30 Minute Workout Routine?

I'm a really busy guy ( Full time job and school ), so I don't have as much time in the gym as I would like. Typically I only have time for 2 or 3 30 minute workouts during the week, and then I can do longer ones on the weekend. I was wondering if you guys could throw any thoughts or suggestions my way about how to train in such short time. I'm 28, in relatively good shape, and I workout mostly just for health and strength gains. Here is a fairly typical routine I would do...

Tues - Legs
5 Min Warmup Run / Stretching
15 Min Squats ( 4 Sets /w 3 minute breaks )
10 Min Weighted Lunges ( 3 Sets /w 3 minute breaks )

Wed - Chest / Tri
5 Min Warmup Run / Stretching
15 Min Bench Press ( 4 Sets /w 3 minute breaks )
5 Min Military Press or Dumbell Incline ( 2 Supersets /w 2 minute breaks )
5 Min Skull Crushers ( 2 Supersets /w 2 minute breaks )

Thur - Back / Bi
5 Min Warmup Run / Stretching
15 Min Deadlift ( 4 Sets /w 3 minute breaks )
5 Min Lat Pulldowns or Dumbell Rows ( 2 Supersets /w 2 minute breaks )
5 Min Dumbell Curls ( 2 Supersets /w 2 minute breaks )

* In the supersets I'm immediately stripping weight and then doing another set of the same exercise. ( Do you guys call this something different when it's the same motion? )


So there you go. As you can see, it's really hard to get a reasonable workout in a short period. I really like hitting the big 3 power movements during the week, but unfortunately that's the biggest time sink. I usually go pretty heavy with the power movements so they tend to necessitate a fairly long rest period.

Do any of the rest of you have to deal with similar time restrictions? What do you do?

 

Looks like you know what you're doing. I'd recommend dips and chins instead of skull crushers and curls. Also, look up an article on t-nation called Getting the most Bang for your Buck or something.

 

I'm in the same boat. I have a full-time job, married (wife works and goes to school), one kid. I work out at lunchtime 4 or 5 days a week, usually. I get about 30 minutes actual workout time per session. Depending on what else is going on, those may be the only workouts I get for the week.

A couple thoughts --

If you're lifting heavy, I think it's better to limit yourself to 1 or 2 exercises per session, for 2 reasons -- first, it gives you more time for warm-up sets on each exercise; second, it gives you more opportunity to work on getting the exercise right -- finding your groove, working on problem aspects, whatever.

I'm not saying every workout has to go that way, but I think most of the heavy ones should.

Also, you can try limiting your rest breaks to a minute or less. It'll reduce the amount of weight you can lift, but it'll challenge your endurance strength and cardio. Again, not something you necessarily should do every session but you can play around with it.

 

If you haven't yet, look here for inspiration and ideas.

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f49/lussts-ghetto-strength-training-log-355932/

 

I'm stuck in the same situation right now. Also lifting 3 days a week, so I do total body work outs. Also I found one way to save a lot of time is to do exercises that you can use the similar weights for so you can do alternate sets etc.

 

Got three letters for you.... EDT

 

I second that, best use of time. Everything else looks good considering the time you have.

 

Eastern Daylight Time?

 

Effective Date of Termination?

 

Looks pretty solid. I'd like to add a few suggestions, if I may.

Technically, what you are doing isn't really a superset. It is, actually, exactly what you described it as: a stripping. They aren't bad...but they're more like one giant set versus a true superset. A REAL superset might be a good idea given your situation, however. You could do a push/pull, push-push, or pull-pull superset. An example of a push-pull superset would be doing bench presses and then immediately following the conclusion of the set perform a set of dumbbell/barbell rows.

Just a few ideas.

Good luck, man.

 

Tues
Deadlift
Chins/BoR
Curlz

Wed
Bench
Over Head Press
Dips

Thur
Squat
Lunges
Core

 

There are 168 hours in a week...

 

And 8 hours of work, commuting (goddamn MBTA), BJJ class, cooking, helping with housework (cause I like having sex), a kid, a wife who'd I like to see on occassion (see the sex thing), a new EP coming out, career stuff, etc. Not to mention conditioning, mobility, core work, and active recovery. It's completely possible to only have 90 minutes a week to stand in front of a bar.

 

Cool, thanks for the feedback guys. Trying to work in dips and chins instead of curls and skullcrushers seems like a good idea. I'll probably start alternating between them.

I have a lot of respect for those of you that have a hectic schedule like me AND are married with kids. If you can still fit 3 or 4 serious workouts into a week with all that going on, you're pretty hardcore in my book.

 

You said in your post that you can do longer workouts on the weekends, but you don't have a workout on the weekend. Why not do one day on Saturday or Sunday when you can do a decent amount of volume, and then two lighter days during the week?

 

best website for training ideas RossTraining - Bridging The Gap Between Ordinary and Extraordinary go to articles page

 

I think I will be in the same boat next week. On Monday I am starting a new job where my commute is changing from 1/2 hour each way to 1 1/2 hours each way. So that is 2 hours more each day spent in a car.
The place I am going has a gym in the building. If it is not too crappy I am going to get a membership and I plan to workout at lunch so factoring in changing clothes and taking a shower after I will realistically only have 1/2 hour to workout.

I plan to do:
Mon - Squat
Wed - Bench
Fri - Deadlift

I will do 5x5 or 8x1 for deadlift. What ever time I have left after the main lift I will do some assistance, but if all I do is the main lift I think that will be good enough.

 

Lemme know what the gym is like. With your work schedule I'd say offhand that you oughta join it and do what you can, and maybe buy an Oly barbell set to use at home.

Is there anything to prevent you from working out 5 days a week at lunchtime? I strongly recommend it, if you can do it. You don't necessarily need to lift every day -- you could do cardio and/or stretching on Tuesday and Thursday.

Keep in mind, you don't have to do the same exercises week after week. You could change up from time to time and do something like...

Mon -- Front squats
Wed -- SOHP
Fri -- Power cleans

Mon -- Lunges
Wed -- Dips
Fri -- RDLs

Mon -- OHS
Wed -- Close-grip bench
Fri -- Pull ups

It depends somewhat on how focused you are on improving your numbers in the Big Three, vs. mixing things up. You can even devote the occasional session to smaller lifts like grip training, shoulder rotator cuff, neck work, etc.

 

I actually have a bunch of weights at home: two oly bars, 700 lbs+ of plates, fixed DBs, adjustable DBs, a cage, an adjustable squat box, etc.

But, once I get settled in I plan to ask for an early schedule, like 6 am to 3 pm. I could lift when I get home, but I have found in the past after being at work for 12 hours including commute and lunch, I usually feel too beat to workout. So if I can get it in at lunch I think that is the way to go.

I am thinking I will lift 3x a week and do cardio the other days. I may try a 5 day split like you suggested, but I like having the day off in between lifting to just do cardio.

 

You bumped this to give a link that everyone here knows about. Thanks.
Although, it seems to be helping some people, so you are forgiven.