Two Effective and Short Workouts

Whether you’re just getting started on working out, or you simply have run into a day where you don’t have a lot of time, there are days where you need a quick and effective workout. As you gain experience and learn what you like to do and are able to do, you’ll be able to build your own simple routine that you enjoy. Doing things that you enjoy for your workout will help you to be motivated to do them.

Some parents have more time than others for working out. If you have multiple kids under the age of five, you probably find that you don’t have much time at all for working out. On the other hand, if your kids are all over the age of five, you’ll probably find that you have more time than you did before. While longer workouts are nice - you’re able to get a better workout - some days you need something quick and effective.

The following two workout circuits are done on days where I simply don’t have my normal 45 minutes for working out - most of my workouts are around that long with a couple of days that are longer for steady state cardio. However, when the kids don’t sleep well at night, or when I’ve got an early morning meeting or other commitment then I have to make adjustments - I usually go to one of these two workouts.

Burpees, squats and pull ups

This is the easier of the two workouts, and it can be adjusted for how much time you have to workout. You can do this for 10 minutes or you can do it for 30 minutes (you’re going to be extremely fatigued if you do this for 30 minutes). This is a simple circuit where you move between each of the exercises on the list and do as many rounds as you have time for or you can - have a towel close by.

• 10-25 burpees. You can include a push up as part of each burpee if you choose (I usually do about 5 of them with a push up per round).
• 20-40 body weight squats. Get low and really feel the burn.
• 5-10 pull ups. If you can’t do a pull-up, then simply use a chair and slowly lower yourself down (a negative pull up).
• 30-60 second break, and repeat.

By the second round, you’ll already be feeling this one. This is my go to when I have a little less time in the morning because it really allows me to customize it to how much time I have and how intense I can go. Your whole body will be screaming by the time you’re done if you’ve done this correctly.

Bike HIIT, push ups and pull ups

This is the other workout I’ll go to if I don’t have as much time in the morning - however, this one generally runs a little bit longer because the push ups and pull ups come at the end of the workout - there’s no way I have the endurance during the HIIT part of this workout to get down and do push ups, so they have to come after the HIIT part of the workout is completed. This one will knock the wind out of you to start.

• 10-20 minutes of bike HIIT. I usually do 30 seconds on the bike, 1 minute off the bike. If you’re going hard enough, you’ll find it difficult to do anything much faster than this. During the 1 minute off, I walk or jog in place to keep my legs moving, but allow myself to catch my breath.
• After HIIT, it’s time to fatigue our upper body. Do as many push ups as you can (to failure).
• Do as many pull ups as you can (to failure).
• Repeat the push ups and pull ups 2 more times each (so you’ve gone to failure 3 times on each).

Don’t expect to do a lot of push ups and pull ups, especially after the HIIT. However, focus on good form and getting as many as you can. Feel free to take a couple of minutes after the HIIT before jumping into the push ups and pull ups so that you have some breath to actually do them. Good luck getting off the floor after that last set of push ups. Note: if you don't have a bike to use for the HIIT, you can do sprinting or any other form of HIIT that you like.

Conclusion

You don’t have to spend hours working out every day to be effective. Make the best use of your time - push hard while you’re working out, and then get to your other responsibilities. Every minute counts when you don’t have a lot of time.