One of the top excuses I hear from my clients and friends online is that they don’t have enough time to fit in workouts. Guest poster, Levi Clampitt shares his tips for time saving workouts. No excuses anymore people!
Kettlebells
Kettlebells are a great option not only because they are easy to store and travel with, but because you can run through a whole workout without having to change the weight, you save time.
The best movement to capitalize on using kettlebells is hip swings:
Starting out, I’d advise women to try 25 – 30 lbs (better to go heavier than lighter) and males about twice that. I think one of the best places to buy kettlebells is on Amazon.
Tabata
Tabata is a 4 minute circuit comprised of 8 rounds of 20 seconds on/10 seconds off. It is used best with leg exercises (squats, step-ups, lunges) and can work well for upper body exercises if you alternative exercises (like pressing exercises with rowing).
Very few people need to add external weight to their exercises, but for those that do have to, I suggest giving thrusters a shot:
Aim for 8 – 15 reps per round.
Play Games
There is a game I play called “Beat the Clock” where I pick 1 – 2 exercises and see if I can do so many reps within a certain time.
For instance, yesterday I aimed for 200 squats in 5 minutes. I am done when whichever comes first. In this case, I hit 5 minutes while only at 180 reps. That is my benchmark so next time that’s what I will be trying to beat.
There is another variation of this (“Beat the Reps”), where I pick 2 antagonistic exercises (pushups and pullups for example) and see how many I can do in 15 or 20 minutes.
A lot of the games we play begin with a challenging question such as this one: How Long Can You Hold a Wall Sit?
If you are allowed the luxury, recruit a training partner to make this more fun and challenging.
I time challenge I have been playing with as of late is seeing how fast I can do 100 reps (of each leg) of reverse lunges (50 for females). This will fry your booty for sure.
Levi Clampitt is the head writer & trainer at Without A Gym – A resource dedicated to showing people how to exercise anywhere, anytime. Life tends to get in the way of our goals. Without a Gym exists to help you get around it. Like us on facebook to continue the conversation.
I love tabatas and kettlebells
Me too. Thanks for stopping by Sara.
I think many moms think that they have to work out at a gym for an hour and so they do nothing. Some exercise is always better than no exercise. Thanks for the great suggestions!
I could not agree more. After completing P90X, I felt like I always needed 60-90 minutes of exercise and that is simply not true.
Great advice Jenn!
Wall sits are evil – they make me cry, I swear
[...] was originally posted at Comeback Momma- A website dedicated to helping mothers stage their own [...]
I absolutely LOVE kettlebells! These are great workouts, I have a lot of busy days where I don’t have much time, but I’d have time for these. Thanks!
Glad to give you some time saving ideas.
this is just what i need! i always complain i dont have time to work out!!
xo,
Sandy
Sandy a la Mode
No more excuses!
I’ve never heard of Tabata, but that sounds like a great way to infuse lots of training into a small circuit. Thanks for the tips Levi!
Thank you so much for sharing your blog on Google+. It is just what I need. I just recently gave birth to a baby 3 months ago & I need to get my body back to normal.
Glad to “meet” you on Google + Thanks for passing along my blog to your followers.
I have never tried kettle bells before – thanks for all the info though. I might try them out now!
Dawn
Kettlebells are great. Just be sure to start light and use correct form. Google Lauren Brooks. She has some great instructional videos.
Kettlebells is my favorite. Thanks so much for sharing!
Great workouts! I got a kettlebell last fall and really need to start using it more… I bet even 10 min/day will benefit my swimming and running. Thanks for the great post!
Kettlebells really do give you a total-body workout in about half the time.
The Videos were very helpful!