You would be surprised by how often I miss workouts even with being in the gym pretty much all day. I coach the majority of classes and tend to find myself at my computer through most of my non-coaching hours. So there are plenty of days where I am left with only 30-45 minutes to work out, and that includes warming up.

If I don’t work out, I usually feel terrible, I am slightly addicted to exercise, and it takes a toll mentally and physically when I miss. Mentally I feel like I am going to lose what I have worked for over the last ten years, and physically I ache more when I don’t work out — the whole “a body in motion” theory.

Whenever I am short on time, I like to make my workouts into intervals. Intervals are bouts of exercise that can be fast-paced or slow to moderate paced, followed by a period of rest. For me, I like to keep my intervals to about three and keep the range between 4-6 minutes with about half of that in rest. So, for example, if I am working out for 4 minutes, I will rest for 2 minutes.

I want there to be some free weights combined with some monostructural type cardio. (running, rowing, biking, burpees…) If my knees or back are aching, I make the weights be upper body focused. If my shoulders sore, I make it the weights be lower body focused. If the weights are lower-body focused, I usually try to make it a triplet (three movements) and add in some gymnastic work.

When it comes to warming up, I usually need them to be quick and focused. Prep the body parts you are going to use through some quick dynamic and light work and move on. I like to use light kettlebells and dumbbells to prep the shoulders and bands to prep the lower body. If I am planning on doing any real loading, I will do an additional few sets building up to the weight I want to use.

Here is the workout I did last week, including the warm-up:
Warm-Up:
2-3:00 minutes on a foam roller
3 rounds:
10 Calorie Bike (Legs Only/Arms Only/Sprint with both)
12/12 Single Arm Kettlebell Floor Press (26/35/53#) – tempo 30X1
60′ Monster Walk (Forward/Lateral/Sweeping)

Workout:
2 rounds:
AMRAP x 6 Minutes
21-15-9
Calories on Bike
Dual DB Suitcase Reverse Lunges 50#
Push-Ups
-rest 3 mins-

The warm-up took me right at 10:00 to do; I put my kettlebells and band away I used for the warm-up, grabbed the 50# dumbbells, and did a few lunges without weight, some with one dumbbell and a few with both. I repped out a few push-ups and was ready to go 5:00 later. The workout is a total of 15:00. I finished the whole thing in about 30:00 and had time to shower before I started my 4:00 pm class.

Workouts like this take a few minutes to plan out if you are not a seasoned workout planner if you are interested in workouts that are quick and effective like this be on the lookout for our new “30 Minute” class for those who are looking to beat the traffic home after work or need a last quick workout!

See you soon!

Richard