Pressed For Time? Try Our 30 Minute Workout!

Are you ready to commit to an active and healthy lifestyle, but struggle to find time in the day to get to the gym? One of the biggest issues men over 50 face when looking to improve their health and fitness is they don’t have enough time each day to spend on their workout. Some guys only have 30 minutes during their lunch break while others must fit their workouts in the little time before or after work. The good news is you don’t need a ton of time to get in shape, just take the right approach and adjust how you are training to fit your busy lifestyle. Whether you’re pressed for time or need to end in a hurry, here are a few tips to remember when planning your 30 minute workout.

Increase Your Intensity

Increasing your intensity is accomplished through a few different methods. First, try “supersetting” throughout your routine. Supersetting is a technique that involves doing two exercises back to back without any rest in between sets. One thing to keep in mind is to try not to use the same muscle groups back to back. Ideally, you want to use an upper body/lower body split, however, supersets are done by training antagonist muscles consecutively (ex: biceps & triceps, chest & back, quads & hamstrings, etc.).

Another practice to employ is adding drop sets or burn outs to the end of each exercise. This can be done by significantly reducing the weight used after your last working set and performing as many reps as possible with that weight. Both methods will help you keep an elevated heart rate throughout your training while also helping you maintain that muscle “pump” feeling.

Limit Rest Periods

This one seems relatively obvious, but when you’re trying to condense your workouts and make them count, limiting your rest periods is essential. A big problem I see for men over 50 in the gym is a lot of guys tend to do more resting than working. This technique will not only help you save time but will help you burn more calories since you will be moving much more of the time. Try limiting yourself to 30 second rest intervals, only giving yourself enough of a break to catch your breath and grab a quick drink if needed. By limiting your rest periods, you will be able to push your body to new levels and get much more out of your workouts.

Focus on Compound Movements

Compound exercises are defined by those that use multiple muscle groups to complete. Opposite from isolation exercises (use one muscle to complete), compound movements will help you get more out of each exercise in a shorter amount of time. Examples of basic compound movements include, squats, lunges, deadlifts, pull ups, bench press, push-ups, and overhead press. All of these will be useful movements to add into your 30- minute workout. Another advantage of compound exercises add to your routine is that you will be able to lift more weight, which will force you to work harder and get stronger, faster!

Sample 30-Minute Workout Plan (Full Body)

• Use the first 5-10 minutes of your workout to warm up on a treadmill, bike, elliptical, etc. (Check out our blog on maximizing your cardio!)
• Do the movements at a slow and controlled pace with a weight you are comfortable with that still challenges you.
• Do not speed up movements in an effort to save time as you will increase risk of injury.
• Adjust rest periods and consider supersetting exercises if you want to challenge yourself more or reduce time.

Squats

o   3 sets of 10 repetitions

• 30 second max rest periods

Pull Ups (Use assisted machine if needed) + Push Ups *SUPERSET*

o   3 sets of 10 repetitions

• 30 second max rest periods after push ups
• Move to push-ups immediately after completing set of pull ups

Walking Lunges

o   3 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg

o   Add dumbbells in hand to increase intensity if needed

• 30 second max rest periods

Barbell Shoulder Press

o   3 sets of 10 repetitions

• 30 second max rest periods

Planks

o   3 sets holding until failure

o   Use as little rest as needed

o   Work up to planking on hands or add weights to increase intensity

Good luck with your workout, we hope that you’ve been able to use this information and get the most value out of your exercise regimens! Feel free to read up on Tyler’s Machine Vs. Free Weights blog to understand more on maximizing your gym time!

Need equipment or gym gear? Check through our Amazon Partner links for items to use during your training, we’d appreciate it! All the best ~ Glen