No Time?

This is lazy as a blog post, but I was looking back through some of Bryce Lane's articles and there is some treasure there.

This article needs some exposure:

Fast Iron

Everyone I know complains about time, its “The great American excuse”. “I’d love to lift but I can’t miss the bowflex informercial”, I really expect to hear this someday.

Anyway here are some workouts that give you some mighty big bang for the buck in fifteen minutes or less, two or three times a week. The tricks are:

1.) Not to think in reps and sets but in time sections
2.) Think of one exercise or compound for the shoulder/arm area, lower back and upper legs if you have something that effectively covers more than one, then great!
3.) Pay attention to loading, make your exercises progress from light to heavy or heavy to light with no reverses so you don’t waste any more time changing plates than need be.
4.) Use the same equipment for everything, That way you you can stay in the same spot and not kill time cleaning up more than you have to.

Let take a first example:

2 Db Clean and press-As many as you can do in 3 min
Rest 1 min, add more weight to one DB
1 Db swings-As many as you can do in 3 min switching hands every 5 reps
Rest 1 min, add more weight to the other DB
2 Db toe squats- As many as you can do in 3 min

Try and use a weight where there aren’t many gaps in the 3 min. Work towards a certain number like 12-20 and then increase the weight.

Or with a barbell:
Floor press—As many as you can do in three min
Rest 2 min and add plates
Bent rows—Same
Rest 2 min and add plates
Deadlifts—Same


With one dumbbell:
DB swings or windmills--Same
Rest 1 min.
DB side presses switching sides every two reps—As many as you can do in 3 min.
Rest 1 min.
DB overhead squats –Same switching hands every five reps

For anyone interested in O-lifts:

Pwr Snatch— work up to near max single in 5 lifts, in 4 min.
Rest 2 min add more weight.
Pwr Clean and push press-- work up to near max single in 5 lifts, in 4 min.
Rest 2 min add more weight.
1 Clean then Front squats—As many as you can in 3 min. with best clean weight.

I’m sure you get the idea.

If you don’t have fifteen minutes sometime in your day, then you really need to re-examine your lifestyle. Its easy also to set up a simple home gym with a homemade 6’ exercise bar and plywood platform sheet or a pair of dumbbells on a rubber mat somewhere in a corner of your house, yard or garage. These kind of workouts are effective and won’t cut into your Sci-Fi channel time much at all.

Bryce Lane, Visalia Ca. 2003

Of course a HIT session can be just as fast.....


Also check out:

Hi-NrG! - I used to variations on this quite often and it is a killer.


Have it all! - the Famous 20 minute thing - For twenty minutes you do as many reps as you can of your chosen compound exercise, squats, deadlifts, power cleans or snatches, clean & presses etc. You do this twice a week. You use the same weight throught the twenty minutes. About 75-80% of your gym-maximun in good clean form is fine to start. Begin with something you can easily do and add as you can.

Do sets of twos, threes or even fives or tens, your choice, mix it up if you need to. Do a set and when you are able to focus again, then do another. When you can get the right number of reps in that twenty minutes then up the weight 5-10% next time and work up again. I like 10% jumps since I tend to do better with a bigger drop in volume and more of a challenge with the weight. However if you like the more gradual approach then by all means, use it.

I try to shoot for fifty in that twenty minutes since that number both keeps up my heart rate and breathing and makes it possible for me to use heavy weight in the 75-85% range. However the number you choose could just as well be anywhere between 20 (anything less than this isn't really doing much) and 100 reps (higher than this and the weight may be too small). If you can do 100 reps with 1.5 x bodyweight in 20 min. in the squat then you are one very conditioned individual with plenty of useful strength as well. That’s something to shoot for; or 50 reps 2 x bodyweight in 20 min. in the squat or 50 reps x bodyweight in the barbell clean and press are other worthy goals. I'm sure you can see the idea.

and

Mobility, Stability and Capacity