Many people today are concerned that they can't get in a good workout to lose weight, build lean muscle, or get more fit and energetic.
They say that they don't have the time to spend hours and hours working out--and, they are right. They don't.
We are busy people today. However, the good news (as long as you aren't using your busy-ness just to make excuses) is that you don't need to spend hours and hours working out to achieve all of the results that you want.
You can get in a very good, highly effective workout in just 20 minutes per day like the video workout below.
Do this routine at least five days a week and you will definitely see the results that you want.
As state above, yes, effective workouts to get you the physical results that you want can indeed be done in just 20 minutes per day.
The key to success is intensity. For it to work, a 20 minute workout needs to be more intense than an hour's-long workout.
But believe it or not, this is actually better for you. It is actually intensity, not duration, that gets you the real results. Only people who are serious athletes need to worry about duration, because they need to develop highly specialized skills and capability.
If your objective is to lose weight and keep it off, or build lean muscle, or increase your energy levels and enhance your immune system, then 20 minute workouts are not only possible for you to fit in to your busy schedule, they even are what's best for you.
You see, the idea with a workout is to burn off fat first. Forget the lie about "burning fat into muscle";. Fat never becomes muscle. Fat is fat and is used for energy.
That energy is what you leverage in order to build new muscle. Intensity is what burns the fat and reveals your muscle beneath, and then it's also what enables you to build the muscle that you desire.
The best way to maintain your intense and disciplined workout schedule is to have a few different workouts that you can put together and use interchangeably.
This will also get you the best results, as you'll work your entire body without becoming bored or mentally burned out, or out of balance with your workouts.
20 minute workouts require cross-training--that is, a mixture at various times of strength conditioning and cardiovascular conditioning.
Planning and discipline are everything when it comes to making a 20 minute workout schedule work for you. Try to plan your workouts a whole week in advance. But at least always plan one day ahead.
Running. A running workout can be a full 20 minute workout on its own, as long as you do it right. You should also not become a running specialist, unless you are training for races.
Do your running workout two, possibly three times in a week. And, your running workout will include a blend of middle distance running and sprinting.
If you are going to run without any sprinting, you want to get to the point where you can cover three miles in one workout. This is not "jogging".
If you just run, at first you may be pretty slow, so just go for 20 minutes at the fastest pace you can maintain. If this even means you need to stop and walk part of it, okay. Just don't stop completely and just stand there.
Keep moving for 20 minutes. Once you can cover two miles in your 20 minutes, push yourself to get to where you are able to cover three.
But eventually it's the best idea to add in sprint work or resistance work with your running. To do this, mix running for one or two miles with wind sprints or stair or hill climbing.
Again, you don't want to become a running specialist. The running workout is just one of three that you can switch off between.
*Kettlebells. Start off your workout with some kettlebell exercises. Do two to three sets of eight to 12 reps making use of two or three different lifting exercises. Do these for about 10 minutes.
*Medicine ball. After you're done with your kettlebells, switch to using the medicine ball for the remaining 20 minutes. It's not as easy as it looks!
This workout routine will build your core strength.
*Skip rope for five minutes. This will really get your heart pumping and the sweat pouring (which is when you know you are burning off that unwanted fat).
*Next, do as many push-ups as you can in five minutes. Take any needed breaks during this time, but do as many as you can within that span.
*Next, do as many dips as you can within five minutes. Same principle.
*Finish up either with five minutes of pull-ups, medicine ball, or Pilates.
Well, as you can see, 20 minute workout routines are simple, but by no means easy. You might not have realized how much you can accomplish in just 20 minutes per day.