One of the biggest misconceptions in fitness is that a short workout isn’t effective. In fact, let’s go bigger than that. It’s that unless you aren’t getting an hour or more in the gym, it’s not going to do anything.
As personal trainers, we find that absolutely laughable!
Sure, a personal training session at AdMac Fitness is an hour, but that’s because we’re doing this professionally, and people have the luxury of time when they come to see us. By booking a personal training session, they’ve allowed themselves the time to do things optimally.
But life isn’t always like that. We’re busy, and sometimes you don’t get an hour to train. So with that in mind, we’re going to look at different 30 minute workout options. We’ll put together workouts that will maximise the effectiveness of you workout time.
We’ll cover different fitness goals as well, so no goal is left ignored…
When general fitness is the goal…
Here you’ve got to optimise for ticking several boxes - you need a strength element and a cardio element. They way to combine these is with a weights-based high intensity interval training approach. You can get creative with the approach…
30 Seconds Work, 30 Seconds Rest x 5
Kettlebell Swings
Push Ups
Bent Over Kettlebell Rows
Kettlebell Push Press
Kettlebell Front Squats
Swiss Ball Plank
These 6 exercises, each performed for 5 minutes will give you a whole body workout in bang on 30 minutes. The intensity will be high enough to get your heart pumping and give you a great strength training workout.
Here’s another workout, this time with a barbell…
Perform 10 reps of each exercise, then rest for 2 minutes and repeat. Do as many rounds as you can in 30 minutes…
Deadlifts
Power cleans
Front squats
Push press
Bent over rows
Lunges
This will hit every muscle in the body, you can time cap it at 30 minutes and it’ll get the heart pumping fast! You’ll enjoy a lot of calorie burn in a short period of time.
When strength is the goal…
Here you’ve got to go a bit more route 1 - think simplicity, think heavy, think whole body. That’s the approach I’d be taking. Give this a go…
5 minute cardio warm up, in a way that uses the whole body. Think rower, cross trainer, air bike etc.
5 x 5 Squats
5 x 5 Bench press
5 x 5 Deadlift
Go hard, go heavy, just be careful.
If you’re less of a powerlifter and more of an all-rounder, I’d be looking at something like this…
3 x 6 Incline dumbbell bench press
3 x 6 Chest supported dumbbell rows
3 x 6 Dumbbell shoulder press
3 x 6 (per side) Bulgarian split squats
In these two workouts you’ve hit your whole body and still have time to get yourself back to work! Perfect way to get strong in a short period of time.
When cardio is the goal…
Here you’ve got a lot more freedom. You can hit a good half hour run - that’s easy enough. If you’re after something a little more creative, here’s a few approaches…
Talke a cardio machine of your choice. I like a whole body machine such as a rower or air bike ideally.
30 seconds gentle pace
20 seconds fast pace
10 seconds flat-out pace
Done in that exact order, for 30 minutes in a row. The short time goals means the 30 minutes flies by really quickly.
Another one I like goes like this…
Set the treadmill at a running pace you can cope with relatively easily. Something that raises your heart rate, but you could maintain for a long time if needed.
Every 30 seconds, put the incline up by 0.5%. It’ll take you 15 minutes to reach 15% incline (if you can make it that far). Once you’ve reached your maximum (whatever incline that may be), take it to 0% and start again.
Your 30 minute workout options - final thoughts
I’ve just given you 6 different workout ideas, covering general fitness, strength training and cardio training. All of them are a really simple set up, easy to execute and are brilliantly effective.
Next time you think you there’s no point in hitting the gym because you’ll only have 30 minutes, give one of them a go and see how you feel. I can promise you that you’ll be glad you trained when you feel the effects of them! Short workouts can be great, you’ve just got to do them right.
If you want help with your health, AdMac Fitness is the place to go!
We help people using tried and tested fitness approaches. Our expert team of personal trainers, based in both Bow and South Woodford can help you get a grip of your health and fitness. With our guidance you can see your health and fitness reach new levels!
For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
Our locations are…
AdMac Fitness Bow: Arch 457 Robeson St, London E3 4JA
AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD.