Sometimes
you might only have 20 minutes for a workout. What are the most efficient
exercises to make the best use of your time?
One of the biggest
barriers to establishing a regular workout routine is a lack of time. Finding
an extra hour (or more if you include travel to a gym) to exercise most days of
the week can feel like an insurmountable challenge, especially if you have a
busy work schedule, family responsibilities, or a long commute.
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The good news is,
you can get the same (or even better) results from an intense 20-minute workout
as you can from a one-hour session.
A large study from
2019, for instance, found that replacing 30 minutes of sitting each day with
moderate to vigorous
physical activity was associated with a 45 percent
reduction in mortality risk. And many studies have found that short, intense
workouts two to three times a week can improve lung function and cardiovascular
health.
Experts from the
US Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that most adults get 150
minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week, but you can cut that in half
— to 75 minutes a week — if the workout is intense.
Stephen J. Carter,
a cardiovascular physiologist at the Indiana University Bloomington School of
Public Health, said that shorter, more intense workouts are better than longer,
less intense workouts at lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and
reducing overall mortality rates.
“People really can
glean a lot of favorable benefits in a short amount of time,” Carter said.
How can you get an effective workout in 20 minutes?
Maillard Howell, head of fitness at Reebok and co-owner of Dean CrossFit
in the New York borough of Brooklyn, said the key to getting an effective
workout in a short amount of time is focusing on compound exercises.
A compound exercise
is one that uses multiple muscle groups at the same time to perform a movement
— like squats, push-ups, or deadlifts. Isolation exercises, like bicep curls or
calf raises, will not raise your heart rate as quickly as compound exercises
and primarily work one muscle group at a time.
If you are short on
time, “you want big movements that use big muscles,” Howell said.
When you use
multiple muscle groups, your body shunts blood away from organs to the working
muscles, Carter said, which ultimately raises your heart rate.
Taxing your heart
like this two or three times a week can bring a host of cardiovascular
benefits, Carter said, including a decreased heart rate (a sign of a healthy
heart) and lower blood pressure.
In addition to
compound movements, the other secret to making a short workout effective is
minimizing rest time between exercise reps and when transitioning between
movements, Howell said. While you do not want to rush through an exercise and
risk poor form, you also do not want to stop moving and take a five-minute
break in the middle of your workout.
“I don’t need you
to go faster, just don’t slow down,” Howell said.
How should you prepare for your workout?
With any workout, Howell said that it is essential to start with a warm-up
and end with a cool down. But for a 20-minute workout, your warm-up will have
to be efficient.
“You don’t want to
spend 15 minutes warming up,” Carter said. “That means that you’re going to
have to take the warm-up seriously.”
He recommended a
three- to five-minute warm-up with the goal of increasing circulation. “I keep
it dynamic. I just want to start moving, and I’m a big fan of raising your body
temperature before a workout,” Howell said.
He likes to do the
cat-cow yoga pose, where you start on all fours and arch your back and look up
at the ceiling, then round your back, dropping your head between your
shoulders. Repeat this movement about 15 times, until your body starts to feel
looser, then move onto some jumping jacks and high knees, where you bring your
knees up to your chest one at a time, either by marching or running in place.
What should your workout be?
One of Howell’s favorite full-body, no-equipment, time-efficient workouts
is simple and can be scaled to any fitness level or ability.
The workout is:
Five body weight squats, five push-ups and a 30-second plank — repeated six
times, resting for no more than 30 seconds between rounds. If you cannot do a
push-up on the floor, do it against a countertop or a stable bench. You can
modify the plank by putting your knees on the floor or doing a standing plank
by placing your forearms on the wall.
If this is easy for
you, Howell said, you can ramp up the intensity by trying 10 squats, 10
push-ups and a 60-second plank — repeated 10 times. If you have access to a
dumbbell or kettlebell, Howell suggested throwing them into the mix. You can
change the body weight squats to goblet squats, holding a kettlebell or
dumbbell in both hands at chest level as you squat. Set a timer for 20 minutes
and try doing 15 goblet squats, 15 kettlebell or dumbbell swings and five
minutes of running on the treadmill (or around the block) at a moderate pace.
Repeat this routine until the 20 minutes are up.
One of Carter’s
favorite high-intensity exercises is a squat to an overhead dumbbell press,
which involves holding dumbbells at your shoulders when you descend into the
squat, then pressing the dumbbells overhead as you stand.
“It’s a pretty
wicked workout,” Carter said, “and people can squat down to a level they find
comfortable and use modest weights.”
How should you end your workout?
Once you have completed the workout — and caught your breath — Howell
suggested a three- to four-minute cool down. He recommended static floor
stretches, like the pigeon pose — with one leg stretched out straight behind
you, and the other leg bent in front with the side of your calf resting on the
ground. You can rest your calf up on a bench to make it easier, or just go
through any stretches that feel good.
Remember to keep
challenging yourself after you grow stronger and improve your cardiovascular
fitness. After a few weeks, try a slightly heavier weight, more repetitions, or
perhaps a more challenging version of the movement.
“You’re not going
to get all the good stuff that comes from exercising if you keep doing the same
thing at the same weight all the time,” Howell said, “so start playing around
with maybe something a little heavier and go from there.”
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