Shorter workouts

Short on time but big on getting a great workout?  For a quick 10-minute workout which will tax your muscles, cardio, respiratory and balance systems, try this multiple rep challenge – designed by Level Fitness.  Its the 10-minute 290-rep Challenge – you won’t win any championships with it, but you will have a great gym session, firm up some muscle and burn decent numbers of calories for the time spent!

More time available? Join me and my training partner Dan Wynes as we spend an afternoon at sunny Muscle Beach in Venice, California, doing our six favourite exercises for each of six key body-parts – abs, arms, back, chest, legs and shoulders. See all 36 exercises here in one place as we do our 45-minute Full Body Workout – it works not in the sunshine, too – but you won’t get the tan!

Or watch the six shorter subsets of this workout by bodypart:  Chest, Arms, Legs, Abs, Shoulders and Back – still the same sunshine to workout in, but effort focussed on one bodypart per video.

Want to combine a cardio element with the resistance?  This is typically performed before a photoshoot or contest and is designed to work all the body in one go. This has sub-max resistance, but more reps than usual in muscle-building (or hypertrophic) sets.  It’s known as a Glycotic Workout (or glycolitic), and is designed not to overstress any muscles but keep them sharp and ready for the following day, while trying to attack a few more grams of body fat.

Finally, if you’ve no gym available, try the 20-20 Workout.  No equipment needed, but you still get a good workout on all the major and most minor muscle groups in just 20 minutes.  Read all about that here.