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In the early days of The Rolling Stones they had a hit called, “Time is on My Side.” Time may be on the side of Keith and Mick yet millions of people claim they don’t have enough time in the day.
Lack of time is a common reason people give for not exercising. We all get busy but if we are all honest with ourselves we all waste far too much time on things like frivolous Facebook debates or Reddit.
When you break it down though, there is plenty of time in a day to ignite your metabolism, burn fat, and promote muscle growth! All you need is five minutes.
Typical gym sessions can last anywhere from 30-60 minutes or longer. Yet, if you add up the actual time you are lifting weights and compare that to your rest times, which could be anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, you will usually find that your working time might only be about 10-25 minutes.
That means more than 75% of your workout is going to rest time.
Rest is important, those periods should never be neglected but if you are already worried about “time”, why waste more time sitting on a bench looking at Facebook and waiting to lift again?
You, Broba Fett, don’t have time to rest. You have very important things to do and there is no way you can dedicate 60 minutes to a workout, especially if you are only getting 15-20 minutes of actual work.
Why not take that 15-20 minutes of work and break it down into 5 minute increments and spread your workout throughout your day? This way you get 3-4 small training sessions done in one day!
Are you waiting while your morning coffee brews?
Set a timer for 5 minutes and hammer out 10 reps of bodyweight squats and 10 push-ups. Perform both exercises back-to-back with no rest in between until the timer goes off. That will get your heart pumping without having to wait 15 minutes for the coffee to kick in.
Finished your lunch and now have 20 minutes before you have to head back to work?
You have plenty of time to hammer out a 5 minute workout, or three. Set a timer for 5 minutes and perform 10 reps of bodyweight lunges followed by 10 reps of one leg bodyweight Romanian deadlifts. Hopefully, you didn’t have Chipotle for lunch cause your ass will be on fire not only from your insides turning into magma but from the sweet burn you feel in your hamstrings and glutes.
Waiting for the train at the station?
Doing a few push-ups or lunges while you wait for the train in NYC or any other major metropolitan area won’t cause many people to stare. Hell no one will probably be looking at you because they are too busy looking at social media or checking Snapchat to even notice you busting out some bodyweight lunges or push-ups.
So you actually made it to the gym, eh?
You still have a ton of stuff to do but you told yourself you had to get in a “quick” workout. Yet, when you get there the equipment you want to use is being used or some dick is curling in the squat rack. What a brotrocity!
Grab a couple of dumbbells, 10-20 pounds, or an empty barbell and set your timer for 5 minutes and challenge yourself with these 5 minute fitness challenges. Perform 10 reps for each movement. Once the second exercise is complete go back to the first exercise with little to no rest.
Pick one or two of these challenges to do and be in and out of the gym in less than 15 minutes.
First Challenge
Dumbbell Floor Press
Dumbbell Renegade Row (seen below)
Second Challenge
Dumbbell Goblet Squats (seen below)
Push-Ups
Third Challenge
Bodyweight Lunges
Star Jumps (seen below)
Fourth Challenge
Deadlift (load up 135 pounds)
Pull-Ups
Fifth Challenge
Kettlebell Swing
Burpees
Pick two of your favorite exercises, decrease the weight, set a timer for 5 minutes, perform 10 reps of each movement with as little rest as possible, and ignite your metabolism while stimulating muscle growth even on the busiest of schedules. If time really is an issue, spread your workout around throughout the day and keep your intense work sessions to 5 minute increments. Shrug off the cloud of busyness and burn fat and build muscle while you get time back on your side.