What would you do?
Click, Ding, Beep!!! All sounds of life flying by at the pace of technology. Everything is in your face, at your fingertips and always on demand. Because of this high paced lifestyle, many seem to think strength training should be the same. Get in, Get out and Get on with it. I can’t argue as I too like efficient training sessions and don’t always have time for hour long strength training. That doesn’t mean there isn’t value to training longer, but that’s not what today is about. Today is about figuring out what you can do in 15 minutes or less and building it around your goals: Muscle, Strength, Endurance, Fat Loss, Work Capacity, Wellness etc.
With so much information out there on do this, do that, do everything etc, I don’t have time to educate you on the why. I am just going to show you, what. What you can do in a quick 10-15 minute period to get a total body strength workout in minimal time. This is very general, and geared for folks who simply want to age well, live longer and be less of a liability – which is 99% of the population. This isn’t specialized, nor should it be. We will be starting and ending with the Basics.
In the realm of all the movements, and ‘stuff’ that passes for exercise, we can narrow things down to the 5 most important and basic: Push, Squat, Pull, Hinge and Loaded Carries/Locomotion. Again, these have worked for years, before I was ever doing this as a profession and so, we will stick to the basics here and you will see results. I dare you not too…
- Push – Plank, Pushup, Overhead Press, Handstand
- Squat – Rocking, Bodyweight Squat, Goblet/Front Squat, MAX Lunge
- Pull – Batwing, Bodyweight row, Pullups
- Hinge – Bridge, Deadlift, Kettlebell Swing, Cleans
- Locomotion – Crawling knees down, crawling knees up, Turkish Get Up, Loaded Carries
Training Plans
#1 – Endurance based: under a time restriction: 3-5x per week
Movement Prep – Prepares your body for action, warms up the tissues, supples the joints and turns on the nervous system.
1. Push for 1 minute
2. Squat for 1 minute
3. Pull for 1 minute
4. Hinge for 1 minute
5. Locomotion/Carry for 1 minute
(i.e. – Military Press 1 minute, Goblet Squat 1 minute, Pullup 1 minute, Deadlift 1 minute, Farmers Carry 1 minute or whatever exercises you choose)
Repeat 2-3x or 2x and do 5 minutes of Crawling, Marching, Sprinting, Kettlebell Swings, Cleans, Snatches or combo’s of all, 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of Rest (or 20/40, 40/20, 50/10)
STRETCH
#2 – Strength based: in a repetition scheme: 3-4x a week
Movement Prep – Prepares your body for action, warms up the tissues, supples the joints and turns on the nervous system.
- Do 1 Push, then 1 Squat, then 1 Pull, then 1 Hinge, then 1 Carry. (i.e. – 1 Military Press, 1 Goblet Squat, 1 Pullup, 1 Deadlift, 1 Farmers Carry or whatever you choose)
- Now do 2 of each.
- Then 3, then 4 then 5.
- Back to 1.
- Do as many ladders as you can, with impeccable form, in 10-15 minutes.
- Rest as often as needed but as little as possible
- You can do 10 minutes of Strength and 5 minutes of conditioning (Crawling, Marching, Sprinting, Kettlebell Swings, Cleans, Snatches or combo’s of all, 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of Rest (or 20/40, 40/20, 50/10)
STRETCH
#3 – Fat Loss and Muscle Building, up to: 5x a week
Movement Prep – Prepares your body for action, warms up the tissues, supples the joints and turns on the nervous system.
Monday: Plank, Pushup or Press for 30 seconds and Crawl, March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Clean, Snatch for 30 seconds – Repeat 10-15x
Tuesday: Rocking, Goblet Squat or MAX Lunge for 30 seconds and Crawl, March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Clean, Snatch for 30 seconds – Repeat 10-15x
Wednesday: Batwing, Row or Pullup for 30 seconds and Crawl, March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Clean, Snatch for 30 seconds – Repeat 10-15x
Thursday: Bridge, Deadlift or Clean for 30 seconds and Crawl, March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Snatch for 30 seconds – Repeat 10-15x
Friday: Crawling, Turkish Getup or Carry for 30 seconds and March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Clean, Snatch for 30 seconds – Repeat 10-15x
#4- Strength and Endurance, up to: 3-5x a week
Movement Prep – Prepares your body for action, warms up the tissues, supples the joints and turns on the nervous system.
- Do 1 Push, then 1 Squat, then 1 Pull, then 1 Hinge, then 1 Carry and Crawl, March, Sprint, Kettlebell Swing, Clean, Snatch for 30 seconds for 30 seconds.
- Then do 2 of each movement and Swing etc. 30 seconds
- Then 3 and Swing etc. 30 seconds
- Then 4 and Swing etc. 30 seconds
- Then 5 and Swing etc. 30 seconds
- Go back 1 and up to 5 again
- Repeat 10-15 minutes
STRETCH
NOTES: Movement Prep and Stretch are up to you and should be specific to your training that day. Also, bend these plans to your goals and If you need help, comment below. Aim for moving everyday, strength training 2-4x a week, going all out 1x every 7-10 days and you have a time tested approach.
There you have numerous ways to keep fit, healthy and energized while under the time crunch. In fact, you have many ways within those simple cycles, to get better Strength, Better Endurance/Stamina and Better Fat Loss/Body Composition and more. It’s up to you to go out and put this to work. Remember, if don’t stay consistent, you will never see results. So choose wisely and go do something for atleast 6 weeks, consistently, without missing a session and then we can talk about what’s next. If you don’t do it, I truly can’t help.
If you decide to use one or many of these plans, please let us know below in the comments section.