What workout can I do at home to save time on busy days?

Here are 4 examples of effective workouts that will get you the results you want in a short amount of time.

Circuit Training
Circuit training is a series of strength or cardio exercises (or both) that are repeated two or three times with little or no rest between sets. Circuit training requires you to move quickly from exercise to exercise, which elevates your heart rate. If you add strength training exercises into your circuit, you can burn fat and tone your muscles in one workout. Circuit training is also a great boredom buster. Who can get bored when you are darting quickly from exercise to exercise? Choose 5-6 exercises, like lunges, mountain climbers, bench dips, burpees or jumping jacks, do each back to back for 30 seconds each. After you have completed all of the exercises, rest for 1-2 minutes. Repeat the same circuit 1-2 more times.

Tabata Training
Tabata training is a type of workout that only lasts four minutes but creates an “after burn effect.” This means that your body continues to burn calories well after the workout is over. A tabata workout consists of eight rounds working at high intensity for 20 seconds, and then 10 seconds of rest. Tabata training hardly takes any time at all, can easily be incorporated into your day, and offers huge benefits. Try it with jump squats, push-ups, or even sprints! An example workout would be do jumping jacks for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, do pushups for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this sequence for a total of 4 minutes. 2 examples of workouts that work great with equipment that you may have at home (cardio machines/weights)

HIIT
Your cardio workout doesn’t have to be long to be effective. Rather than doing steady-state cardio for 60 minutes, opt for 20 minutes HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a form of exercise that alternates between short bursts of high intensity exercise with longer periods of lower intensity. These high intensity bursts that melt the fat away – up to 50% more effectively than low-intensity exercise. It also speeds up your metabolism, which enables you to burn more calories throughout the day. Try this beginner HIIT workout. After you have warmed up at a low intensity for 5 minutes, start your first HIIT cycle. Work at an intense level for 30 seconds and follow with 90 seconds of moderate effort. Repeat the HIIT cycle for a total of 10 minutes, then cool down for 5 minutes.

Compound Exercises
Compound exercises are movements that combine an upper body and lower body exercise together. Movements that utilize both the upper and lower body at the same time create a better workout than exercises like, bicep curls, which only focus on one part of the body. How do you “build” a compound exercise? Take a lower body exercise like lunges, squats, bridges or planks and fuse it with an upper body exercise like bicep curls, shoulder presses, rows or tricep extensions. Some great examples are the squat and press, the rowing plank and the hip bridge with a tricep extension. Create a workout out of only compound exercise or add compound exercises into your Tabata or Circuit Training for a fast and effective workout.

Tera Busker is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fitness To Go, an exclusive In Home & Private Studio Personal Training Service based out of Roberts, WI. www.fitnesstogo.net