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You’ve probably heard of Tim Ferris’ The Four Hour Work Week.
We’ll Mr Ferris, I’ll see your work week and raise it to workout week.
Actually, UNDER for hours.
If you are wedded to the idea that you need to slave away for an hour a day to get body shaping results and a leaner physique, guess again. Sure, you can work out that much if you like. My point is, effective workout routines for women needn’t be such time gobblers. Important to know when your time is at a premium.
Fresh on my mind from the energizing preview call for the November Booty Boot Camp, this news is a big relief for fit-aspiring women everywhere. My guidelines for a solid body-shaping, health-building, energy upping workout schedule, which forms the framework for the Booty Camp workout routines, is simple.
Here’s how to make my time-saving workout routine yours.
My work (out) week: 3 simple steps to a perfect streamlined workout schedule
There are 3 parts to this. Actually, 3 and 1/2 if you want to get technical.
1) 2 – 3 times a week, a full body workout. More if you like, don’t let me stop you. I’m just pointing out how little you can really get away with, as long as what you are doing is effective. Full body means it targets all the major muscle groups, has some compound, multi-joint work in it, and gives every muscle a wake-up call.
2) 2 – 3 times a week, targeted body shapers. Isolation and overload. Makes those muscles most responsible for creating shape to a woman’s body stand up and take notice. Your workout should be tough enough that it is beyond a wake-up call for these muscles. Maximum muscle burn in about 90 seconds. Fit Quickies™ for example.
3) 2 – 3x a week, do Burst Training. These are 15 minute sessions of high intensity interval training. See my free Fitness Breakthrough Kit for explicit instructions, schedule, and rationale behind this powerful, time-saving, metabolism boosting, kick-arse technique.
Please note that some workouts encompass 2 – or event 3 – of these categories. So in practice, you could actually complete 3 workouts that encompass full body AND targeted body shapers, 50 – 60 minutes. If you don’t have chunks of time like that, break it up as described in #1 and #2 above. See how it works? For example you could rotate Supersets, Fit Quickies, and Burst Training for a very effective package. Or mix up Fit Quickies with Bar Method and Bursts. Whatever combination gives you deep muscle overload several times a week and intense cardio challenge a few times a week. These components in focus deliver your best time-saving fitness strategies.
There you have it! Oh, I did say “and a half”, didn’t I. My add-on would be walk, walk. Every day if you can. But make it fun. For stress reduction, relaxation, and because that’s part of being a good animal.
What’s your favorite, time-saving rotation? What are your tricks for saving time AND maximizing your workout investment? Tell me about it in comments!
Lani, this is an absolutely wonderful post. I hate it when I get “stuck” thinking either I have to do a lot more than I really have time for (or, let’s admit it, want to!) or I feel like I have to do a certain workout over another. Are you saying that there are lots of different ways to mix up your workouts to get results? This is so freeing! Thanks for the great ideas.
Jen
Yes, Jen, exactly that – there are lots of ways to approach your workouts. Decide what your goals are first. Then strategize your plan to take you right to it. It’s all about gravity, resistance, leverage, and challenge. It isn’t magic or mysterious, it just takes work and time BUT you can get a lot done in less time than you might think! Thanks for your comments today!
Thanks for the post 🙂 Just FYI, you know that Tim Ferriss is actually following up his first book, The 4-Hour Work Week, with a second book, The 4-Hour Body, coming out in December that’s focused on this. His is the same goal: the smallest changes with the biggest improvements. Looks worth a read! (I think the book’s site is http://4-hourbody.com/ )
Hi Lani, if I have the time, can I add aerobics to this routine? How does this fit with burst training i.e. same day or different day?
Hey Jennifer,
You can add more cardio as desired of course! Burst Training is included in my schedule on this post. You can do it on same OR different day, quite flexible!