Quick Gym Ideas

Chandi Schwab

Interval Training

Extensive research has been done on the benefits of Interval Training in a number of populations, from marathon runners to sick patients (Nursing Research). It is a system of cardiovascular training that combines short high-intense periods of exercise in conjunction with longer rest periods, allowing for higher heart rates to be safely and effectively utilized.

The beauty of this system is that it is best used for short durations, from anything up to 10mins depending on the intensity you’re working at. For example, you may spend 10secs sprinting and then 1min walking and alternate for 10mins depending on your fitness levels. Despite this short time, the higher intensities make it an excellent choice of workout for burning fat and increasing VO2 Max.


Compound Exercises

Compound exercises are resistance exercises that involve more than one joint, a Barbell Squat, for instance. For that reason, these are the exercises that will give you the most return in terms of joint and muscle strength and allow you to work the whole body in a short amount of time.

An effective way of using these exercises on a time limit is to simply use one lower body movement and one upper body, for example, one day you would do a Barbell Squat and a Shoulder Press and on the next session you would do a Dead Lift and a Lat Pull Down.

Combine Exercises

Keeping with the compound exercises mentioned above, another time saving method would be to combine two exercises into one. For instance, you could Front Squat then immediately follow it with a Shoulder Press or combine a Dead Lift with a Barbell Shrug.

However this method should only be used with higher repetition regimes, as the strength discrepancy between your lower and upper body will not allow you to utilize this method with heavier loads.

Combine Weight Training & Cardio

More and more gyms are starting to include circuit classes into their timetables, for the simple reason that you get benefits of both weight training and cardio at the same time. For the time conscious gym-goer, this method can be carried out without the worry of having to set up lots of equipment; all it requires is a couple of dumbbells.

The idea behind this method is to carry out a number of exercises in sequence, without putting the Dumbbells on the floor.

Example

1.3 Circuits – 30secs rest in between
2.Dumbbell Squats 15reps
3.DB Shoulder Press 15reps
4.DB Stiff Leg Dead Lift 15reps
5.DB Row 15reps
6.DB Lunges 15reps
This method will improve both your cardiovascular system and your muscular endurance, as well as allow you to do a full workout in less than 10mins.

(suite101.com, Mathew Cotterill)