Working out really doesn’t have to take much time at all. One of the most common reasons people say they don’t workout is that they lack the time. While we all know this is just an excuse, people’s perceptions are oftentimes their reality. Perhaps they think they have to carve out a couple hours to get a quality training session in? In fact, this is a very real possibility if all they attribute to exercise as going to the gym, or running several miles.

Most people don’t understand that some of the quickest training sessions can also be one of the most effective for their body because they tend to be higher intensity and done with shorter rest periods. Higher intensity exercise has greater benefits than lower intensity exercise, provided the person is ready for high intensity exercise. Additionally, if people can do the training sessions at home in a fraction of the time they thought they had to commit, then perhaps their adherence to this healthy habits can drastically improve!? Going further yet, the frequency in which they can train can also go up with the reduced amount of time needed to train. 

Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to building healthy habits in our fast paced lives. If people can adopt an exercise habit that yields the biggest returns for their body, that’s a HUGE win! At Well Built Humans we are all about efficiency and optimizing the healthy lifestyle for the average busy person balancing family life, work, recreation, among other things. 

This protocol is one of our favorites because it simplifies program design for someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. It also makes for the perfect blend of strength training and high intensity interval training for maximum metabolic effect and cardiovascular benefits. At most, this workout is 10 minutes of actual work, and 20 minutes of total time elapsed. Here’s how to go about it. 

Pick a lower body hip dominant exercise

Ex) Kettlebell Swing

Pick an upper body pulling exercise

Ex) Alternating Kettlebell Sumo Rows

Pick a lower body knee-dominant exercise

Ex) Kettlebell Goblet Squats

Pick an upper body pressing movement

Ex) Kettlebell Strict Press

Once you have your 4 exercises picked out, then simply perform in a circuit-like fashion, performing exercise #1 for 15 seconds, then resting for 15 seconds before moving onto exercise #2. Perform this sequence until you get through all 4 exercises, then go back to exercise #1 and repeat. Perform this for 20 total minutes, which means only 10 minutes of actual work! If you’re using an interval timer, which we recommend, set your work interval for 15 seconds and your rest interval for 15 seconds. Set the total number of rounds to 40. 

This workout will fly by and you’ll end up saying to yourself, “Wow, that went by fast, and I’m a puddle!”

1. Try to become more efficient by performing more reps per 15 second work interval.
2. Increase the size kettlebell you use in your training.
3. Increase your training frequency to most, if not all, days of the week.