building / strength training centered approach is more effective than cardio or aerobic activities. 

First of all, both aerobic and resistance training can promote substantial benefits in physical fitness and health-related factors. From a "bang for buck" perspective and to get the most out of your fitness routine in less time, then you'll want to place resistance training at the top of your list. 

Resistance training is more effective than cardio at building muscle, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. Because of this, it is commonly said that building muscle is the key to enhancing your metabolism 🔥

In addition to the metabolic effects, building muscle is important for: 

• Developing strong bones: preventing or maintaining conditions such as osteoarthritis. 
• Enhance your quality of life: strength training can improve your ability to do everyday activities, hobbies and prevent the risk of falls. It's also key to maintaining function and independence, especially as we age. 
• Manage chronic conditions: strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression and diabetes.
• Weight management: strength training can help you manage or lose weight by enhancing your metabolism to help you burn more calories (as mentioned). 
• Cardiovascular benefits: a strength training session could count as a cardio workout if it raises your heart rate enough.

2. Get to (or close to) muscle failure / fatigue 

Muscle failure is the point when your working muscle is fully fatigued to the extent that it can no longer complete another repetition. 

In order to grow your muscles (known as hypertrophy) and to get stronger, your muscles need to feel challenged i.e., you need to apply enough of a stimulus to the muscle in order for it to grow.  

You do not have to achieve 100% failure to reap the benefits but you want to make sure your muscles feel pretty fatigued by the end of each set. Your last 3-4 reps should feel challenging. If not, then it's time to bump up those weights! 

Be safe and build your strength slowly and progressively over time so you don't injure yourself. I truly feel like the message of, “Add some weight, baby!” is not happening enough. You are way stronger than you think.

Are combination moves better for results? 

Choose simple movements that place more constant load through the muscles. Movements do not need to be complex and involve your entire body to be effective.

Combination moves are not bad for you and they can be fun to incorporate, but once again if you're looking for more "bang for your buck", and you want to build more muscle, then try to focus on one movement and one muscle group at a time.

For example, a shoulder press is more effective than a combination move such as a reverse lunge to a shoulder press.

3. Implement full body workouts or splits 

When you are only focusing on a few muscle groups per workout and you choose simple exercises that provide substantial stimulus to the muscle, you truly only need about 30ish minutes to get a great workout that will drive results.

Since muscles need about 48 hours to fully recover, we can switch which muscles we are working each day to keep the workouts shorter. 

4. Diet

Lastly and without diving too deep, your nutrition needs to support your movement. Protein is important for muscle recovery and growth (aim for approximately 0.8-1g / kg of bodyweight), but a full range of healthy fats and carbs are needed to refuel, keep the metabolism humming and help with vitamin and mineral absorption. 

So this is how you can workout 3-4ish times per week for short periods, and still see results. 

1. Prioritize strength training and less cardio and HIIT
2. Focus more on simple movements and stimulating single muscle groups versus combination exercises
3. Aim to fatigue and challenge your muscles with each set 
4. Implement workout splits or full body workouts 
5. Get enough protein and eat a wholesome diet  

I’ve actually worked out for less time than I ever have, and yet I see better results because I implement this process. Give it a go and see how you feel! 

If you'd like to join a fitness program that embraces working smarter, not harder and take part in all of our joint-friendly fitness and yoga classes, then make sure to come try ALL of our classes, completely free, with our 14-day trial. Click here to join today!