20 Minute Workouts for Busy People, I dare you to try this!

[littleman84]

Everyone here obviously is looking for the coolest new workouts and techniques to try. However, there are a lot of people here that only want the quickest and fastest way to a flat stomach. They don't care about the newest workouts or drills or whatever. They simply want a fast and effective workout to get on with their lives, look great, and not think too much about whether they are getting fat or not. The following workout does just that, feel free to change it up to better suit your needs, this is just one example.

First 20 Minutes

1A) Dumbbell Squat- 8-10 reps
1B) Dumbbell Incline Chest Press- 8 reps
Rest 1 minute then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 times

2A) Dumbbell Split Squat- 8 reps per side
2B) Dumbbell Chest Press- 10 reps
Rest 1 minute then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 times

3A) Pull ups- 6 reps
3B) Decline Push ups- 15-20 reps
Rest 1 minute then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 times

Obviously this workout is set up as super-sets so it is important that you work out fast and with a weight that is heavy enough to give you a burn and that brings you close to failure with the indicated reps. Women can also do this workout but I would recommend using light weight as you probably do not want to get all buff.

Last 25 Minutes

Intense Interval Training

This can either be done outside, treadmill, or stationary bike, you pick. I prefer treadmill as it is easy for me to track my time and speed.

1)First 5 minutes- Warm up as you go from a walk to a slow jog.
2)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
3)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
4)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
5)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
6)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
7)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
8)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
9)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
10)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
11)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
12)45 seconds- Run at a moderately fast pace
13)90 seconds- Walk or jog slowly
14)Last 5 minutes walk or jog slowly for a cool down

For the intervals to be effective you must do them right. If you do not know how fast you need to run then use this to kind of give you an idea. If a FAST dog was chasing you, how fast would you RUN? O.k. now that you have a good idea of how fast you would run, lets say that it would be a 10 out of 10, do you intervals at about an 8 out of 10. This only goes for the running part of the interval, the 90 seconds.

You only need a total of 6 intervals for a good quality workout. If you are a parent or student that just does not have enough time to be at the gym then this type of workout is good for you. Why? Because super-sets only take 20 minutes and intervals are 25 minutes. That is a total of a 45 minute workout. The awesome thing about this is that you only need 3 of these workouts per week to get AWESOME results. Screw going to the gym everyday! Oh and if you do not have 45 minutes to spare then doing one of these workouts is also good, you'll just have to make up you other workout the following day. So typically you can also workout 6 days a week for 20 minutes per day and still get good results. I prefer to get it over with the same day and have 4 days a week off from the gym.

Well, there it is, like i said, feel free to change it up to meet the type of physique that you are going for, maybe you want to bulk up like a bodybuilder, well there are also ways of doing this.

 

[KaraCooks]

Women can also do this workout but I would recommend using light weight as you probably do not want to get all buff.

And that right there proves that you don't have the first clue about the things you're talking about.

I'd suggest you do some reading of the sticky posts here, especially the one called The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting and follow it with the one called Getting into Weight Training:A Female Friendly Guide .

 

[Korrie]

Why do people have a problem w/ women getting "buff" anyways. Have you ever seen a woman, not a pro weight lifter, but a real woman walking on the streets and thought "eww, she's too buff for me" lol

 

[littleman84]

And that right there proves that you don't have the first clue about the things you're talking about.

I'd suggest you do some reading of the sticky posts here, especially the one called The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting and follow it with the one called Getting into Weight Training:A Female Friendly Guide .

I'm sorry I don't sound like a guru but that's because I'm not. I don't claim to be a certified personal trainer and that is also because i'm not. I'm just an average person who likes to stay fit yet hates the thought of going to the gym everyday. So with that being said, I know this STYLE of workout works. It's just a typical workout that is good for busy people, that is all. And yes i do know way more about "men" workouts, but I do believe that this type of workout can also benefit a woman, like I said, change it up to suit your needs.

I meant nothing by " women being buff", I admit it does sound ignorant, but I didn't mean it to come across like that. I'm sorry if it sounded like that.

But, again, I never said I was this expert on fitness. Am I suppose to be an expert on fitness to be able to post my thoughts on exercise here?

And you're right, I didn't read the post about WOMEN WEIGHT LIFTING, but you know what I probably will now so you won't chew my head off again. lol seeing that your a moderator.

My thread was only to give you a 45 minute workout that can be done 3 days a week, and that focuses primarily on busy people. Again i'm sorry for the ignorant quote about "women getting too buff".

 

[KaraCooks]

But, again, I never said I was this expert on fitness. Am I suppose to be an expert on fitness to be able to post my thoughts on exercise here?

When you come on a board and your first post is a "lecture" about the right way to exercise .. then yeah, you're presenting yourself as an "expert".

In general, people who come to the forum post an introduction and tell a little bit about themselves first. They also don't come here and make their first post a very authoritative statement about the right way to exercise ... what people "need" to do and how they "must" do things "right".

Your method of presentation was indicative of someone acting as an expert or a guru in the field. So perhaps next time, you might want to indicate, for the sake of newbies who don't know better, that you're NOT an expert and that you don't actually have a whole lot of knowledge and that you're repeating something you've read elsewhere.

If you don't know anything about women working out or women lifting weights, THEN DON'T POST IT. If you have personal experience with this workout, then by all means say so. Tell where you got it from, how you've used it, and how it worked for you.

For the record, telling women to lift light weights with lots of reps is stupid. Women should lift heavy, just like men. There is no reason a woman can't do the same workout a man can. Women cannot get "bulky" from lifting heavy - we don't have the testosterone or the genetic capability to build muscle the same way a man can. If you see a woman who is bulked, she is most likely that way from taking drugs. If she is one of the rare, rare, rare women who can build a bit more muscle, she's worked her ASS off to do it - eating a particular way, and lifting intensely and more than just a regular heavy lifting routine for 3-5 workouts a week.

So .. if you have personal knowledge of lifting, please share it. But please don't make statements about things that you don't actually KNOW about. It's harmful to those newbies who don't know any better and think that because you're posting here, you're some kind of expert.

 

[littleman84]

Why do people have a problem w/ women getting "buff" anyways. Have you ever seen a woman, not a pro weight lifter, but a real woman walking on the streets and thought "eww, she's too buff for me" lol

LOL Oh my goodness, its like all the moderators against me. Thats not fair.

NO i don't have a problem with women being too buff. I will admit i'm just an ignorant male who was posting a workout and didn't think that the average woman wanted to get buff. that however was not the focus of my thread, my focus was the 45 minute workout for a really busy person.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I highly doubt that every person who posts here is 100% correct about the things they claim that work.

Quality Exercises + Nutrition= Less Time at the Gym
Gosh I hate the gym.

But anyways, I don't think I've ever seen a woman and thought eww she's too buff. I used to live in New York and there I remember seeing for the first time professional women body builders. The first thought that came to my mind was " o.k. I don't know if I want to workout at this gym anymore because these women are lifting heavier weights than me."

None the less I was impressed, but that was about as close as i've come to see a real live buff woman. Where I'm from that is not typical so yes that is why I'm a bit ignorant. But you know what I think we are all ignorant in one way or another. For me it just happens to be "buff women".lol JK

thanks,

P.S.
I still believe that super-sets and intervals are great for busy people! Including women.

 

[KaraCooks]

I highly doubt that every person who posts here is 100% correct about the things they claim that work.

You know what ... we work hard to make sure that the information posted is correct. If it's not, we correct it.

That's the point of this place. To make sure that people have ACCURATE information to draw on to lose weight, get fit, and be healthy.

So you're right, not everyone who posts here is 100% correct - the first time. But we make sure that they know that if they're going to continue to post, they need to make more of an effort to make sure that what they post is correct going forward ... and that they can substantiate it so that newbies don't get led off course.

 

[KaraCooks]

Oh, and btw, the moderators aren't "against" you personally - we're just against false or misleading information being posted as fact on this board.

 

[Korrie]

My comment wasnt' personal, against you. i've just heard people referring to woman getting "too buff" before, so I thought I'd ask why the hoopla about it, ya know?

 

[littleman84]

Oh, and btw, the moderators aren't "against" you personally - we're just against false or misleading information being posted as fact on this board.

Well, you see, I need to know what you took as "misleading" from my thread. The post was about super-sets and intervals. This is a common way of losing weight though exercise. I don't see anything "false" about these particular exercises.

But you just told me that "I don't know what I'm talking about". Which is o.k. because everyone has a right to state their opinion(plus your a moderator).lol

I do want to know what EXACTLY was misleading? Was it the "women picking lighter weights" part? Was it just that part or was it the whole theory in general?

I did look at the sticky you suggested, which by the way has a lot of awesome info, but it is too much for me to digest and I'd rather keep things simple and fast.

I didn't find the part about women weight lifting, so if you could lighten me up a little bit on it it would be great so I won't sound ignorant and like I know nothing because for an average gym goer I believe that I know a thing or two.

Oh and thanks for not being against me "personally".

 

[littleman84]

My comment wasnt' personal, against you. i've just heard people referring to woman getting "too buff" before, so I thought I'd ask why the hoopla about it, ya know?

LOL I think this is too funny! Especially when my intentions were not about talking about "buff women". I think woman can get as buff as they want I don't really care. I have heard that it can happen though. Especially in the shoulder area. Why? I dont' know? I'm just saying because a while back two of my friends quit going to the gym for a while because they said that they noticed their shoulders were looking too buff. I just find it ironic that they both experienced the same thing. LOL maybe just stop doing shoulder exercises right? it was probably just an excuse to stop going to the gym.

 

[KaraCooks]

I do want to know what EXACTLY was misleading?

The bit about "women should lift lighter so they don't get bulky" was the most misleading. See my notes below.

Aside from that, any post filled with "you must" and "you need" and "you should" is one that anyone should take with a grain of salt. That's the biggest thing that sets off bells in what you wrote. Absolutes don't work. They just don't. Each person has to find the training method that's most effective for them.

Obviously this workout is set up as super-sets so it is important that you work out fast and with a weight that is heavy enough to give you a burn and that brings you close to failure with the indicated reps.

Supersets are not always effective for building strength. And a "burn" means nothing in terms of effectiveness of a workout.

Women can also do this workout but I would recommend using light weight as you probably do not want to get all buff.

See below for the explanation about women "getting buff".

Also you don't bother to explain that if you're weight lifting properly, you should have a 48 hour rest between weight lifting workouts at a minimum. Doing heavy weight lifting workouts - and supersetting at that - every day is NOT good and can cause muscle damage, fatigue, and actually make your workout results counter productive. Sure you say you only need 3 of these workouts per week, but you don't explain that the 3 days need to have a break between them.

But further to that, putting a supersetting HEAVY weight lifting workout and a HIIT program on the same day is just asking for an injury. Most people are going to have a really hard time doing both of these things on the same day. Most people just can't do a real heavy, weight lifting workout AND HIIT on the same day w/out killing their legs.

A better alternative would be to alternate their weight lifting days with their cardio days - especially if they're doing HIIT.

But even then, no one has to do HIIT to have an effective workout. For many people (myself included) 20 mins of weight lifting alternating with 30 mins of SS cardio is equally effective. Yes, intervals can be used to good effect. But no one *has* to do intervals to have an effective workout.

I didn't find the part about women weight lifting, so if you could lighten me up a little bit on it it would be great so I won't sound ignorant and like I know nothing because for an average gym goer I believe that I know a thing or two.

As I posted above:
For the record, telling women to lift light weights with lots of reps is stupid. Women should lift heavy, just like men. There is no reason a woman can't do the same workout a man can. Women cannot get "bulky" from lifting heavy - we don't have the testosterone or the genetic capability to build muscle the same way a man can. If you see a woman who is bulked, she is most likely that way from taking drugs. If she is one of the rare, rare, rare women who can build a bit more muscle, she's worked her ASS off to do it - eating a particular way, and lifting intensely and more than just a regular heavy lifting routine for 3-5 workouts a week.

If you're going to post advice, then I suggest you read the sticky threads by Steve and really absorb them. If your mindset is that you don't want to learn in depth and you want to keep it "simple and fast" then you probably shouldn't give advice. And I'm not saying that in an "against you" way .. but in a very serious way. What you're saying is like a cook saying "I don't want to bother to learn about food safety, I just want to throw out recipes and hope no one gets sick".

If you want to say "here's what I do and it's worked for me" ... go for it.

But don't post a message that says "hey, here's the best way to do this and here's how you must do it in order to get the best results" ... becuase that's setting yourself up as someone who knows what they're talking about.

 

[littleman84]

If you don't know anything about women working out or women lifting weights, THEN DON'T POST IT. If you have personal experience with this workout, then by all means say so. Tell where you got it from, how you've used it, and how it worked for you.

I'm sorry, i didn't catch this, and some of the last part as well, so that answers my question of what you thought was misleading. An your right, what i've learned is what I've seen others do and what they have told me to read.

I didn't however, say for women to do a lot of reps. Heavy weight is fine and ofcourse I don't really know what is considered heavy for a woman and even a man because we are all different. I just know what is "heavy" for me.

You should of at least asked me first if I was a trainer or something. My profile says that I like to play guitar, workout, and I work in retail. I honestly thought that this was enough for me to NOT come across as an "expert". I mean, I work retail u know.

But I will take your advice and go and introduce myself, I just thought that people don't really care who you are unless you are someone like an "expert" or something.

 

[KaraCooks]

You should of at least asked me first if I was a trainer or something.

I should HAVE ... done no such thing. Many of the newbies who join here and read wouldn't ask you. They'd just assume by your air of authority that you know what you're talking about.

Again, that's part of my role as a mod here ... to make sure that the information that is posted is accurate and not potentially harmful to newbies who might not understand that not everyone who posts with a voice of authority *is* an authority.

Heck even your first sentence was pretty much wrong .. : "Everyone here obviously is looking for the coolest new workouts and techniques to try." ... when in fact everyone here is "obviously" not necessarily looking for the "coolest new workouts" .. or whatever.

And again, it's not personal. I would hope that you'd stay and read and learn and yes, even participate. But just be careful about making definitive statements like "you must" and "this is best".

 

[littleman84]

I should HAVE ... done no such thing. Many of the newbies who join here and read wouldn't ask you. They'd just assume by your air of authority that you know what you're talking about.

Again, that's part of my role as a mod here ... to make sure that the information that is posted is accurate and not potentially harmful to newbies who might not understand that not everyone who posts with a voice of authority *is* an authority.

Heck even your first sentence was pretty much wrong .. : "Everyone here obviously is looking for the coolest new workouts and techniques to try." ... when in fact everyone here is "obviously" not necessarily looking for the "coolest new workouts" .. or whatever.

And again, it's not personal. I would hope that you'd stay and read and learn and yes, even participate. But just be careful about making definitive statements like "you must" and "this is best".

Sweet deal, next time i'll be more careful. I'll just focus on "this is what I've done and it's worked for me" this sound really good. Oh and i've actually introduced myself, you should check it out. Well, you probably kinda have to, being a mod and all. thanks for correcting me on the way I say things. Even though I really LIKE what I know I need to understand that it is not the best for everyone. And your right, if a total newbie reads something like this then who knows what could happen? I need to remember that I was once a newbie. I guess i just assumed that anybody could just read my thread and analyze it to see if it was good to try. But I guess that thats the point of being a newbie, you really do not know how to analyze things.

So to everyone reading this, analyze what you read and ask questions, DO NOT ASSUME that the source is an expert on the field. Especially when you are trying to learn through forums.


Again, my sincere apology for coming across like a know it all when I only wish I did.

 

[kocengkuning]

but i just do about 8 minutes/day workout to burn somefat,the exercise is:
1. do 30 jump squat
2. do 200 ft abdominal crawl
3. do 200 jumping jacks
4. and do 200 ski steps.

after that top get more efficient result you can consume some (spam removed)

 

[Tracy740]

I know this is a bit older of a post, but I am a woman I am 40 to be exact and I lift heavy. I do not see a reason to waste my time or my trainers time being a wussy little girl (really wanted to use the B word....) and say I can not lift heavy.

On squat machine I squat 230 (we start lower of course but my last 2 lifts for the 10 and 8 rep I squat the 230) It will only go up from there.

On the pull downs the starting reps I am at 100#'s the last 2 reps I am at 125 and 130.

Bench Press 225 I struggle with this the last 2 I am damn near failure but still get it up there and maintain proper position.

Legs I totally psyc myself out if I know how much he is having me "lift" so I do not keep track but I do know he tells me I am out lifting some of his men he trains.

For me if I lifted light and the days that we do light I do not feel I get a workout and leave the gym feeling unsatisfied. I like a hard kick my ass make me sweat and really really work muscle burning type of workout. It just makes me feel good.