We are all so busy. It’s hard enough to find time between work and family and friends, let alone ourselves. Maybe you have two or three jobs, like I do, and it seems like you’re about ready to scream from the top of your lungs at a moment’s notice. Squeezing in a workout seems impossible, especially if you’ve been led to believe that getting fit takes time, and lots of it.
Girl, I’ve been there.
The truth is, you don’t need that much time to get or stay fit.
I know fitting a workout routine in your day can seem impossible, and yes, sometimes it almost is. Almost. If you’re super crunched (pun intended) for time, it takes a little planning, but it is possible. It’s always possible.
The good news is that you don’t need an hour or more a day. Working out shouldn’t be a huge chunk of time, unless, of course, you want it to, need it to (because it’s your job) and/or can make that happen. In fact, you shouldn’t be working out for too long too often or you’ll experience burn-out and sabotage your workout goals prematurely.
Metabolic Resistance Training.
The good news? There’s an all-in-one solution that is time-efficient and effective. It works as lightning quick as is possible in fitness. The bad news? You pay for that efficiency in effort. Wicked hella mega effort. Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) is balls-to-the-wall, all-out, full-on work. And by doing so, you will turn your body into a metabolic torch by combining cardio and strength training in one workout, burning fat and building lean muscle. How?
- Strength training
- Intensity
- Compound exercises
Strength training is your friend.
Now, if your haunches are up and you’re shaking your head now that I said “strength training,” please clear your mind of any preconceptions you have about women and strength training. And no, Tracey Anderson is hella WRONG about this.
There is a huge myth out there that strength training on women leads you to be “bulky.” This is complete bull.
Working out on its own doesn’t build muscle. Your diet does, certainly, but it’s also dependent on testosterone. Women have testosterone, believe it or not, but not nearly in the same capacity as men do. The women you see on Miss Olympia? They usually take hormones or other supplements to build that much muscle.
Also, even if you could build large muscles, it would take an extraordinary amount of effort, both in the gym and in your kitchen, to do so.
So now that we’ve gotten around reasons to not be scared of strength training, here are some amazing benefits you get:
- Naturally raise your metabolism.
- Lose inches (that’s usually the goal, isn’t it?).
- Finally have abs, probably without even thinking about it.
- Be stronger. It turns out, it’s super helpful.
- Stave off osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, alzheimer’s and heart disease.
- Be able to sculpt your body into something, rather than trying to chip away at it.
Read more (28 in total!) benefits here.
Also, in my personal fitness journey I’ve found that MRT has a good balance of cardio and strength training that it builds just enough muscle to get definition, while actually shrinking my overall size.
So that leads me to…
Intensity is your friend.
You can add intensity to strength training by adjusting the parameters so you reach an 8-10 (out of 10) effort level by the time the interval is over or by the time the reps are finished. You can achieve this by doing the exercises at a fast-ish rate, with a high number of reps, with the appropriate weight and with as little rest as possible. However, I do not recommend going going on hyper speed to the point where you run risk of injury or you miss out on stimulating and building the correct muscles.
You might hit that intensity level before the end of the exercise, in which case you just break for as little time as possible and jump back in. If it’s a bodyweight exercise, you’ll have to adjust the amount of reps or time involved, or you could possibly alter the exercise to make it more difficult. If it’s a purely cardio exercise, like jump roping or burpees, do it as fast as you can while still maintaining form. By the time the interval or the reps are up, you should be pretty exhausted.
Just be sure to never sacrifice form for time, okay?
Use mostly compound exercises.
There are two kinds of compound exercises:
- Exercises that are one movement and work more than one joint and/or muscle group. Examples: squats, push-ups, pull ups.
- Exercises that work one muscle and joint, but are combined with another exercise. Example: thrusters, renegade rows, sumo deadlift and high pull.
The beauty of compound exercises is that they work multiple muscle groups in one movement, which exhausts your cardiovascular system faster. More muscles equals more effort, so you’re getting strength and cardio benefits in one exercise. On top of that, they are often more functional. Oh, and they almost always work the core.
Plan your workout.
Whether you are following someone else’s workout or making your own, plan out what you’ll be doing that day and ideally, write it down.
This way, you have a roadmap. You won’t have to change gears mid-way—unless there’s a serious issue, of course—or think about anything during the workout. You also have a goal with planning it out, a simple one: finish the workout. That’s it. When you do, you’ll feel freaking fantastic.
If you need help finding a workout structure or format, check out my post here with 20 ways to structure your workout.
There are always exceptions, of course.
Are there exceptions to this? Oh, absolutely. Sometimes I’m tired of planning and I just start the clock and see what happens. That’s fun, too. But for efficiency, this should be the exception, not the rule.
You also might find that you’re feeling sick or way too exhausted midway through the workout. If your heart is beating faster than you feel comfortable with, or your feeling lightheaded or sick or nauseous, STOP. It might be the workout, or it might be just you, but don’t put yourself in danger. Adjust.
The workout might be taking much longer than expected. It’s okay to cut it short if you overestimated yourself and you don’t have time. Then again, it might be a fun challenge once in a while. Or if your workout is too easy or too short, do another round or do an add-on workout (I do these a lot). And trust me, you’ll get better at planning out how much effort and time a workout takes.
Being open-ended isn’t always the best thing for a workout.
Even if you do more of a traditional strength training workout, plan out the body parts, the exercises, the order, the sets and the amount of reps. It’s easy with these types of workouts to be open-ended, and flexibility is a good thing, but if you leave it too open-ended then you lose drive. You’ll reach a point and might go, “I guess that’s enough.” If you have a whole workout planned out, you’re more likely to stick with it.
With a clear goal in mind, it’s also easier to stay in the zone once you’re there.
Keep that momentum going.
I have a mental mindset when I’m working out, and once I’m there, I’m there for the duration of the workout, and then I’m out. This is not necessary for an effective workout, but I find it immensely helpful for an effective and time-efficient workout.
It’s also easier to finish a workout with maximum effort (but good form!) if you stay focused. Remember, the faster you get it over with, the faster you can delve into the rest of your life, so I suggest not taking calls, having conversations or stopping to watch television or see what exercise you’re doing next. Get everything loaded in your brain before you start, then do your 10-30 minutes and once it’s over, it’s over! Even if you take a break between parts of exercises, keep it to two minutes maximum. More than that and you run the risk of completely losing your drive, whereas if you’re in the zone, you’re more likely to keep going until you get it done.
The cons to this type of exercising is that your family might think you’re a massive jerk. When I would work out at home, my kids would try to talk to me and I would be all aggro and tired and say things with the grace of a troll, like “Move!” or “Not right now!” Luckily, they were old enough to understand. But luckily, you will be over that much faster and you can apologize that much faster.
I should point out that exercise where you can talk and walk, or talk and run, or talk and hike, or intermittently exercise, sometimes called “greasing the groove,” are all great ways to exercise, too. But as this post is is covering being efficient in results and time, they don’t fit into this goal quite so well.
Use freeweights instead of machines.
In general, I prefer freeweights over the machines because they work the whole body. Even when the workout itself is an isolation exercise, like bicep curls, when you perform it with freeweights, you have to exert more energy to keep the weights stable because they can move on more than one plane. Plus, when lifting weights, your entire body is involved in keeping your balance, and you’re always working your core to do so.
There are also an infinite amount of ways to vary or combine exercises with freeweights. Just rotating your elbows on a bicep curl, for instance, changes the impact on your muscles. There are many methods of holding the weights, including where to hold them on your body, which also changes the exercise. For even more variety, try the same exercises with kettlebells instead of dumbbells, or a medicine ball instead of a kettlebell. Try doing two exercises together, like a lunge and then a squat. There are whole worlds of possibilities that keeps your routine fresh and interesting. I’m all about keeping it interesting.
Plus, if you work out at a crowded gym, you will find an easier time grabbing a couple of freeweights and finding a space and working out with that equipment, rather than hoping that the machines are free when you want them to be.
Are isolation exercises and machines bad?
Oh God, no. In fact, if you are brand new to strength training, the machines can get your muscles acclimated to stimulation, and your risk of injury goes down because the movement is very controlled. You can also have fun trying out all the machines and following the handy diagrams.
If you’re really looking to target one muscle group, the machines are excellent. But again, they just don’t fit into a MRT workout very well.
Try bodyweight exercises.
The beauty of bodyweight workouts is that they can be performed almost anywhere. You don’t need equipment or a gym membership. Strap on your shoes and your workout gear, maybe grab your phone and a water bottle, and head to the park. Even better is if there’s a place with a pull-up bar, which is one of the best and hardest bodyweight exercises there is.
Bodyweight exercises are also, mostly by default, compound exercises, so you get to work a lot muscle groups in one. And with the proper ideas and exercises, you can have a kickass strength training routine with bodyweight exercises alone. I have loads of bodyweight-only workouts in my arsenal (like, HUNDREDS) and I have several here and will continue adding them to the workout archives.
Bodyweight doesn’t mean it’s any easier. There are plenty of strategies for upping the intensity on your bodyweight exercises. But because you’re usually dealing with lower weight, the opportunities for injury are lower, and for increasing agility are higher.
For a couple of years, I worked out almost exclusively in bodyweight. I now vary my workouts and my exercises within the workouts between weighted and bodyweight.
Be safe!
I cannot stress this enough: BE SAFE. Please be safe.
What does that mean? It means that you need to know the difference between being sore and being injured. If you’re working out and there’s something that feels off, chances are it is. Just because some movement works for your friend doesn’t mean it will for you.
Know thyself.
Maybe you have mobility issues because of an old injury, or some extra scar tissue, or maybe your knees naturally bend inwards or outwards, or maybe you have a higher center of gravity than most people. If you’re not sure, don’t do it. If you want to do it, then take baby steps and ideally learn from a professional. When that’s not possible, educate yourself and track your own form and progress. Start with bodyweight or light weights before progressing. The internet makes this pretty easy. We all have funny kinks with our bodies, and not every exercise is right for all of us.
Rest today can lead to gains tomorrow (and steer away from injury).
You might also be fine with a movement, but over time you injure yourself. STOP. If you pull a muscle in your shoulder, don’t do any upper body work. If you do, you’ll run the risk of seriously injuring it. I know it’s a bummer. I’ve been there. But it’s much better to take a couple weeks off on a body part than to have to take six months off because you need surgery. Don’t do it.
This is also why many people and trainers stress the importance of form. Little mistakes over time can lead up to big injuries, and when we’re tired, we naturally lose diligence, so always keep on top of it.
Push yourself, but never to the point where you think you might injure yourself, puke, or pass out. I know there are memes out there about how “amazing” a workout is because you feel like you’ll puke, but that’s a bunch of internet garbage. You do NOT need to hurt yourself. I’ve passed out at the gym before. It wasn’t fun. I pushed myself in order to get a good workout, and then I was too embarrassed to return for four weeks.
Put it all together!
You’ll find loads of workouts on this blog, and I’ll keep adding them every week, but they all follow the basic paradigm above. I love a good workout of usually 20-30 minutes of combined strength and cardio training. Occasionally, I’ll also add another 5-10 minutes of cardio or specialized strength training in little add-on workouts. If you’re new to working out, you can actually get amazing results with just a 10-15 minute workout. Try one of my workouts, or follow these guidelines to make your own.