7 Time Saving Tips For Your Workout

GO BIG OR GO HOME
“If time isn’t on your side, focus on large compound lifts with short rest periods,” personal trainer Alex Easby (shapingchange.co.uk) tells us. “Don’t waste time with small isolation exercises, like bicep curls; instead, focus on metabolically challenging moves like jump squats, burpees or kettlebell swings.
“Working for time, not reps, is a great way to increase intensity on a time budget. If you only have 30 minutes, perform two circuits of five exercises, spending 30 seconds on each move.
Aim to do your first circuit for 15 minutes, repeating exercises 1-5 until the time is up. Take a brief rest before moving on to your next circuit and repeat it for 15 minutes.”

COMPOUND YOUR SESSIONS
Keep things simple by picking one full-body compound movement or create a circuit by using 2-3 upper and lower-body movements performed within a timed interval. “vary the amount of intervals you perform according to how much time you have,” says fitness expert cee fee dunn (ceefeedunn.com).
“the trick is to work as hard as you can in a short period with minimal rest. compound movements are multi-joint exercises that work more than one muscle group, allowing you to work continuously with less muscle fatigue, which helps to build strength while giving huge cardiovascular gains.”

KEEP IT SHORT AND SHARP
One of the best ways to make the most of your time for a fast and effective workout is to warm up as you go, increase your weights, and decrease your rest time inbetween exercises. “Concentrate on one body part each time you work out,” says fitness expert Chloe Bowler (chloebowler.com).
“Whether that be your legs, arms or core, spend 10 minutes on each section, so you can still achieve a full body workout. What’s more, free weights are great as they can be used to target your whole body. And, don’t forget to work your heart – try adding step-ups to your dumbbell shoulder press.”

UP THE ANTE
“When you’re short on time but still want to feel like you’ve worked hard, the simplest thing to do is up the intensity by 500 percent,” personal trainer Craig Fraser (cavecraig.co.uk) says. “The best way to do this is to set aside 30 minutes and divide your working sets into chunks. Do this by choosing 20-30 exercises, then do one minute of each at the highest intensity without rest. This is known as Romulus Endurance – working at your hardest pace for 20 minutes using predominantly plyometric and explosive exercises. Without doubt by the time you finish, you will definitely have worked hard enough to feel satisfied.”

CHOOSE QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
To maximise your workout you must be efficient with your choices. “Go for exercises that use multiple joints and muscles to push, pull, squat, lunge, rotate or throw a weight,” Tom Eastham, personal trainer and nutritionist for Fitness First tells us. “You must also minimise your rest times without jeopardising your results, so look to perform 2-3 of these movements back-toback.
Each one uses different muscle groups, which gives the non-working muscles an opportunity to recover, while your other muscles are performing the movement. This will keep your heart rate high and ensure you work as many different muscles as possible in one session.”

MIX IT UP
Body weight circuits at home are the perfect way to beat any excuses you may make during the winter, and you can do them without equipment. “choose a number of exercises to perform consecutively with no rest between them – except for transitioning to the next exercise – performing them for a set number or reps or for a short period of time,” says personal trainer reece fletcher.
“mix working your upper body and lower body to keep your heart rate up, which helps burn more calories. rest, and then repeat the same routine as many times as you wish, replacing or rearranging exercises to keep it interesting!”

KEEP IT BRIEF
“If pressed for time, you can get the best from your workouts with a mixture of resistance training, bodyweight drills and cardio,” Scott Storey, personal trainer at the Reebok Sports Club (reebokclub.co.uk) advises. The TRX HIIT classes are ideal when you only have 30 minutes to spare – the sweaty session alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of lessintense activity or even complete rest. The class is performed at such a high level that not only will your body burn fat during your workout, but due to increased metabolism you will continue to burn fat throughout the rest of the day, too. A monthly membership at the Reebok Sports Club starts at £112.50 and to find your nearest club, visit reebokclub.co.uk